Car Rental at Beijing Airport

Car rental providers at Beijing's airport offer not just self-drive options but also chauffeur driven vehicles in recognition of visitors being perhaps a little daunted at the prospect of driving on China's roads, where road signs are invariably displayed in Chinese rather than western-style lettering.

Official car rental companies with desks in Beijing Airport:

• Avis: +86 10 5719 1400
• Ehi: +86 10 5725 8426
• Ekeröbilarna Ab: +86 (0)10-57258426

Well-known car rental provider Avis is also one of the official providers of self-drive cars. Their rental station is located at Terminal 2 by Gate 11. The car hire desk is open for business from 09.00 to 05.00 pm daily. Reservations can be made online at www.avis.com or at www.avischina.com.

Naturally, there are also several Chinese car rental suppliers and China Auto Rental Beijing Airport is one of them. The company has 24 hour service every day of the week and can be found at Terminal 2. Reservations can be made by contacting customer services on cs@zuche.com. The official English language website address is at en.zuche.com and potential customers can also telephone the customer call center 7 days a week, 24 hours per day by telephone at (440–616-666 666).

The other Chinese car rental stations are Top One Auto Rental, which serves mainly Chinese speakers and Shou qi car rental, which does accept non-members with ID card, drivers licence and credit cards that have credit limits of at least 10,000 Yuan and over. The daily mileage limit is 180 km. The rental station serves mainly Chinese speakers. This station is also at Terminal 2.

Reservations for Beijing can also be made at international car hire provider Honk on their website at honkcarrental.com. They do not have a rental desk at the terminals but use the Avis desk, one of their partner companies, located at Gate 11 at Terminal 2 in the domestic arrivals hall.

One of the city's most famous ancient monuments is located in the Baliqiao suburb of the city. Baliqiao means Eight Mile Bridge, referring to the fact that the bridge is exactly 8 Chinese miles or li from Tong Zhou, and once marked the outer limits of the Imperial City of Beijing. The origins of the bridge are lost in the mists of time but it has at least been standing since the late Ming dynasty, maybe even dating back earlier than that to the Yan Dynasty.

The Chinese Emperor used to stop off at the bridge and adjacent small temple and palace to rest, wash and change his clothes before travelling onward either into the Forbidden City or to other destinations. The bridge became of great importance in 1860 during the Second Opium War, when a fierce battle with 30,000 Chinese army soldiers and Anglo-French troops ensued. The Chinese army was defeated and the combined Anglo-French forces entered the city, looting and burning much of the splendour that was ancient China.

For more information about car hire Beijing Capital International Airport, please refer to the official website at en.bcia.com.cn. The car rental page can be found under Shopping & Dining/Services/Car Rental.