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I am going to Guangzhou from Germany in November. My flight to Guangzhou is via Beijing which has a 6-hour break. I hold a Pakistani passport. Will I be able to enter Beijing during those 6 hours for some sightseeing?.

I guess the immigration will happen in Beijing, so there should not be any issue but I would like to know if someone has the experience. Remember that it is not a separate flight but a connecting flight. Like in Dubai there are different lanes for transfers and immigration. If you are on a transfer flight then you can not go towards immigration area and go to the area of your next departure. What it is like in Beijing airport? Will I still be able to go out for sightseeing in Beijing during those 6 hours?

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    In Dubai you were connecting to an international flight. That’s why you didn’t go through immigration.
    – Calchas
    Commented Sep 25, 2017 at 17:21

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Arriving from overseas, you will have to clear Immigration in Beijing anyway. You don't mention the airlines you will use, so it's hard to answer accurately, but most probably both flights won't even be in the same terminal either. If T3 is involved, then you'll have to take a shuttle bus too. So you definitely can visit Beijing. Just remember that checking in again and going to the gate can take a long time. Moreover, budget enough time from and back to the airport -- it is quite far.

EDIT

With your added details, I see that you'll arrive at T2 (Area B), and depart also from T2 (Areas E/F/G, see Beijing Airport Guide). However, you still have to go through immigration, pick up you luggage, and go through customs, then check-in. See International to Domestic Transfer. Once you're checked in, you'll have spent already 1.5 to 2 hours. That leaves you very little time to see Beijing. If I were you, I wouldn't try it.

Also, a note about checked-in luggage: rules for international flights and for Chinese domestic flights are not the same. Not only the number of luggage pieces you can take, and the weight, but also large liquid bottles have to be packed separately from your luggage, and inspected visually by the airline staff at check-in. They will be put in the cargo hold too.

If you buy bottles at the duty-free in Germany, or if you pack some in your luggage before departure, you will have to take them out, and check them in separately for your China Southern flight. There are packing corners in the airport terminals -- usually a nice little circus in itself. My advice would be not to bring any (large-ish) liquids with you. Or lighters. Lighters are forbidden on Chinese flights, and will be confiscated.

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  • I will arrive by KLM and then take China Southren to Guangzhou. I just want to have a quick trip to the wall and back. How much time shall I leave for domestic check in.?
    – MIQ
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 12:29
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    If you only have 6 hours forget about the Wall. One hour each way from the airport by taxi to downtown; one hour each way for immigration, customs, maybe also luggage. You really only have two hours in Beijing proper.
    – TheGrouch HK
    Commented Sep 26, 2017 at 16:42
  • If you took a car from the airport directly to the wall it's an hour each way, so you could feasibly have two hours at the wall.
    – ajd
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 14:02
  • @ajd True. PEK to Badaling ain't that far, but that assumes the person doing that knows what he's doing – which I assume isn't the case.
    – TheGrouch HK
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 14:10
  • Woah there, the person doing that is on a Q&A site, so presumably it could be explained to them what to do. Actually the web reveals some organized "layover tours" to Mutianyu, advertised as lasting 4 hours, which might be a good option.
    – ajd
    Commented Sep 27, 2017 at 14:41

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