Adventures in public transportation
In Shenzhen I really enjoyed using public transportation. I liked how it gave me a sense of independence, freeing me from having to flag down taxi cabs, which are never available when one is needed. My scope of the city increased with my ability to navigate the bus routes and (then rather small) metro system. I also liked the frugality of it, using my relying on buses to take me most places as a total justification for frequent visits to Starbucks. I only spent 4 kuai to get here, I would think, instead of 50 or more in a taxi. I can totally have an iced mocha.
I have had little opportunity to explore public transportation in these two years of living in Beijing, . A few times we did take a public bus, the express 919, from Changping to Beijing at the cost of only 6 RMB. The next-to-the-last time we took that bus I ended up sitting on the floor to nurse Brigid when no other passenger would give up a seat for me. It was the next-to-the-last time because I hadn't told Randy about it until the next time we rode this same bus. After that occasion, the last time we were on the 919, I had let it slip that at least this trip was better because only Myles had to sit on the floor and I actually got a seat. Randy probed, and I tried to sound amused that I sat on the floor of a public bus to feed Brigid. With a very exasperated sigh Randy asked me to reconsider taking the bus, and instead hire a car for those days I needed to go into the city. This has been a rather expensive option (hundreds of RMB), so we don't get into Beijing that often.
Earlier this year, though, the Beijing metro opened a line that currently ends just outside of Changping Town. Eventually, the line will extend all the way to the Ming Tombs area, with stops convenient to the downtown of Changping. Today, though, residents of Changping have to take a bus or taxi out to Nanshao. I've been excited to try out the new line, and see if our improved access to the Beijing Metro would allow me more flexibility to go into Beijing proper for so much less money than hiring a car.
Saturday Randy had to work, so it was the perfect time for Myles. Brigid, and I to take our Beijing Metro Adventure. Myles was very excited about this. He has always enjoyed riding buses and subways, whether we were in Pittsburgh, or New York, or Shenzhen, or Hong Kong or wherever. The idea that for 2 RMB per ticket we could ride anywhere in the entire Metro system was also a big motivation for me to master the challenge.
The cab left us off in Nanshao around noon. A few weeks ago we had driven out to the new Metro stop to see it so we were prepared for the feeling that we were being dropped off in the middle of nothing.
This is Nanshao, such as it is now, though it is not long for this world. The new phase of development of Changping will extend the urban area east from the existing town, swallowing up the villages and rural area in between. It can't be seen in this photo, but the construction is well underway between Changping and Nanshao.
Someday soon this street will be given over to commercial development and high rise apartments. Randy wagers that this is where the inevitable Starbucks will be located.
Of course, it is amusing to see the Metro entrances out here. It's almost as though someone dropped them here, in the middle of nowhere either on accident or with a sense of irony. There are even multiple, lettered exits that have not much anywhere to go yet.
Because this line is new, the trains run infrequently compared to the rest of the Metro. We were in the station nearly twenty minutes before we boarded.
Since this was the origin/terminus of the line, we had our choice of seats, though Myles enjoyed the liberty of standing.
(Anyone else want to sing with me, "Let's open up a restaurant in Santa Fe"? I'm looking at you, LC).
The first stop was Shahe University Park. This is the same station that is near Myles' friend Angelina's home. Angelina's parent have owned their (gorgeous) duplex in that area for several years, and for most of that time it seemed isolated and inconvenient. Now that the subway is running, construction around their housing estate has accelorated. Sometime next year, Angelina's mother has told me, that entire area will be developed on a scale similar to Tiantongyuan or Huilongguan with over 100,000 residents. It sounds like so much, but then considering that Beijing has more than 20,000,000 residents, it doesn't seem so big. I took this picture from the moving train, so it isn't the best, but it looks across what is now farmland out towards where Angelina's family lives.
Also served by the Shahe University Park station are at least five universities that have been relocated or expanded from other parts of Beijing. There's a new campus of Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing University of Aeronautics, the undergraduate college of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and the China Foreign Affairs University.
