Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
More fun for the family can be found at Crab Island (
www.xiedao.com
)
on the Chaoyang
side of the river. Located just south off the Airport Expressway near Civil Aviation Museum
(
www.caacmuseum.cn
)
, this amusement park cum convention center is fun for both adults
and kids alike, with a fake beach, carnival rides, indoor archery, tennis, bowling, and much
more. You can even cast a line in one of the indoor or outdoor fish ponds, depending
on what kind of fish you want to catch. If you reel in one of the indoor sturgeons
it will cost around RMB68 per kilo. Not far away, just a bit farther down Dongwei
Lu, is yet another water park, Merry Water World, in Tulip Hot Spring Garden Resort
(
www.bjyujinxiang.com
)
. While parents can soak in the hot spring tubs, kids can play in the
large pool and on the water slides.
Most expats in this area have their own driver, so they may not have too many transport
issues. On one day of the week at least, however, your driver's car will not be able to be on
the road inside the Fifth Ring Road. This means you may need to resort to public transport.
Your compound's clubhouse or property management office can usually help you order a
taxi. During the day, you shouldn't have too many issues getting taxis from Shunyi into the
city or back again, but late at night this can be more of a problem as taxi drivers don't al-
ways want to drive that far, knowing that it will be almost impossible to get a return fare.
Many families also have a backup driver—a “black taxi” driver—who can help out when
their official driver isn't available. While black taxis as a rule are not recommended, if you
find a good one by reliable word of mouth then it can be worth saving their phone number.
There isn't much to choose from here, just one subway line (Line 15), and the unpleasant
thing about this line is that to get anywhere in the city you'll probably need to make two or
three transfers, each adding possibly 10 minutes to your journey. The bus can actually be a
lot more pleasant.
Those living on the Shunyi side of the river are closest to China International Exhibition
Center subway station, but it's a considerable walk from most of the compounds. For
Chaoyang siders, the stations of choice will possibly be Sunhe or Maquanying.
