Beijing’s two airports: getting online at PEK and Daxing

First thing to check on your Beijing itinerary: which airport. Beijing Capital (PEK) is the long-running giant northeast of the city; Daxing (PKX) is the newer one far to the south — a Zaha Hadid-designed starfish that’s one of the largest single terminal buildings on earth, and genuinely worth arriving early to gawk at. Different airports, same phone problem: the moment you land, nothing Western works on local networks. Here’s how we set our Beijing-bound customers up.

SIM counters at PEK and PKX: the reality

Both airports have carrier presence — China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom — around international arrivals. Tourist SIMs run roughly $20–30 for about 20 GB. As everywhere in China, real-name registration is mandatory: passport out, photo taken, forms processed, queue endured. Counter hours are business-ish; late-night landings can find them shuttered, which at Daxing — an hour from the city center — is a lonely discovery.

And the firewall caveat applies in full: a local SIM means China’s domestic internet, where Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp and Instagram are all blocked. Your phone will have five bars and none of your apps. A roaming travel eSIM routes internationally instead, so everything works without a VPN.

Airport Wi-Fi: the SMS-code loop

Free Wi-Fi at both Beijing airports generally authenticates by texting a code to a working phone number — the classic chicken-and-egg if you just stepped off a 13-hour flight with no service. Passport-scanning code kiosks exist as the official workaround; they work, when you find them. Or skip the loop entirely: an eSIM installed before departure means your phone connects on the taxiway.

The iPhone rule, one more time

We repeat this on every China page because it strands people weekly: iPhones cannot install a non-Chinese travel eSIM while physically inside mainland China. It’s Apple policy, it’s location-based, and Wi-Fi or a VPN won’t get around it. Install at home, before you board — plan days don’t start until the eSIM connects in China, so early costs you nothing. On Android the install usually works but the one-time download can be flaky behind the firewall; rescue steps here.

Wheels down: the first 45 minutes at PEK or PKX

• At Capital (PEK), international flights mostly use Terminal 3, which is big enough to have its own internal tram between concourses — budget a real walk plus the tram ride before you reach immigration.
• At Daxing (PKX), everything lives under the one giant roof — the starfish design keeps gates surprisingly close to the center.
• Arrival card — most foreigners need one; file it online before you fly (free, official NIA channels) and skip the at-airport scramble.
• Fingerprints, then immigration — self-service kiosks for most visitors aged 14–70, then the foreigner lanes. Visa-free transit travelers: watch for the dedicated counters.
• Bags, customs, connectivity — carousel from the boards, green channel, and then the moment of truth: phones with a pre-installed eSIM light up; everyone else starts hunting for Wi-Fi. (Bag missing? File the PIR before you exit.)

Getting into the city

• From Capital (PEK): the Airport Express train to Sanyuanqiao/Dongzhimen connects into the subway; taxis from the official queue take 30–60 minutes to the center depending on Beijing’s famous traffic.
• From Daxing (PKX): the Daxing Airport Express gets you to Caoqiao in about 20 minutes — beats the hour-plus by road. It’s far; don’t plan a “quick taxi.”
• Didi works at both and is the move if you don’t speak Mandarin — but it needs data to book, which is the whole point of landing online.
• Pro tip: hotel names in Chinese characters. Screenshot your hotel’s name and address in 中文 for taxi drivers — with working data, you can also just show the pin in Maps.

Beijing-specific prep worth doing

• Major sights — the Forbidden City above all — sell out and require advance booking with your passport number. Having data on arrival means you can sort tickets the moment plans firm up.
• Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly — Beijing runs on QR payments, from subway gates to dumpling stalls.
• Download offline maps of Beijing; the city is huge and a dead phone battery plus no offline map is a bad combination anywhere.

Related: All China airports guide · Shanghai Pudong (PVG) · 10-day visa-free transit · China eSIM plans