PEK-Spot1
Payerne Air Force Base Spotting Guide
September 15, 2014
Abu Dhabi Airport Spotting Guide
September 20, 2014Beijing Capital Intl. Airport Spotting Guide
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- last modified on November 09, 2018
Beijing Capital International Airport is currently the second busiest airport in the world and the busiest in Asia. It handled 95.8 million passengers in 2017 and traffic is split on three runways, of which the last was only recently opened in 2007. Even though arrivals are often split on all three runways, you will catch lots of movements, due to the extremely high traffic. As the airport still experienced large growth over the last years it was decided that a new airport will be constructed in Beijing Daxing, which is currently scheduled to open in October 2019, so it is advised to make a visit to PEK before then.
Capital Airport is the main gateway to the Chinese capital city and a major hub for the four major Chinese airlines: Air China, China Southern, China Eastern and Hainan. There are also plenty of other Chinese airlines serving the airport like Capital, Chongqing, Shandong, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Sichuan or Xiamen Airlines. And of course you will see lots of international traffic from all over the world, with most major carriers flying at least once a day to PEK.
Cargo operations are not as strong as passenger traffic, but you can see a few local carriers like Donghai, SF Airlines, Yangtze River Express and some China Postal which mostly operate flights in the morning. Use the official airport website for scheduled and estimated times on these flights.
There is one major drawback to spotting in Beijing. Even though the weather is generally pretty good and the area enjoys a great deal of sunshine over the year, the city (and the airport as well) frequently suffers from extreme air pollution (smog), which makes spotting terribly difficult, as the sun can be blocked out and/or you will often only have a gray or white background in your images.
Most locations around the airport are on the south side, so when landings from the south are in progress. This is the best direction for spotting and this guide primarily deals with these ops. PEK mainly operates in the northernly direction (i.e. landings/take-offs from south to north) due to the restrictions of airspace. In general, Beijing is a very spotter friendly airport and you need not worry about getting into trouble with the police.
Written by Jan Seba, Yixin Chen, Thomas Okaty (#6). Thanks to JRC – Bourneavia Photography for the sample pics of Spot 7, Tianlin Shen for the sample pics of Spot 10 and 12. Last major update July 2018
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| Airport Information | Runways | 18L/36R | 18R/36L | 01/19 |
| 3.810 m (12.500 ft) | 3.445 m (11.302 ft) | 3.810 m (12.500 ft) | ||
| Terminals | Terminal 1 | Terminal 2 | Terminal 3 | |
| Domestic Chinese carriers, primarily Hainan, also Capital, Grand China or Tianjin, located on the western side of the airport. | SkyTeam, primarily China Eastern and China Southern, also most of the “rare” airlines like Iran Air, Air Koryo, etc. | Star Alliance and OneWorld (except AA), primarily Air China, Shandong, Sichuan. Also some other carriers like Emirates or Etihad. | ||
| Spotting Information | Ladder | Not required | ||
| Car | Not required. Taxi is a good choice, but make sure the driver uses the taximeter. Most short drives around the airport are less than 2 Euros. It is advisable to prepare some maps at home to show to the taxi driver. Make sure the maps have the written name (in Chinese!) of the location (or streets) where you want to go. Do not expect taxi drivers to speak English. Though some of them know one or two words it will never be enough so that you explain where you want to go.
