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| Beijing - Ten lines up and running now, much of it coming up before the Olympics. We used it pretty extensively. Dawanglu was our stop. |
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| Every entry and exit is well boarded in Chinese and English, and even directionally-challenged me had little problems navigating. |
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| The daily fare card - 2 Yuan to anywhere. So that's roughly Rs 40. I pay Rs 35 from Thiruvanmyur to Gemini on an AC MTC bus here, so it was really not expensive, especially when we went all the way to Summer Palace!! |
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| Pavement stalls, Beijing style. A lot of clothes, bags and accessories, and bargaining is the order of the day. |
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| I love the way this rolls in my mouth! |
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| Four Chinese characters and so many alphabets!! |
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| A movie thats coming out with an India connection - Monkey King - something about the search for the Buddhist scripts in India. (Seen on an over-the-ground bus ride!) |
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| One northern station from where I went to the Beihai Park |
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| A hutong visit is a must-see we didnt. I peeked down a few, here and near Tianmen. |
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| A neighbourhood which looked lovely and Chinese as I emerged from the Beihai station |
On to Xi'an
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| South Beijing Railway Station - Arrivals and Departures |
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| The waiting rooms. Different halls for different sets of platforms. Only once boarding is announced were we allowed on to the platforms. |
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| Only ticketed passengers allowed on the platforms. So, no waving goodbye parties! |
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| What a wondrous sight - clean tracks |
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| We were astonished at the Xi'an network as well. The trains were a trifle less frequent than that in Beijing but also a little less crowded. |
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| Two yuan to anywhere, here as well! |
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| That little icon next to the station name, indicating that this is the stop for Wild Goos Pagoda. |
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| More delightful names. And the icon was for the Bell Tower |
The only problem with travelling below the ground is that you miss the flavour of a city, and only discover the destinations.
But if it wasnt for the network and the speed of travel, I wonder if we could have seen so much in so little time.
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