As the cars pulled into the next few stations, Shahe University Park, Shahe, Gonghuachen, and Zhuxinzhuang, passengers boarded but I noticed no on alighting. Somewhere after Shahe, Myles and I marveled at this view out the window. We passed by an enormous development of truly palatial homes. Myles' metric for grandeur, by the way: "They're all bigger than Ben Roethlisberger's house."
Life Sciences Park, the stop before the end of the Changping Line, was the first stop I saw passengers leave the train. I could not see well from where I was sitting but I think this may be the stop for the mall with the Jusco.
The end of the Changping line is at a station called Xi'erqi, where we had to change to Line 13. It took us more than 30 minutes to reach this station from when we started.
From there we took a succession of trains, with Myles' noticing that as the train number decreased, the number of passengers increased. We rode for hours, mostly because I misunderstood where exactly I really wanted to go. We ended up at a mall in Xidan called Joy City, looking for the new GAP, which was not there, because the GAP is a ANOTHER mall, also called Joy City, in a totally different part of Beijing. I called my friend Sarah, who rescued me, telling me that there was also a GAP in Wangfujing, three subway stops away from Xidan on the Line 1. I should have done my homework better to get to the right place more directly. Myles did not mind, he told me. He just enjoyed riding the subway.
When we had finished at the GAP (and Starbucks), Myles was ready to return home by subway. Brigid, however, protested this idea immediately, and pointed at every cab she saw. "I take taxi," she cried pathetically.
That cost so much more than the 2 RMB we would have paid to take the subway, nearly as much, actually, as I would have paid a Changping-based driver for the entire day. We were back in Changping in just under an hour. I don't think I could have taken another two hours on the subway either. I knew in advance that the Metro would not be stroller-friendly, so I went without, carrying Brigid much of the day. My arms and back are still sore from that.
I haven't totally abandoned the idea of using the Metro (even occasionally) as an inexpensive way to get around. Until Brigid is up to walking on her own power all of the time, though, we will be limited to shorter, more direct trips. I think for the time being, though, we will continue to hire a car for our excursions into Beijing.
I have had little opportunity to explore public transportation in these two years of living in Beijing, . A few times we did take a public bus, the express 919, from Changping to Beijing at the cost of only 6 RMB. The next-to-the-last time we took that bus I ended up sitting on the floor to nurse Brigid when no other passenger would give up a seat for me. It was the next-to-the-last time because I hadn't told Randy about it until the next time we rode this same bus. After that occasion, the last time we were on the 919, I had let it slip that at least this trip was better because only Myles had to sit on the floor and I actually got a seat. Randy probed, and I tried to sound amused that I sat on the floor of a public bus to feed Brigid. With a very exasperated sigh Randy asked me to reconsider taking the bus, and instead hire a car for those days I needed to go into the city. This has been a rather expensive option (hundreds of RMB), so we don't get into Beijing that often.
Earlier this year, though, the Beijing metro opened a line that currently ends just outside of Changping Town. Eventually, the line will extend all the way to the Ming Tombs area, with stops convenient to the downtown of Changping. Today, though, residents of Changping have to take a bus or taxi out to Nanshao. I've been excited to try out the new line, and see if our improved access to the Beijing Metro would allow me more flexibility to go into Beijing proper for so much less money than hiring a car.
Saturday Randy had to work, so it was the perfect time for Myles. Brigid, and I to take our Beijing Metro Adventure. Myles was very excited about this. He has always enjoyed riding buses and subways, whether we were in Pittsburgh, or New York, or Shenzhen, or Hong Kong or wherever. The idea that for 2 RMB per ticket we could ride anywhere in the entire Metro system was also a big motivation for me to master the challenge.
The cab left us off in Nanshao around noon. A few weeks ago we had driven out to the new Metro stop to see it so we were prepared for the feeling that we were being dropped off in the middle of nothing.
