transportation by sybway (but not only) in China

This is the second part of the post I have written regarding moving around in Shanghai, Beijing and in-between. If you are more interested about the trains and planes you can get to get from city to city you should check that post first.

In this post I will post a few pics from the subway and try to explain a bit how one should get from place to place. Maybe someone who was thinking about going to China but had concerns regarding the means of getting around. Well, all those concerns were definitely misplaced. I cannot tell anything about other places besides Beijing and Shanghai – but I do plan to continue the research. Until then – I have to do a bit of praising for the subway systems in these two cities.

The main complaint I have – trying to start a post on a more critical note – is that the signs pointing to a subway station are not the same. There is no standard between the cities, so one can get confused at first. But once this little point solved, it is pretty simple.

The usual routine goes like this: find the subway station, pass through security check (x-ray bag check, and only in Beijing), buy one ride ticket from the automatic machine, go to the right platform, check the direction and how many stations are until the destination and wait for the train.

Short facts:

• station lists are writen in English and Chinese, both inside the train and also in the station
• trains arrive every 3 minutes on average, give or take
• try to avoid rush hours, if possible… it gets crowded
• it is mandatory to keep the ticket, it is the “getaway card” at the destination
• in Beijing a ride costs 2 rmb, no matter how many transfers
• in Shanghai it costs between 3 rmb and 8 rmb, depending on the distance and number of transfers (based on my guesstimation)
• each station has clearly indicated the exits leading to important sights – even when these are shopping malls
• each station has at least 2 entries / exits, some more. Shanghai’s People Square has 20 exits. It feels like an underground labyrinth. I got lost almost each time.
• all the trains have AC, which is the most important feature missing from subways in other cities I visited. It really makes the journey pleasant. I cannot stress enough how great this little feature is.
• there are audio announcements for each station, in Chinese and English, and also (generally) the side the doors open
• riding the train can be an interesting experience in human interactions – from out of town people confused at the system, to parents with kids which instantly become the center of attention, to people finding out in the last second they do have to get out.
• people have a general sense about the queue protocol, but there are still exceptions. In general getting in and out of a train is very easy, however huge crowds early in the day, late evening and in-between can complicate things.

All in all, the subway is the best, easiest, fastest and cheapest way to get from almost anywhere to anywhere.

Buses are far more complicated. The information in English is scarce at best, and the list of stations is somewhat confusing. That being said, they do become very useful for routes not very well served by subway. However their greatest problem is the fact they depend on the traffic quality. I avoided them as much as possible. However, that does not mean that if you know the line, and the sound of the correct station you want to get to it can be pretty good.

Tuk-tuks – the Thai invention that the rest of the world seems to adopt – are the way to get to places where subway and buss do not serve well.  From other people impressions they are far more tame than the ones in Bangkok for example, as in general the traffic here is organized in a good manner.

And last but not least, there is walking. Which I for one did with great pleasure. Both Shanghai and Beijing are cities very level, so walking is easy, simple because the street signs are very good and pleasant as one gets to experience the street life better.

As a final note I would have to say that getting around in China proved incredibily simple. It was a very pleasant surprise and truth is for tourists it is a transportation and orientation paradise.