Another alternative to get around PEK is metro+bike. There are rental bikes distributed around the airport area, mostly MoBike and ofo. You can download their apps in advance and ride wherever you’d like to go. The cost is only 1 CNY per hour. Metro is also useful for spotting at PEK. For locations near T3, you can simply take Airport Express line to Terminal 3 and then walk/bike to those locations. For locations near the west runway, you can take Subway Line 15 to China International Exhibition Center or Hualikan and then ride/taxi to the locations. |
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| Restrooms | The terminal is close to a few locations and offers restrooms. Otherwise there is nothing at most of the locations. | |||
| Drinks/Food | Take drinks and snacks with you, but you can buy things in the terminal if you are close. | |||
| Hotels | There are a few hotels in the area around the airport, but some of them are in an industrial area, where you will hardly find supermarkets and restaurants. The area to the southeast (where the CITIC is located) has some good opportunities. There’s also a spotting hotel near Terminal 2, see location #10. | |||
| Season | Season is a difficult topic in PEK. In recent years, the government in Beijing has made huge efforts in improving the air quality, especially in winter. Besides, Beijing usually witnesses strong wind in winter, which likely results in clear days. I would recommend winter although the days are relatively short. North-south operations often happen in spring and the weather in spring is not that bad. So spring is also a good season to visit PEK. The summertime from June to August records the highest amount of precipitation. Furthermore, Beijing is usually smoggy and way too hot in summer. Autumn (especailly late autumn) is simillar to spring, except less southernly operations. In summary, October – April are good months to visit PEK. | |||
| Runway Usage | In general, all runways are used for arrivals and departures, though some carriers have preferences due to the location of their terminal, those are noted accordingly. If you are after a special movements, which is only once or a few times a week, look up aviation photos online of these specific movements in PEK, sometimes the uploader wrote a comment, which RWY was used and you can get a feeling, where it will most likely land. Air Kyoto nearly always uses 01 landing. Most of the governmental/military or any rare visitors use the middle runway for landings/take-offs. Remember all the comments from below are based on impressions and they can be false or the system in PEK might have changed over the time. Another tip worth mentioning is that even PEK sometimes operates southernly, the operation nearly only changes in the afternoons. | |||
| 18L/36R | Main departure runway, which is also used for landings in peak periods. In the morning it is very busy with departures and handles only a handful of arrivals and gets busier with arrivals starting noon. China Southern A380 always lands here. | |||
| 18R/36L | Preferred runway for China Eastern, China Southern, Hainan and most SkyTeam carriers. Also often used for international arrivals, regardless of terminal location, so you can see for example United or Turkish Airlines here. This is also the main cargo runway. Usually handles more arrivals than departures. | |||
| 01/19 | Preferred runway for Air China, Shandong, Shenzhen and often Star Alliance carriers, but also sees lots of arrivals from China Southern. Emirates A380 also tends to land here. Seems to handle more arrivals than departures. | |||
Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers don´t fit.
The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced! Please visit google china or openstreetmap instead for an exact map.
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Spot #1 – Field – 01 Arrivals Morning |
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| WHERE | This location is relatively easy to find, the main problem might be to make your taxi driver understand. Basically you want to go to the end of the Erwei Road there bear left, to a small side street until you are driving towards a gate of some small company. The field is to your right now. |
| WHAT | You can shoot the arrivals on RWY 01 here and you can vary your location according to your preferences for angle and distance. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | There is nothing here. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 110mm for a B772 and 190mm for an A320. |
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Spot #2 – Parking Lot – 01 Arrivals Evening |
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| WHERE | Even though it’s possible to drive directly to this location, it is probably easier to let the taxi driver drop you off at the Terminal. From there descend (inside the terminal) to ground level and walk a small pathway towards the parking lot. Stay within the grass area and do not shoot from the parking lot itself, as people have been sent away from there.
Update: Possibly the grass area is now also off limits in case you are asked to move from here just go to the walkway or closer to the RWY threshold. |
| WHAT | You can shoot the arrivals on RWY 01. From the airport feeder ramp you could theoretically also shoot lineups, but they are very far away and pictures will be prone to heat haze. Furthermore you will have trouble shooting the aircraft without obstructions in your picture. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | There are rubbish bins at the location and everything else is in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100mm for a B772 and 175mm for an A320. |
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Spot #3 – T3 East Departure Bridge |
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| WHERE | From T3 Departure entrances, go eastbound along the road for vehicles. There isn’t a pedestrian but you can still walk along the bridge carefully. When you walk out of the noise protection panels, you can stay beside the road and take photos of finals and line-ups of Runway 01. |
| WHAT | Landings and line-ups of 01. This is an alternative of Spot #2. Views are higher and you are able to get the background buildings into your pictures. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. Lineups are only available on winter due to the sun position |
