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It’s on with the program. If you didn’t blink, you’ll know where we are — we just introduced Beijing’s Subway Line 10 last week. This shiny new Subway line will do an arc from Zhongguancun, Beijing’s tech hub, through to the CBD in eastern urban Beijing, when it opens in June 2008.

Last week, we went into painstaking detail about where Line 10 will run through. This week, we’ll dip into other topics — including how stations are designed, the new ticket barriers, and what the future holds for Line 10.

Yes, that’s right, ladies and gents. Please get ready for your arrival. (more…)

Just heard from my local Chinese friends that “an explosion” killed three people earlier this morning on one of Shanghai’s public transit buses (Route 842). Many of them are speculating that this may have been a terrorist attack (by none other than those dastardly Xinjiang “splitists” of course) while some have even expressed a certain apprehension with using the Shanghai metro now.

Speculation aside, the official media and police insist that the Line 842 incidient was not an “explosion” and just a “fire.” Initial coverage by Xinhua said it was an explosion but has since been revised to the bus having caught on fire.

Original Xinhua quotation at Shanghaiist:

At least three people were killed in a bus explosion in Shanghai at about 9:00 a.m. Monday, according to fire fighters who rushed to the scene.

The cause of the explosion is not yet known. (more…)

Beijing’s Subway Line 10, slated to open in June 2008, looks at first to be an arc line — the only arc line of its type when it opens. Having just been spoilt by a glitzy new Line 5 in October 2007, Beijingers are probably too deep into deciphering the new Mozart Line (as your Beijingologist calls it after the opening ceremony was accompanied by Mozart at every station) to note that three new lines — Lines 8 and 10, as well as the Airport Express — will be reality in just less than two months’ time. (As I always say — “please get ready for your arrival!”)

Click the image for a bigger map.

Line 10, at first, looks to be this odd arc running from northwestern urban Beijing through to the CBD. It looks a bit half-done, to be honest; it’s either an amalgamation of two lines or half a loop. But don’t let that throw you off: Line 10, when it opens, will be absolutely crucial to the Chinese capital. You’ll find yourself taking the new line more often than you think.

Don’t believe me? Hop along for a quick test drive.

What Line 10 Means To Beijing

Line 10 doesn’t exactly travel through new territory at first glance. Subway services already serve the southeastern part of the Zhongguancun region, as well as Shaoyaoju (a residential quarter not far from the University of International Business and Economics), and there’s a subway line underneath Chang’an Avenue. At first, there’s not that much excitement.

But wait — Line 10’s there for a reason. To get from the CBD to Zhongguancun right now, it’s a ride on three lines. With Line 10, you’ll just need to hop in from Guomao station and stay on the train until Zhongguancun, exiting at Haidian Huangzhuang station for Zhongguancun Avenue — that “big street” through China’s Silicon Valley (as they call it).

Line 10 doesn’t just add new spots served by the subway (much of the eastern 3rd Ring Road, as well as northern urban Beijing), it actually does a great job of joining existing lines and adding in a host of shortcuts and transfer stations. No doubt about it: once you’re on Line 10, you’ll wonder how the heck you made it through x-million transfer stations before the new line.

Who’ll Use Line 10 The Most

So who’ll use Line 10 the most? Off the top of our heads, we can think of quite a number of people…

• Line 10 will be big with commuters in the CBD, thanks to its unique geographical location — right underneath the eastern 3rd Ring Road and at the heart of the Guomao region.

• Line 10 will also be big with people headed to Zhongguancun. Up till now, they had to — in essence — “make do” with more-than-mediocre stops at Zhichunlu or Wudaokou — which is in the eastern part of Zhongguancun, away from the high-tech malls.

• Finally, Line 10 will be big with Olympians. This line links directly to Line 8, also known as the Olympic Branch Line. You’ll see a lot of Olympians headed on Line 10 come August 2008.

Good Connections

When Line 10 opens in June 2008, the new subway line will already link to 5 existing (or new!) lines: Lines 1, 5, 8, 13 (twice) and the Airport Express. When Line 4 (going through the heart of Zhongguancun) is reality by late 2009, we’ll have Line 10 linking up to 6 lines.

