It is convenient to come to Beijing.

There are direct flight connections between Beijing and several main cities all around the world, such as Frankfurt, Paris, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Macao, Osaka, Seoul, Singapore, etc. It is also convenient to transfer at other cities of mainland China, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc. There are direct connections between Beijing with almost all the main cities of mainland China, either by flight or by train.

SETTA 2016 is hosted by the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Science; the conference will take place in Building 5, room 334 Lecture Hall, 4th floor.

The cheapest and easiest way to reach the conference place is to take the subway. The trip takes around 1h and costs 29 CNY. From the airport, take the Airport Express and get off at the Sanyuanqiao stop, the exchange station with line 10. From Sanyuanqiao take the Line 10, direction counter-clockwise/Taiyanggong, until you get off at the Zhichunlu stop. Once you get off at the Zhichunlu station, follow the indications for Line 13 and, after going up the stairs, look for the indications for Exit A or B. In case you leave from Exits F or G, you have to go down to the Zhichunlu street (at car level) and walk west so to take the underpassage. After leaving the Zhichunlu station (Exit A or B), Building 5 of ISCAS is just 750m NW. To access it, enter the Zhongguancun Software park from either the south or the north gate.

From the Zhichunlu subway station to ISCAS, with road names in English.

From the Zhichunlu subway station to ISCAS, with road names in Chinese.

Beijing subway system: click on the image to get a full resolution map (original image from wikipedia, some right reserved).

A note about the subway ticket: you need to buy a ticket specific for the Airport Express at the automatic vending machines or at the ticket office in the airport for 25 CNY. During your commute at the Sanyuanqiao stop, you have to buy an ordinary subway ticket (at the ticket office or at the vending machines) costing 4CNY for the trip Sanyuanqiao -> Zhichunlu. The vending machines can be switched to English. If you use the vending machines to buy your ticket, it is recommended to pay with small-size banknotes (5, 10, 20CNY) so to be able to get a reasonable amount of 1CNY coins as change. Moreover, for small amounts, the larger banknotes (50, 100CNY) are not accepted.

Alternatively, you can choose to take a taxi. The trip takes around 1h and costs around 100CNY, unless you get delayed by the traffic jam. In the airport, take care to ride an official taxi by following the directions to the official taxi zone and ignoring every person offering you a taxi service for a fixed price. You can recognize official taxis by several signs: the number plate starts with "京B", there is a vignette with the price per kilometer (2.3 CNY/Km) on the back-seat window and a service supervision card of the taxi driver inside the taxi. Always ask to use the taximeter and get the receipt.

Download and print this card, so you can show it to the taxi driver whenever you want to reach ISCAS.

Beijing offers several historical and modern places worth of a visit including:

• the Forbidden City (now called the Palace Museum)
• the Tian'anmen square
• the Temple of Heaven
• the Lama Temple/Yonghegong Lamasery
• the Summer Palace
• the Old Summer Palace/Yuanmingyuan park
• the Ming Tombs
• the Beihai park
• the Olympic Park and the Olympic Forest Park

and many, many other places of interest, all of them easily reachable by subway.

The Great Wall in Badaling or Mutianyu is also worth of a visit; it can be reached by public transportation such as bus or even train (Badaling only).

For more information, you may visit the Beijing Tourist Information Center.