Finding your way around town takes time. One of the best ways to get oriented to Beijing is to spending time in a taxi or simply getting on a bicycle. In Beijing there are basically three types of Taxis (1.20,1.60, 2.00) the difference primarily being in the quality of the car in which you ride and the amount of fare that is charged.

Of course, many expatriates don't feel altogether at home until they can experience the freedom of driving for themselves or knowing exactly where to point the taxi driver. But, getting a license to drive in the PRC is a fairly straightforward, if involved, procedure. It will take some time and running around, though, so if you have a company driver, delegate some of the tasks below and save yourself some mafan.