THE ROUGH GUIDE to - Parallels Plesk Panel

Getting there
Beijing is China’s main international transport hub, with plenty of direct flights from
European capitals and from American, Australian and Asian cities. Though most
travellers arrive by plane, you can also get here by rail from elsewhere in China or,
more romantically, from Moscow (on the Trans-Siberian Express; see p.20).
Airfares vary with season, with the highest
fares charged from Easter to October and
around Christmas, New Year, and just
before the Chinese New Year (which falls
between late Jan and mid-Feb). Note also
that flying at weekends is slightly more
expensive; price ranges quoted below
assume midweek travel.
Flights from the UK and
Ireland
The only nonstop flights to Beijing from the
UK are Air China and British Airways flights
from London Heathrow (10hr). It’s not a
problem to fly from other UK airports or from
the Republic of Ireland, though you’ll end
up either catching a connecting flight to
London or flying via your airline’s hub city.
There are plenty of indirect flights to
Beijing from London with airlines such as
Emirates, Qatar Airways, Lufthansa and
Aeroflot, stopping off in the airline’s hub city.
These are a little cheaper than direct flights,
with prices starting from around £400 in low
season, rising to £700 in high season. If
you’re flying from the Republic of Ireland,
reckon on €1000 in low season, €1500 in
high season.
Flights from the US and
Canada
There’s no shortage of direct flights to
Beijing from North America; carriers include
Air China, Air Canada and United. It takes
around thirteen hours’ flying time to reach
Beijing from the West Coast; add seven
hours or more to this if you start from the
East Coast (including a stopover on the
West Coast en route). Air Canada’s flight
from Toronto and Continental’s from Newark
cross the North Pole, shaving a couple of
hours off the flight time.
In low season, expect to pay US$650–
900/CDN$1100–1250 from the West Coast
(Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver), or
US$850–1100/CDN$1350–1800 from the
East Coast (New York, Montreal, Toronto).
To get a good fare during high season it’s
important to buy your ticket as early as
possible, in which case you probably won’t
pay more than US$200/CDN$320 above
low-season tariffs.
In addition to the usual online booking
agents, North American travellers can check
Wwww.flychina.com.
Flights from Australia,
New Zealand and South
Africa
You can fly direct to Beijing from Melbourne
and Sydney with, among others, Singapore
Airlines, JAL, Malaysia Airlines and China
Eastern. Otherwise, you will need to stop
over, probably in Hong Kong. Alternatively,
once in Hong Kong, you have the option of
continuing your journey on the Kowloon–
Beijing train (see p.24); consider taking a
short hop on the train to Guangzhou and
flying on to Beijing from there, as it’s cheaper
than flying direct from Hong Kong.
Good deals include the Air China flights
from Melbourne or Sydney direct to Beijing
(Aus$1500); and Cathay Pacific to Hong
Kong (Aus$1500 in low season; far steeper
at other times). Some of the cheapest fares
are with Royal Brunei Airlines, though they
only serve Brisbane and Darwin. Their return
fares to Hong Kong, via a stopover in Brunei,
are around Aus$1100. Qantas or British
Airways are the only two operators to fly
direct from Perth to Hong Kong (Aus$1800).
The only direct flight to Beijing from
New Zealand is with Air New Zealand
(around NZ$2000). About the best deal is on
BASICS |
Getting there
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