And the good thing is that two stations have already been built as “instant transfer” stations, where there’s, in essence, no need to walk into a super-long passageway (if you’ve ever changed from Line 1 to Line 2 at Fuxingmen station in central Beijing, you know what we mean!) If you’re transferring to Line 5 at Huixinxijie Nankou station, or if you’ll be headed to Line 4 at Haidian Huangzhuang station beginning autumn 2009, you’ll benefit from those “instant transfer” stations.

Other stations are quite a walk if you’re going from one line to the other — but they’ll be shorter than the average Swiss dog walk, with the longest transfer passageway — the one at Guomao between Lines 1 and 10 — no longer than 70 meters. Those of you with sprinty, long legs (like yours truly) will most likely be able to finish the walk in about a minute.

Due to the rather odd way the Beijing Subway network is laid out, Line 10 will miss transfers with Line 2 and the Batong Line. You’ll have to transfer via Lines 1, 5 or 13 to reach Line 2, and a quick trip on Line 1 at Guomao (heading east) is required before you’re on the Batong Line bound for eastern suburban Beijing.

Core Areas of Note — 1: Guomao and CBD

Line 10 starts very close to the Beijing CBD — its third stop from the present southernmost terminus, Jinsong, is smack in the center of the CBD, at Guomao. Unlike Line 1, which runs across the CBD in a west-east manner, Line 10 does the job north-south, delving deeper into the heartland of the CBD.

When it opens in June, there will be — for the first time — a subway station south of Guomao Bridge. (Presently, all exits are to the north of the mega-overpass.) This could come in hand for those who work at the Motorola Tower, or the China Merchants Tower, as all of these are to the southeast.

Line 10 will also link up (as previously mentioned) with Line 1 at Guomao. Due to the challenging conditions that made up the Line 10 bit of Guomao station, however, it’ll be quite a walk — about 70 meters. The technical details behind this: they had to dodge the hidden “poles” that were put in place when Guomao and Dabeiyao bridges were built. For the average guy on the street (or in the Subway), it amounted to as something as straightforward (or as difficult) as sticking in an extra Subway station without upsetting the existing Line 1 station or two bridges above ground. Not an easy task!

When the core part of the CBD opens (with Taiwan Center as the new centerpiece) after the Games, there will be direct links into the new buildings from the Line 10 part of the station, a bit like the direct link from the Line 1 bit into the China World Trade Center complex.

Core Areas of Note — 2: Eastern 3rd Ring Road, Hotel Area

Hotels and the eastern part of the 3rd Ring Road are in some kind of love affair. The Jinxin Hotel and the Kempinski up north near Liangmaqiao (near the Sanlitun embassy area), of course, starts the whole eastern part of the ring road off in Hotel Mode, and this is continue further south by the Kunlun Hotel and the Great Wall Sheraton. Hotels take a break at the National Agricultural Exhibition Center, but continue with the Zhaolong Hotel just minutes away from Sanlitun and the Bar Street. Further south are glitzier hotels a la the Jingguang Centre (one of those super-tall hotels), and — of course — the cluster around Guomao.

The eastern part of Line 10 as it stands, then, will probably be full of expats and incoming laowais (”me no like that term”… as I say…). Out-squashing them, however, will most likely be the local citizenry, especially around Guomao, as the eastern part of Line 10 is also home to what must be a million offices. Offices are particularly concentrated around the Sanyuan Bridge area (where the 3rd Ring Road meets the Airport Freeway) and the Guomao area (where the beltway runs through the heart of Beijing’s CBD).

Line 10 has two stops in the heart of the CBD — Jintaixizhao, which will also connect to the CCTV tower (a Rem Koolhaas creation), and Guomao further south. The CBD is also well served by Yong’anli and Dawanglu stations on Line 1.

Core Areas of Note — 3: Olympic Green

Line 10 just misses the Olympic Green, situated north of Beitucheng Crossing in northern urban Beijing (along the north-south axis), but it conveniently links to Line 8 at the Beitucheng transfer station.

The Olympic Green, then, is served until around 2011 by what is often termed the Olympic Branch Line of Line 10, which, in essence, is actually Line 8. This bit of the subway, however, will continue after 2008: the Olympic Village, in fact, has been sold out to the citizens (the average people in the street), thereby “recycling” the very village!

