By Subway|beijing travel

2009-03-26

The subway is a good way to quickly get around the city and a traveler can easily figure it out through the station maps and English signs and language. Be warned that due to the decrease in ticket prices the network is extremely overcrowded right now, especially on line 1 and at rush hour. Beijing now has eight subway lines (beginning August 1, 2008):

Line 1 runs in a straight line from the Western Hills through Tiananmen Square in the city centre to the eastern suburbs at Sihui. It follows Chang'an Avenue and connects major commercial centres, Xidan, Wangfujing, Dongdan and the Beijing CBD.

* Line 2, a rectangular loop line, traces the Ming-era city wall that once surrounded the inner city. Line 2 stops at each of the wall's 12 gates (ending in men), now busy intersections, as well as the Beijing Railway Station.

* Line 5 runs in a straight north-south line just east of the city center. It passes the Temple of the Earth, Lama Temple and the Temple of Heaven.

* Line 10 forms an inverted "L"-shaped half-shell to the north and east of Line 2. In the north, it follows the Yuan-era city wall, passing south of the Olympic village. At the Sanyuanqiao stop northeast of the city, Line 10 turns straight south and follows the eastern 3rd Ring Road through the embassy district and Beijing CBD.

* Olympic Branch Line extends straight north off of Line 10 with 3 stops in the Olympic Village.

* Line 13 arcs across suburbs north of the city and channels commuters to Xizhimen and Dongzhimen, at the northwest and northeast corners of Line 2.

* The Batong Line runs from Line 1's eastern terminus at Sihui East to even more distant suburbs in Tongzhou District.

* The Airport Line connects the Beijing Capital International Airport, 27 km northeast of the city, with Line 10 at Sanyuanqiao and Lines 2 and 13 at Dongzhimen.

Seven additional subway lines are under construction in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.

The subway station entrances are identified by a large blue stylized letter G wrapped around a smaller letter B.

Purchase tickets at the window. Note that if you want two tickets, do not show your thumb and index finger, the Chinese way to signify numbers is different from the west, thumb and index finger mean eight not two.

The subway ticket have cost 2 yuan since October 7, 2007. From March 2008 the flat fare of 2 yuan will be replaced by a new charge by distance similar to the systems used in Hong Kong and London. There is a pre-paid card system .There is a 20 yuan payment for the card. It can also be used for reduced-price bus rides.