| MISC. | Everything you need is in the terminal. Although it is not forbidden to stay there, please do always keep a low profile and be careful about the vehicles passing by. Also noted it is not allowed to stay at the west side of the bridge. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 100-150mm for side-on landing shots, 250mm+ for line-ups |
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Spot #4 – Pond – 36R Arrivals Morning |
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| WHERE | Even though it’s possible to drive directly to this location, it is probably easier to let the taxi driver drop you off at Terminal 3. From there descend (inside the terminal) to ground level and walk a couple of small pathways to the pond. Once you’re there just shoot over the water and you won’t have any obstructions. |
| WHAT | From here you can shoot the arrivals on RWY 36, but as mentioned under Runway Usage, this runway is not very busy in the morning, but if you are hoping for a special highlight, this might be the place to be. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | Shops and restrooms are in the terminal. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Not tested, but should be less than 200mm for an A320. |
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Spot #5 – Park Hill – 36R Arrivals Evening, Lineups |
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| WHERE | In the small park south of the airport there is a hill, which offers a nice elevated location for you. The best way the get here is most likely by trying to show the taxi driver the crossing between Erwei and Yijing Rd. If that fails, just let him drive you to the Terminal and walk from there to the location, it’s not that far. |
| WHAT | Good for shooting RWY 36R arrivals in the evening, when the runway gets more traffic. But the airplanes are relatively high here, so the angle is worse compared to all the other locations. As a small bonus this is probably the best location to take lineup shots on 36R, but you will also face heat haze around noon for that. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset for arrivals and lineups can be good all day (except early morning) depending on how you like to shoot them. |
| MISC. | There are benches and rubbish bins in the park. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 50 – 300mm
MU A330 = 60mm / CA B737 = 85mm / SDA B737 = 100mm / CA B737 = 300mm / CA B777 = 60mm / Private Jet = 155mm |
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Spot #6 – Road Intersection – 36L Arrivals Morning |
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| WHERE | You will find this location at a large intersection of the Tianbei Rd. Most taxi drivers will know this road, so it will be relatively easy to get here. You just have to tell them to stop once you are close to the spot. The best place to shoot is a small grass strip east of the intersection and behind the traffic lights, where you do not disturb anyone and the traffic and lamp posts don’t disturb you. |
| WHAT | Good location for shooting 36L in the morning, where you can catch most of the cargo arrivals. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | It can happen that the security guard from the company next door approaches you and wants to know what you are doing, but they should be ok with you after they know that you are shooting pictures of the airplanes. Other than that, there is nothing useful at this location. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 130mm for a B744 and 240mm for an A320. |
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Spot #7 – Tianzhu Kindergarten – 36L |
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| WHERE | There is also a good spotting location for 36L arrivals from noon to sunset. Just follow Tianbei Rd (beginning at location #5) westwards until you see a pedestrian overpass. Climb up the ramp (or the staircase) to the overpass on the south side of Tianbei Rd. and position yourself right up on top of the ramp.
If you need help finding the location go to https://www.google.cn/maps and punch in (copy-paste) 天竺幼儿园停车场 (Tianzhu Kindergarten Parking Lot). It’s right next to the overpass (also on the south side). |
| WHAT | 36L arrivals only. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | Nothing special nearby except some smaller hotels. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 772 = 140mm; A321 = 230mm |
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Spot #8 – 36L South |
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| WHERE | This location is very hard to reach. You need to reach Guo Men Business Hotel (国门商务酒店), you will find yourself in Qianjin St (前进街). Walk inside that road, after making one right turn and one left turn, you should be able to find a dike on your left. Climb on that dike, you’ll find a large gap through the branches between you and the runway. You can shoot through the gap over the bushes. A ladder is recommend but there are also some abandoned chairs/desks on which you could stand, if you don’t have one. |
| WHAT | Landings and taxiing of 36L. Line-ups are obstructed by the branches. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | There’s nothing there, bring everything you need. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70mm-200mm |
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Spot #9 – Green Tree Inn Beijing Capital Airport Terminal Express Hotel |
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| WHERE | Located between T1/T2 and 36L/18R, it is the best spotting hotel around PEK. Room #506 is designed for spotting. In this room you can open the window and its enough space for 2-3 persons. |
| WHAT | All morning movements on 36L and the nearby taxiway. Night shots of the aircrafts in the ramp are also possible. Sight can be interrupted by parked aircaft on the ramp. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from (night)sunrise until 11 AM. |
| MISC. | Everything you need is in the hotel. The stuff don´t really speak english and it is highly recommended to check the availability of Room #506 with the hotel in advance. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 70-300mm |
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Spot #10 – Ershilipu Village – 36L/18R Evening |
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| WHERE | This location is also hard to reach, due to being far away from the streets. It is located north of Ershilipu (二十里铺) Village. Copy-paste ‘月色无边KTV’ (which is an abandoned KTV, karaoke bar) into your Google Maps. Follow the street to the KTV and walk towards the runway, you’ll find an embankment just beside the runway to photograph over the fence. |
