Beijing to introduce travel pass for international visitors

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Tourists pose for a group photo after practising tai chi at Beijing’s Temple of Heaven Park in July (JU HUANZONG / XINHUA)

Beijing’s public transportation system is set to become more foreigner-friendly, with the Chinese capital testing the feasibility of introducing an all-in-one city travel pass.

For starters, the Beijing Pass will enhance the convenience of subway travel for foreign visitors, who will be able to use their international bank cards to purchase the pass at the city’s seven railway stations and two airports that have integrated subway lines.

To facilitate the smooth launch of the Beijing Pass, subway stations are currently undergoing on-site testing, the city authorities said.

Wu Lihong, a professor at the China Academy of Culture and Tourism of Beijing International Studies University, said the Beijing Pass will allow foreign visitors to explore the city at their convenience, without having to worry about payment hurdles while using public transportation.

“If the pass can be integrated with Alipay, a widely used Chinese digital payment platform, it will also save time and make it easier for foreigners to use public transportation,” Wu said.

Beijing’s new foreigner-friendly move comes at a time when the city is witnessing a rapid increase in the number of overseas visitors. The capital has already introduced several facilities to serve them better.

For example, all 335 stations across the 17 lines managed by Beijing Subway have been equipped with point-of-sale machines as of June 1. These machines allow foreign passengers to purchase tickets using international bank cards. The authorities plan to introduce additional services, such as allowing foreigners to use their international bank cards directly at the platform gates.

Ronan, a French international student in Beijing, said the plan to introduce an all-in-one public transportation card is a welcome move.

“My friends who visited Beijing couldn’t use Alipay for public transportation because they didn’t have Chinese phone numbers. Alipay is quite convenient for foreigners who have lived in big cities for a while, but for foreign tourists, the new option (Beijing Pass) will be better,” he said.

In addition to taking steps to streamline payment services, Beijing Subway has piloted the installation of multilingual translation devices at eight stations that foreign travellers frequently visit, such as Tian’anmen West on Line 1, to offer them more accurate and detailed information about subway schedules.

Furthermore, bilingual announcements in Chinese and English have been started at major railway stations, the two airports, and subway stations near tourist attractions.

According to data from the Beijing General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection, as of 29 July, the number of entries and exits at Beijing’s ports exceeded 10 million this year, surpassing the total number for the whole of last year.

Among these people, more than 1.2 million were inbound foreign visitors, a year-on-year increase of 210 per cent.

Apart from Beijing, other major cities in China such as Shanghai and Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are also making public transportation more accessible for international visitors by introducing similar passes and allowing taxi fares to be paid with international credit cards.