With Beijing being a massive connecting airport, it is likely you will end up spending a bit of time here during your route to your final destination. Flying from Washington D.C., to Taipei, Taiwan, I spent 14 hours in this airport without leaving my terminal. I was in the International Departures Terminal 3. Here are my secrets to survival:
Warm Clothes. This airport is absolutely freezing! Make sure you bring warm clothes or a blanket. I don’t know if it is always this cold year round, or if it was just due to it being Febraury and only being 24 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Either way, this would of been extremely useful information to have before I arrived. I’m sure all the other shivering overnighters would agree with me on that. Luckily, I took the blanket and pillow that my prior flight provided me with, knowing it would make my attempts to catch up on sleep much easier. That blanket was a life saver. If I wasn’t curled up with it, I was using it was a shaw while I walked around for extra warmth- this made a pretty big difference.
Sleep. Once you get passed the chilly temperatures, this airport is extremely easy to sleep in. There are several different shapes pieces of furniture for you to relax on. Long couches, full out recliner chairs, and many other oddly shaped sleeping options are scattered throughout the terminal. I had about 8 different sleep spots, some better than others. If sleeping out in the open isn’t exactly your cup of tea there is an hourly hotel located in the terminal. They offer a place to sleep that you can rent out by the hour or for the entire day. You can also get massages here. I personally didn’t partake in this amenity, but I sure wish I did.
Grub. If you’re looking for a bite to eat, you’ve got several options. There are some Western establishments for you such as KFC, Pizza Hut and of coarse Starbucks. But there are also several Asian places to grab a bite as well. I ate at the Crystal Jade Kitchen, mostly because it was one of the few places that was open when I arrived (they are open 24 hrs.) The food was fantastic and the service was impeccable. After gratefully reviewing a menu that had English on it, I decided on the Dan Dan Noodles and a warm Lemon Tea. Both were absolutely scrumptious. This was the first place to put my chopstick skills (that I had been so desperately trying to improve before I left) to the test- I nailed it! Made it look like I’ve been using those tricky things since birth. The prices were reasonable, and it was much warmer in here. I spent about two hours realaxing at Crystal Jade, reading and slowly enjoying my warm food. I highly recommend doing this because it made the time fly by. 
For breakfast I ate at Tai Hung. I ordered the hot Tai Hing milk tea and the noodle soup with luncheon meat and fried egg- roughly an US$8 meal. The milk tea was soothing and reminded me of the tea my grandmother would make me before school when I was young. The breakfast was huge! I am not entirely certain what luncheon meat is, and I am sure you know what I was thinking, but it tasted similar to spam or Vienna sausages. This dish made it much harder to show off my chopstick skills. What do I do with the huge chunks of meat and the egg? Do I pick it up with the sticks and take a bite out? There’s no way, my mom would kill me if she saw me using those manners. And what about this huge stalk of lettuce? It keeps slipping out of my chopsticks. I discretely cut my eggs and meat with the spoon, making sure nobody was watching because I highly doubt that’s the wat to do it. My chopsticks have fallen twice, once out of the bowl and once when they flung out of my hand onto the ground. Let’s just say I ain’t doing too hot. I look around at everybody else, the natives, in hope of finding the best technique to work these space gadgets they call utensils. Everyone is using them different- some closer to the top, closer to the bottom, middle finger tucked under, middle finger in between… I’m screwed. So I slurp up what I can with my spoon and leave the lettuce stalk, mystery meat, and unsuccessful noodles at the bottom.. I sip the last of my now warm milk tea and get outta there as fast as I can. Attempt #2- unsuccessful.
WiFi. As for the internet, don’t get your hopes up. There is free WiFi but I found it relatively difficult to set up and it is extremely weak. Luckily, it allowed me to access my imessages from time to time on my phone to let my family know I made it safe. If you can figure out how to keep your phone connected for more than thirty minutes, let me know. But unfortunately, checking messages was about all it allowed me to do. 
With that being said, don’t plan on checking into Beijing Airport on Facebook or catching up on your favorite Netflix series.
There are kiosks placed around the terminal that allow you to scan your passport and it will set up your WiFi account, they even have an English option. Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me so I went over to the information desk for assistance. I then received a password and step by step instructions on how to get it working. Make sure to do this before 8pm, when they close because they don’t reopen until 9am. I was able to reuse this password all night long. There is a booth that is open 24hrs and will allow you to purchase a WiFi pass for the day, but I recommend just using the free one if you are only looking to access your messages.
Chinese Architecture. Check out the authentic Chinese sculptures and buildings that are placed all over the airport. It is blatantly obvious that an extreme amount of effort and consideration was put into this airport.
There are beautiful sculptures,fountains, and structures for you to invest some time into while you wait for your flight. Some of them even have plaques explaining the meaning behind them. This is a great way to get in the Asian spirit if you intend on spending the rest of your travels in Asia.
Shopping. There are an abundant amount of duty- free shops for you to spend all of your moolah in. Most of the shops are higher end brands, but there are also a large amount of nicer souviner shops. In these shops you can find all sorts of Chinese trinkets and other items such as tea, chopsticks, and t-shirts. Make sure to get your shopping out of the way early, as the shops aren’t open very late. Fortunately, the shops open very early, most around 6:30am. I did all my shopping, well looking, right when the stores opened to avoid all the newcomers who haven’t spent their entire night here. You gotta watch out for these kooks. Running around, pushing you out the way to make sure they can sit at their gate 45 minutes before the plane boards
Charging. There are more than enough places to charge your devices in this airport. Luckily the outlets are universal, so no need to bring your adapter.
Water. Make sure to bring a refillable water bottle because there are machines to fill it up everywhere, providing both warm and cold water. I often drank the warm water to keep me from being cold. I would recommend bringing some packets of tea. If you forget your water bottle, there are drinking fountains as well. But the lines at the water fountains tended to get a little gnarly in the morning.
Meditation and Yoga Rooms. This was my personal favorite of this airport. 
There is a designated room for yoga, as well as one for meditation. I excitedly spent a decent amount of time in both. I did several sequences in the yoga room, which raised my body temperature, allowing me to escape from the cold for a little bit. For the most part, I had both rooms to myself although someone would walk in and then leave shortly after from time to time. This was the biggest consumer of my time in PEK, aside from sleep. It is on level below the gates with not much around it so you don’t feel uncomfortable or like everyone is watching you- that could also be because I was practicing at 3 in the morning, but whatever.
Showers. Yes showers and for free!! Located in the noticeably warmer bathrooms were showers that you could use at no charge. I totally suggest packing a small toiletries bag and taking advantage of this. There is nothing that feels better than a warm shower after you’ve been sitting on a plane for 13 hours. Except maybe walking onto your next flight feeling squeaky clean. Also, I’m pretty sure the people sitting next to ya will appreciate it too.
After 14 (what seemed like endless) hours in the Beijing airport, I can truthfully say I am ready to move on to the next place. I was fortunate to have such a long layover in an airport that somehow managed to keep me entertained the entire time, without even leaving my terminal. So if you’ve ever got some free time and feel like spending it in an airport, PEK is the one to do it in! Or ya know, if you’ve got a killer long layover in the midst of your travels.