Further plans tell of the construction of commercial towers along the northern bit of the Olympic Green, just north of the National Convention Center (which is where the media will be situated during Summer Olympics). In “just a bit”, time-wise, we can expect the area around the Bird’s Nest to be a new commercial district. By now, you’re forced to concede that the guys who designed the Olympic extension were thinking for the long term — beyond the Olympics!

Core Areas of Note — 4: Zhongguancun

Heading further counterclockwise (or west), Line 10 finally ends up in the Zhongguancun area. Zhichunlu is the first stop in the region, as Line 10 links with Line 13, which runs close to the eastern Zhongguancun artery — Zhongguancun East Road. A stop further west, in Zhichunli, is more residential than high-tech, but the icing on the cake is Haidian Huangzhuang station.

The saying goes that “the best is yet to come”, and for Haidian Huangzhuang and for Zhongguancun as a whole, this is certainly the case. When Line 4 of the Beijing Subway opens in late September 2009, this very station will become a transfer station with Line 4. Line 4 is that bit more special — and more Zhongguancun, so to speak — because it runs right underneath Zhongguancun Avenue, past the heart of the tech hub, and even outside of the east gate of Peking University!

Next week, we’ll continue and finish our look at Line 10, by going into a few Line 10 stations. Stay tuned!

You are familiar with Subway Line 10, are you? It’s one of those new subway lines opening in about two months here in Beijing, and when it’s reality, you’ll be able to zip from Zhongguancun to the CBD in about half an hour. Eternally consigned to the history books will be those intolerable waits on the eastern 3rd Ring Road and bus rides that seem to take forever and a day.

I’d like to take a look at Line 10 today from an architectural point of view, or rather, point de vue. (Excuse my Français.) The average Line 10 station looks like one of these fellows below:

The Beijing Subway seems to be in box mode these days. Ever since the Mozart Line, or Subway Line 5, became reality in early October 2007, we seem to be in the Box Era, subway station design-wise. Boxes inside the 2nd Ring Road tend to get a bit more “traditionalistic”, blending in with the surroundings a bit more, while boxes outside the ringway look more like a mix between the Beijing Subway and Steve Jobs (as in that famous Apple “brushed metal” look). Above-ground stations look more like the designer got brainwashed with too much The Jetsons than anything else, with Beiyuanlu North looking especially way-out-there.

Most stations on Line 10 are of the boxed variety. However, the ones which also happen to belong to Line 8 look very different:

We’re not sure if these fellows are considering making all future Line 8 stations look like red roofs when the line gets extended further north (and south!) after the Games. From the looks of it, however, it looks like the Red Roofs are here to make a statement: “We belong to a very special era in the history of the nation’s capital!” (The Olympics!)

What we don’t get, however, is why no subway station was directly modelled after the Bird’s Nest… isn’t that supposed to be a Beijing 2008 icon instead? Ah well…

It’s Guomao. You know, that big “place” in eastern urban Beijing where everything’s supposed to make sense. Make sense as in economically. Financially. Commercially. OK, at 6 PM every weekday, the bridge at Guomao starts not making sense — as in a traffic jam (OK, not just one). But it’s rush hour. It makes sense. Again.

So everything at Guomao must absolutely make sense. Yes, we hear you. It also makes sense for futurologists and futurology-oriented Beijingologists that the core part of the CBD will be reality only after the Olympics. Makes sense (like I said) if you want to make people to keep on making sense of Beijing after 2008, when sports would have made its mark (made sense?) on the capital.

So hear me once again, absolutely everything at Guomao must make sense.

Except this.

Look at the image. Look at it closely. Get a magnifying glass out, or switch on Mac OS X’s screen zooming feature, if you’re not sure what you’re seeing makes sense.

Line 10 before Line 1? What is this, reverse mathematics?

Actually, this makes sense.

This, ladies and gents, is one of those Line 10 entrances to Guomao station, which will be expanded in the not-all-that-distant future to be an interchange with Line 1.

Still, this may not make real sense. I mean, seriously, why did they stick Line 10 in front of Line 1? Shouldn’t it be the other way ’round?

Actually, this is supposed to make perfect sense. They must have intentionally stuck Line 10 in front of Line 1, because this very entrance will first bring you to the world of Line 10 before letting you through to a passageway to Line 1.

When all’s said and done, Guomao may end up being one of the odder stations in the Beijing Subway system. 10 exits (7 open by the time the Olympics are in town) in all. A split central (or island) platform. And incredible architectural wonders — remember, they’re building this right underneath one of those incredibly difficult combo bridges!