This is Nanshao, such as it is now, though it is not long for this world. The new phase of development of Changping will extend the urban area east from the existing town, swallowing up the villages and rural area in between. It can't be seen in this photo, but the construction is well underway between Changping and Nanshao.
Someday soon this street will be given over to commercial development and high rise apartments. Randy wagers that this is where the inevitable Starbucks will be located.
Of course, it is amusing to see the Metro entrances out here. It's almost as though someone dropped them here, in the middle of nowhere either on accident or with a sense of irony. There are even multiple, lettered exits that have not much anywhere to go yet.
Because this line is new, the trains run infrequently compared to the rest of the Metro. We were in the station nearly twenty minutes before we boarded.
Since this was the origin/terminus of the line, we had our choice of seats, though Myles enjoyed the liberty of standing.
(Anyone else want to sing with me, "Let's open up a restaurant in Santa Fe"? I'm looking at you, LC).
The first stop was Shahe University Park. This is the same station that is near Myles' friend Angelina's home. Angelina's parent have owned their (gorgeous) duplex in that area for several years, and for most of that time it seemed isolated and inconvenient. Now that the subway is running, construction around their housing estate has accelorated. Sometime next year, Angelina's mother has told me, that entire area will be developed on a scale similar to Tiantongyuan or Huilongguan with over 100,000 residents. It sounds like so much, but then considering that Beijing has more than 20,000,000 residents, it doesn't seem so big. I took this picture from the moving train, so it isn't the best, but it looks across what is now farmland out towards where Angelina's family lives.
Also served by the Shahe University Park station are at least five universities that have been relocated or expanded from other parts of Beijing. There's a new campus of Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing University of Aeronautics, the undergraduate college of the Central University of Finance and Economics, and the China Foreign Affairs University.
As the cars pulled into the next few stations, Shahe University Park, Shahe, Gonghuachen, and Zhuxinzhuang, passengers boarded but I noticed no on alighting. Somewhere after Shahe, Myles and I marveled at this view out the window. We passed by an enormous development of truly palatial homes. Myles' metric for grandeur, by the way: "They're all bigger than Ben Roethlisberger's house."
Life Sciences Park, the stop before the end of the Changping Line, was the first stop I saw passengers leave the train. I could not see well from where I was sitting but I think this may be the stop for the mall with the Jusco.
The end of the Changping line is at a station called Xi'erqi, where we had to change to Line 13. It took us more than 30 minutes to reach this station from when we started.
From there we took a succession of trains, with Myles' noticing that as the train number decreased, the number of passengers increased. We rode for hours, mostly because I misunderstood where exactly I really wanted to go. We ended up at a mall in Xidan called Joy City, looking for the new GAP, which was not there, because the GAP is a ANOTHER mall, also called Joy City, in a totally different part of Beijing. I called my friend Sarah, who rescued me, telling me that there was also a GAP in Wangfujing, three subway stops away from Xidan on the Line 1. I should have done my homework better to get to the right place more directly. Myles did not mind, he told me. He just enjoyed riding the subway.
When we had finished at the GAP (and Starbucks), Myles was ready to return home by subway. Brigid, however, protested this idea immediately, and pointed at every cab she saw. "I take taxi," she cried pathetically.
That cost so much more than the 2 RMB we would have paid to take the subway, nearly as much, actually, as I would have paid a Changping-based driver for the entire day. We were back in Changping in just under an hour. I don't think I could have taken another two hours on the subway either. I knew in advance that the Metro would not be stroller-friendly, so I went without, carrying Brigid much of the day. My arms and back are still sore from that.
I haven't totally abandoned the idea of using the Metro (even occasionally) as an inexpensive way to get around. Until Brigid is up to walking on her own power all of the time, though, we will be limited to shorter, more direct trips. I think for the time being, though, we will continue to hire a car for our excursions into Beijing.
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