A couple of things that might help when landing in Beijing Capital International airport... for those visiting during Olympics and others (international flights only)

Terminal 2 :
1. Have your paper(s) ready! The landing card is also stuck with the departing card these days. If you are just visiting for a few days, fill-in both while on the flight and make sure you got everything right. Keep your ticket stub with you just in case. The health paper is no longer in use and the customs one only needs to be filled-in if you have something to declare. Put the immigration paper(s) marking the page of the Visa on your passport... it does help the immigration Officer and you get through faster.

2. Run! Either from your gate or when left by the Bus, it is worthwhile to get to the immigration desks ahead of as many people as you can from your flight, since sometimes you get caught in what I call the "Perfect Storm", ie, several flights arrive at the same time.

3. Be nice and ask! When there are large queues, ask the officer(s) in front of the immigration desks (there is always at least one) if you can go to the National queues instead of the Foreigner ones. Most likely they will let you and my experience is that these lines - when there are a lot of people - are smaller than the Foreigner ones. You can use for instance "Ke yi ma?" pointing at the line you would like to join. Even if they say no, they will typically point you to another small National line.

4. Beware of the Russians! Sorry for the profiling (Russian people are in my experience typically very nice), but lines where there are Russian citizens in front of you tend to get larger as they progress... the issue is that more and more of their friends/family/acquaintances are getting in front of you. If you don't want to get into confrontations or the group is large anyway, I advise you to not go into those lines. Queuing is definitely not a Russian thing.

5. Pay attention to the closed queues/desks! Stay close to the closed Immigration desks. If the line is large, they typically tend to open so always pay attention to the 1 or 2 around your own line. When you see one open - and are still far from your objective - go for it even before they open the gate. Another trick is to stand in the first Foreigner queue after the National queues, because (1) if there is a closed one in-between, it will open at some point; (2) in case of low Chinese citizen traffic, sometimes the National one changes to Foreigner; (3) if you ask nicely, they probably will let you move to that queue if they haven't before.

6. Get a cart, your bags and go! If you need a cart and/or to pick up your bags, wait patiently or even assume they are already there. The handling is typically quite fast and more often than not, your bags will be our or coming out when you get to the baggage area. Go for the exit and don't stop unless you are asked by a customs officer to show your luggage.

7. Be smart! If there is someone waiting for you, tell him/her to wait outside the staff exit. It's the most direct exit without having to go through the whole sea of people trying to exit and also the ones trying to help them/pick them up. The officers are typically relaxed about you leaving through the staff exit and we thank them for that.

8. Beware of the cabbies! I prefer traveling with pick-ups to and from airport organized ahead of time, but some people don't. If you are in this group, be careful with the cabbies and agree the cost or ask for the meter to be on. If you pay more than 200 RMB to get to the "center" of the city, you are probably over-paying. They will add some charges for the toll for instance... so don't complain, since that is normal practice.

Terminal 3:
1. - 5. The same as above. Although the situation in 5. is less probable to happen, no harm is paying attention.

6. Go to the front carriage of the "train"! Go to the front carriage of the "train" linking you to terminal 3C. Two advantages: (1) less people go to that one, in particular the last door; (2) you will be ahead of everyone when stopping on the other side.

7. If in need, ask for support! Not sure there are (a lot of) buggies around the airport, but the airport is indeed massive. If you can't move well, ask for support from the ground team. The distances are quite large.

8. Same as above.

9. Enjoy it! I know you have come a long way, but T3 is an impressive piece of architecture. Its dimension is unique.