Our hats are off to those who dared make Guomao not just reality, but also a bit of interchange reality.

And making sense of our daily commutes.

This is, of course, a more harmonious version of taking to the roads… if you’re thinking of stuff decades ago, you’re — going to have to readjust your Time Machine.

“You’re young only once.” A friend told me that once when I was 14. 12 years later, I’m beginning to realize that just four short years later, I will join the ranks of the slightly-less-than-young, get married, have kids, and — head for that Great Big Halfway Mark (aka 50). But while I’m still full of energy (without the Red Bull, thank you very much), here’s what I do all weekend long: drive around.

Yes, just like other young folks in the capital. To many (young and old), the privilege of driving was a remote possibility only about a decade ago, when steering wheel operations were more a profession and less an everyone part of life. In recent years, however, the number of drivers has exploded — as the administrivia have been less and less restrictive and, indeed, more and more folks have the time and money to learn — indeed — just how to make Beijing less a capital and more a carpital.

Onwards then, carpitalists!

Head Count

If you’re with me in ground zero (for 2008 at least) — central Beijing — do a real test drive: check out how many folks are out on the move in a car. Only those who “look young” count; but even here, you’d be more than surprised.

Probably the best sign that those folks like being mobile come in those weekend trips to suburban Beijing. A Mac friend pulled me to Mangshan Park out in Changping in November 2007; thanks to 12 years of Switzerland, yours truly pulled off the trick of being the first in the pack (we were about 10 to 12 in number) when we were dealing with mountainous terrain. What really was interesting, though, was how we got there. Five cars carried the whole gang — Nissans, Toyotas, you name it.

Signs that young folks in front of the wheel are making a real impact in the capital are no clearer than those you see in the evening hours. Young guy at the wheel, gorgeous girl next to him. (Yours truly is in that rank right now.) A trip out to the freeways. Think about it…! Liberté! Égalité! Velocité!

The Rise of Zijiache

Zijiache (自驾车) — in essence drive-it-yourself trips — is more and more the rage these days. Guidebooks about the less explored parts of Beijing now come with instructions on how to get there — intended for those who aim to complete the trip with their own set of wheels. In fact, a whole series of books intended for zijiache people are on the making — out already are guides to National Highway 108 and 312 (in Chinese only for the time being).

Unfortunately, the instructions you see in those guidebooks are of such a quality that — indeed, brought about the birth of projects like Beijingology. Terse instructions such as “turn left at the second roundabout”, and mixed usage of highway names and numbers, mean that those remote village in the west remain that bit more remote.

Still, zijiache is something new — and something to stay. The party is best, of course, if you gang up with two or three cars — a lot more friends — and someone like yours truly, who knows the way.

When I was first-in-line last November, I knew exactly how to get to Mangshan park: Badaling Freeway — Exit 13C — National Highway 110 — Municipal Highway 212 — Municipal Highway 214 — there.

Which you can probably expect only from the Beijingologist…

The Gear

The cars most of us (or folks around our age) buy makes me look like an executive recluse. Possibly because due to excess exposure to bosses, professors and all-that-more-serious people when I was a kid, I finished up with an “executive-looking” Nissan Teana. My friends have, on more than one occasion, commented that I look that bit older in the car.

Most of the younger population, though, come with a Volkswagen Polo or Golf, or a QQ (that’s also the name of car — not just an IM protocol!). Those who want it faster go for the manual version; those who want it super-speed (”super-size” somehow doesn’t fit the bill) redo the car so that its exhaust pipe is all that meaner.

The most executive car I’ve seen is from a friend who drives a Toyota Camry. But then again, there’s the age (and marriage) gap (although age-wise, never too much). Most young folks I’ve seen are on “young-ish” looking cars; to them, even cars like the Volkswagen Passat looks a bit too exec-like.

There’s another group of people who terrorize the street in Jeeps. Those with more money go for Porsches, or to really outdo the crowd, in Hummers. These guys are not easy to deal with; Mac user group members are of the opinion that a crash with these guys almost always results in death or serious injury for the non-Hummer party.

At the end of the day, though, no matter what your set of wheels is, you take the weekend off — and enjoy Mother Nature. And suburban Beijing.

You know, those mountains are actually out there for a reason…