When you see this map I bet you say, "Wow, this looks like a piece of cake!" Actually the subway is the easiest thing to navigate in the city. (Much easier than the grocery store) I put an X approximately where Beijing Normal University sits between lines 2 and the brand new line 10. To walk to the train (Jishuitan) takes approximately 15 minutes at New Yorker speed. Or you can wait for a bus. Everything in Beijing is bigger and more spread out than you could imagine in your wildest dreams
The trains are all marked with a map of the train route and usually a voice reads out the stops in English and Chinese. There are also video monitors that repeatedly play what I would characterize as Olympic music videos.
You can cross from train car to train car seemlessly.
There is of course much subway advertising geared toward the Olympics.
NOtice how the Coke mirrors the atheletes event.
Here I am in one air conditioned station. I have not gotten lost yet on the train but the trouble starts when you try to decide which exit to come out of. They are typically marked A, B, C, D. And if you get out at the wrong one then good luck becuase the intersection is almost always criss crossed with eight lane highways that you cannot see around.
Anyway, Blogs to come are the Paralympics and the Forbidden City.
3 comments:
i love the fact that everywhere you seem to go there are giant ads for fast food, AND i love your tshirt in that last picture. AND
i'm really excited about seeing pictures of the forbidden city.
since beijing is so spacious and all, what is the bike situation there?
Hi Rachel,
Thank you for being a regular correspondant. THe bikes are very numerous. All kinds, new, old, fast, slow. Usually with peole riding side saddle on the back. NO ONE wears helmets.
I bought that shirt from a street vendor. The rule of thumb is to haggle starting at half of what they asked.
Karen,
I am trying to figure out why you look different in these photos...it can't be the hair, maybe it is the t-shirts and then I realize - I usually don't see you outside in short sleeves! You are always protected with longer sleeves from the evil bugs or allergies or the sun- so what gives? No mosquitos in China? Or am I totally whackey???
Laura D.
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