Beijing - Subway

Okay, last post of the day - still have a couple more things coming from Beijing, but I think this is a good start. Posted lots so happy reading :)

The Subway is really good - well thought out, easy to use (in English and very straight forward) and very CHEAP. The traffic here is pretty bad, so it only makes sense to take the subway. When we first arrived, we wanted to head to the Olympic area so we decided to test our subway skills and take a ride.

The first two days were a breeze - we found our way around no problem and didn't have any issues. The third day was a bit of a different story. We wanted to head back to the Olympic area to see the Cube and Nest lit up at night. In order to get to that area you have to take three different lines and it take about 35-45minutes. Which isn't really too bad and we have been on enough subways to feel at ease. This time was a lot different - it was soooo busy and crowded. It was like the whole city was sleeping for our first two days and now everyone was back out. If you want to take the subway in Beijing get ready to put your elbows up and push your way through the massive amounts of people. You honestly have to push and push hard to get onto the subway and to get off. There are that many people trying to use it.

Even at 9pm at night, it was busy and seemed to only be getting busier by the minute. We were amazed by how many people were underground using the subway. I mean, in a city that big, it isn't really that surprising, but for us it was. And we aren't talking about a couple hundred people, if we were to guess, we would say that we were among a couple thousand people at some of the stations. Now for the crazy part - this isn't even busy. We just learnt on our tour that once all the kids go back to school it becomes 10x as busy. I honestly couldn't even imagine going underground if that was the case - I don't do well with that many people around me in a confined space haha. AND elderly people can't use the subway - it would be way too hard on them if they did, so the city allows for them to take city buses for free after the age of 60.

So if you are looking for a good experience, take the subway in Beijing during peak time. I'm glad I was with Arnold because he would act like my body guard and do all the pushing for us (BTW, he was LOVIN' the pushing idea haha - thought it was fun).

Love Melissa and Arnold

PS. The traffic in Beijing is horrible in certain parts. The day we were leaving, it took us 15 minutes to move one block. But it was because no one pays attention to the lights - they will block the intersection and not care. It was the first time we had ever seen true gridlock traffic. Cars were in the middle of the intersection going in every different direction. haha