| WHAT | This location is good for all movements on 36L/18R from noon to sunset. Taxi shots are also possible. Be careful that there are bird protecting fences along the runway and you need to shoot between them. For the movements on the runway, narrow-bodies can fit into the gap between fences but wide-bodies can’t. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | Some small shops and restaurants on the street to the location, but don’t expect the staff to speak English. There are some trees that could protect you from sunshine. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 60mm for a side-on shot of a B737 on the runway, below 200mm for taxi shots. |
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Spot #11 – Dike / Embankment – 18R Arrivals & Departures Evening |
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| WHERE | Probably the hardest location to get to (and from), because there is no larger street nearby and you might have trouble finding a taxi driver who knows where you want to go. Just try your best with the maps you prepared. You can shoot the aircraft from the other side of the street (closer to the runway), where you have a small embankment as an elevation. There are some spots where you can shoot over the fence from here. |
| WHAT | Great location for 18R Arrivals and Departures. You can shoot the lineups as well, though you might have a bit of fence in your pictures for the larger heavies. |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | It will be hard to find a taxi back to your hotel from this location. You will probably have to walk a few kilometers to a main road. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Below 70mm for most Heavies and below 100mm for a B738. |
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Spot #12 – Airline Catering Company |
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| WHERE | This location is near the Airline Catering Company on Zhongzhou Rd (中轴路). To get there, copy-paste ‘北京空港配餐有限公司‘ (Beijing Airline Catering Co.,Ltd.). Near the west gates of the company you can catch 19 arrivals. There’s also an abandoned airport passenger lift for you to get higher view. |
| WHAT | All arrivals on Runway 19 |
| TIME | Light conditions are good from 2:30 PM until sunset. |
| MISC. | There’s nothing there, bring everything you need. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 180mm for A330 |
34 Comments
Spot1 was not available. Because I was refused by the security guard man. at the day of 13.1.2019
Spot2 parking lot was very good. It takes few minutes from T3 by walk. I shoot many aircrafts Landing RWY 01 clearly.
Hi All, I was in Beijing earlier this week. Spent my time at the mound area which was very good, although a bit cold. 🙂 Friendly locals and quite a few photographers.
There are now no more views from landside departures in T3 as they have used frosted glass where there used to be views onto the ramps closest to checkin and the thresholds.
There is also a good spotting location for 36L arrivals from noon to sunset. Just follow Tianbei Rd (beginning at location #5) westwards until you see a pedestrian overpass. Climb up the ramp (or the staircase) to the overpass on the south side of Tianbei Rd. and position yourself right up on top of the ramp.
If you need help finding the location go to https://www.google.cn/maps and punch in (copy-paste) 天竺幼儿园停车场 (Tianyi Kindergarten Parking Lot). It’s right next to the overpass (also on the south side). I was fortunate to meet a local spotter at location #1, who took me to this location, but most hotel staff (at least the ones working for international chains) should be able to explain the taxi driver where you want to go.
If you need sample pics, just let me know … was there in November last year.
Thomas
I thomas can you send me pictures on that location I go to Pek next year in august
This is my email joaoassantos1980@hotmail.com
Thanks
Hi, this position has already been added to the guide. Have a look at #7.
-Julian
Thanks julian
Does anyone have adresses in Chinese for the different spotting locations?
Try https://www.google.cn/maps. Thats the chinese version of google maps and you can see the street names in their language.
-Julian
Going to PEK next week. Want to prepare some maps for taxi driver. Is google maps reliable for this area? When I use the sattelite layer the the roads dosen’t match the lines frome google. Does anyone have a location for 36L morning arrivals?
Hi Stian!
Had similar problems, that’s why I used an app, which was able to say the chinese words for the englich ones and showed prints of google maps, but no satelite. I recommend to write all important street names down and to have all destinations with you in chinese.
Yes, spot #5 for 36L morning arrivals!
Regards, Severin
Wich app is that?
Sorry, can’t remember :/
北京市顺义区府前一街1号 copy this in Baidu maps or Tencent Maps and it should bring you there.
Thanks for the help, HNAPilot!
-Severin
Regarding spot 2, i followed your advised and stay at grass area. However the car park attendant asked me to moved back to the walk path instead as the grass area is private property. I then walked towards the runway and stayed near the fence. No problem there.
Thanks for the report, I have added a remark in the guide!
Best regards
Jan
[…] China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines. You may also find it useful to first have a look at a wonderful guide for plane spotters at SpotterGuide.net and choose a best place! Facebook Twitter Linkedin […]
Does anyone know if the Hilton Beijing Capital Airport has views of any runway or the tarmac? Company has made one night reservation there…
Not sure Dennis, but I don’t believe so. But we would appreciate an info from you after your stay.
What I can imagine that you may be able to shoot arrivals for the 01 RWY in the evening with an East-facing room.
Cheers
Jan
Hi there!
Any one can tell me if July is good to do a spotting in PEK
Thanks
Joao Santos
Hi Joao,
check out our extensive article under “Season”. Summer is probably not the best time for PEK, but nevertheless it will be possible and if you are lucky and have a few days with great weather it will be very rewarding!
Best regards
Jan
Hello,
I was in Beijing at the beginning of this month.
Beijing is a nice place to go…Apart in Winter, heavy smog with zero visibility possible during some periods.
Fortunately, the weather was beautiful. Blue sky all the day during 4 days….
I would like give you an update to the position Nr5 and 2.
Of my point of view, I have found better places to take the airplanes coming on the runway 36L.
First at all, the best hotel (cheap and good quality) is the DAYS HOTEL BEIJING NEW EXHIBITION CENTER. The way to the hotel with the taxi from T3 costs approximately 20 RMB. The only problem is that the airplanes pass over the hotel. It could disturb during the night, but not so dramatic.
To spot in the morning, a walk of 10 minutes from the hotel brings you at the place, From the hotel, turn left and walk until the 1st traffic light (150m). Then turn left and follow this road to the next crossroads (100 meters). In front of you is the Haoya Hotel. Turn left and 20 meters aways turn right. On the left is the Bulding of Poste of China and on the right is the entry of the Haoya Hotel and 7Days Hotel. This spot point is in front of the Haoya entry. The raod is quieter than spot 5.
In the afternoon, go back to hotel. Past the front door and continue on the road. 75 meters ahead is a footbridge. The spot is on it. You could see the aiplanes arrived from far away…Nice place
Remark on spot 2:
No more possible at the Departure level due to the Deadly accident in SHZ airport. New walls to block the view. It’s better to go down to level B (BUS), one level above the TAXI level. Go out of the terminal and turn left. Walk along the terminal until the traffic light. Cross the road and the spot is on the sidewalk just below the terminal ramp. Advantage: you are protected from the sun. No problem with airport authorities.
Best regards
Dominique
Hello Dominique can you show on map the spotting location for 36L
Thanks
Joao asantos
Great website, well done guys.
I was at PEK in late October on the way home from S Korea/Japan and had no problems on the up/down appraoch roads to T2. The police were constantly moving on parked cars but took no notice of me.
I made the big mistake of spending a morning at the 01 landing location which is in itself very good as a vantage point, but there was nothing but regular traffic, lots of Air China of course and in my case as luck would have it no special schemes). In the distance I could see all the goodies landing on 36L which is where I should have stayed considering I was at the Ibis hotel close to the approach point.
Pics from that trip now added here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rv-avia/albums
Cheers, Richard V
I will be transiting through PEK, any information on good spots for viewing from airside?
Thanks
Hi David,
Hope I am not too late in replying? If transiting through Terminal 3 head for the most Northern point of the terminal. Dependent on the time of day, walk down to the end of the East or West(‘fingers’) of the terminal and you have an outstanding view of taxiways and runways. As it is the most outer edges of the Terminal, the windows are reasonably clean, not many folks around and some good photographic opportunities are to be had here!
Have fun and good luck,
Chris
Which airport hotel at PEK offers the best views of the ramp/runways?
Hello,
the Hotel Capital Airport International Hotel offers views of the apron and the westernmost runway. While in the past I think it wasnt possible to book it online, it seems that it is now possible and actually not too expensive. It should be possible to take pictures from the highest floor, though we can not give you detailed information if you have a view from some of the rooms or have to shoot from the hallway.
I have been informed that standing on the feeder ramps towards terminal 3 is now prohibited. This probably has to do with the car accident at Shenzhen Airport a couple of months ago.
Hi Chris,
thanks again for the update. We have already included the information in the guide and we suggest to use the parking lot for 01 in the afternoon. As for Spot #3, we will change the location and suggest to stand next to the small pond for the arrivals.
Spot 6 is not so good as appeared here – the hill where the photos were taken was temporary and now (Mar. 2015) it has totally gone. But still you can stand on the dike next to runway for pictures.
Hello Ming,
thanks for this kind of information, which really helps our guides! We have updated the guide accordingly and removed the hill as an option to shoot from.
Regards
Jan
Visited PEK 10th and the 11th of November during the APEC. Got sent away twice by airport police at feeder ramps for terminal 3. This probably had to do with the APEC . The last police officer I spoke to said, “today no, tomorrow good” as the APEC was coming to an end. They are very friendly but don’t push your luck. Pack up your stuff and head for another location(we did spot 2 at 01 both afternoons and didn’t get bothered).
Did not visit spot 6 because of prevailing winds, but it was confirmed by another spotter that getting to spot 6 is a very tough task!
I can also confirm that 36R is only used for landing in peak periods to alleviate 36L and 01. As stated above certain airlines have preferences for which runway they will want to use. But at peak periods ATC will filter them to any of the three runways.
Thanks for the update on the situation in PEK, Chris!
Regards
Jan