In an effort to further clean up the Beijing Subway, authorities are now imposing several new regulations that aim to crack down on “uncivilized” behavior.

The new regulations, which came into force on Wednesday, target behavior such as entering the subway without a ticket, occupying multiple seats, eating on the train (unless you’re an infant), and selling products or engaging in marketing activities, according to a document published by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport.

Certain regulations that first came into effect in 2016 have also been updated and now not only include restrictions on smoking but also a ban on the use of e-cigarettes, using folding bikes or hoverboards, lying down, playing loud music, loitering, and taking advantage of the sweet sweet air conditioning (it will be interesting to see how they determine that one). Additionally, people who refuse security checks will be unable to enter the subway, according to China Daily.

Anyone caught lounging or ducking gates will be docked personal social credit points, which may result in the individual being banned from public transport and even prohibited from flying or taking trains. Luckily, perpetrators can earn back the state’s trust by devoting volunteering hours to the very service they sullied: the Beijing Subway! Fun.

For us foreigners, there’s still no word on how infringements will affect our score, or if we even have one at all. Either way, many are too busy dodging the police on our unregistered scooters above ground to be concerned with what’s happening down below.

Image: Weibo

Residents in the Xingfucun area near Sanlitun had a nasty shock earlier this week when they discovered that they are likely to be without hot water for five months, apparently due to street works to repair underground water pipes. The planned works are due to begin Apr 1, and last until Sep 2, a period of five months in total.

READ: Why the Bathroom in Your Chinese Apartment Smells Awful (And How to Fix It).

News of the outage was first shared in a local community WeChat group, with residents posting pictures of a notice that appeared in Glory Gardens (Jinxiuyuan) on Xingfucun Zhonglu on Tuesday, Mar 26. The same notice was quickly spotted in other nearby buildings, including the large Lianbao Community, which is home to a high number of expats.

So far, we have confirmed that the works will affect numerous communities within the two-block radius between Dongzhimen Outer Street (north), Workers’ Stadium North Road (south), Xindong Road (east), and Chunxiu Road (west). Scroll down to the bottom of this post for a full list of the buildings that look to be affected.

The area that will be affected by the hot water outage

Residents in the area, which is home to many foreigner-friendly businesses, are being instructed by their respective building managements to buy and install their own wall-mounted, or floor-standing electric hot water heaters. It is unclear if the costs will be reimbursed by building management, landlords, or to be covered by the residents themselves.

Calling the number listed on the notices, we were informed that the outage was due to planned street works on underground water pipes in the area. The man we spoke to, a representative of Beijing District Heating Group, the company responsible for the work, added that “the reason that we gave the notice now is to allow people time to prepare.” Many have complained that one week’s notice before five months of no hot water hardly constitutes a forewarning.

The notice attributes the works to ‘main line,’ although references to “外闵” or “外网” are unclear

The announcement comes just weeks after construction barriers, which had been in place for over a year, were finally removed from Building 55, Xingfucun Zhonglu, in front of popular burger joint Cannon’s, 50/50 cocktail bar, bakeries Comptoirs de France and There Will be Bread, and other F&B outlets. Joy at the removal of the ugly metal sheeting was tempered by the knowledge that the street is frequently being dug up, and would likely be in construction phase again soon. This caution appears to have been well founded.

Various local businesses who we reached out to said that they had been unaware of the impending works. Richard Ammerman, marketing director of Jing-A, said that the brewpub has its own 1,000-liter boiler and so is not reliant on the public hot water supply. “Ours is all from electric heaters we control, so all good,” he added. Paddy O’Shea’s Manager Paul Rochon stated that the works would not impact Paddy’s but added, “I live there too… that’s more of a problem for my daily shower… [but]I don’t really care, because I have boiler for hot water.”

Meanwhile, Sophie Trentesaux, marketing manager of Comptoirs de France, appeared to be the only business who had already been informed of the issue, stating, “it’s really annoying! But it’s ok for Comptoirs de France Xingfu, it will not impact anything. The only issue we have is to wash the dishes but we bought a machine to warm up the water.” David Li of Red Rose also stated that his business would not be affected.

While the Beijing District Heating Group representative maintained that the works are related to underground water pipe repairs, others speculated that they may be due to construction works on the Sanlitun Line 17 subway station, which is slated to open later this year. Regardless of why the outage is happening, it seems like some residents are in for an especially sweaty summer.

So far we can confirm that the following buildings and communities will be affected: Lianbao Community, Jiezuo Building (Just Make), Gangwanting, Glory Gardens (Jinxiuyuan), International Wonderland, Shimao Gongsan, Shoukai Bojun.

We will update this story as news develops.

READ: High-Rise vs. Hutong: How to Choose Your Perfect Beijing Apartment

This article first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger.
Photos: Pexels, WeChat

Do you have an upcoming family-friendly event that you want to be included in our listings? Maximize the reach of your event and promote it on beijingkids!

Let us know by leaving your message in the comments section below or by emailing us at webeditor@beijing-kids.com. Follow us on WeChat (ID: beijing-kids) or join our family events WeChat group by sending us your WeChat QR code. Please note that readers should confirm with each organizer if events are canceled or scheduled as planned. For more events that may not be included in this list, please check our Events page.

Transportation in Beijing is convenient and relatively cheap if you can get around the traffic. However, newcomers might shy from hailing taxis on their own due to the language barrier (the prospect of having to speak Mandarin), or a fear of being rejected by a cabbie (due to his fear of having to speak English). Fortunately, ride-hailing and rental transport mobile apps have become more commonplace. In this guide, we outline the basics of the most foreigner-friendly private ride-hailing and bike rental apps, as well as tips for a more pleasant subway journey in Beijing.

Ride Hailing

神州专车 (Shénzhōu zhuān chē)

Different from Didi, 神州专车 is better known for its car-renting services and long-distance commuting, although it also provides a ride-hailing service like Didi’s. It accepts booking in advance; for example, if your flight is landing in three hours, you can book a pick-up via the app according to your schedule. Its renting service means you can rent a car with a professional driver for a specific time period. It can be a lifesaver when you’re moving cities with lots of belongings, especially with pets.

Didi (滴滴出行 dī dī chū xíng)

Didi provides a ride-hailing service within and outside China. To book a ride, you need to choose your pick-up and drop-off locations. You can add and save frequent destinations for future rides. Once matched with a driver, you will be able to see information about the driver and the vehicle. You can also check the route your driver takes to pick you up, as well as the driver’s estimated time of arrival, and real-time traffic conditions. An in-app messaging feature allows easy communication with your driver. Instant IM translation between English and Chinese is also available when you use the feature. Pay directly through the in-app payment (Alipay, WeChat pay, and credit cards work) feature or in cash (taxi only).

Bike-Sharing

Bike-sharing apps have taken Beijing roads by storm, having become one of the most convenient ways to commute in the city. For only a minimal rent, you can just scan a QR code on a bike then go. After two years of fierce competition, currently two bike-sharing companies are leading the market—Mobike and Ofo.

Mobike and Ofo

Ride Like a Local

Besides ride-hailing and bike-sharing, the Beijing Subway might be your best bet for commuting. Even though it gets super crowded during peak hours, it’s still a better choice than taking a taxi, with a high risk of traffic jams. That’s why Metro China Subway is a godsend. It’s a very helpful app which provides an accurate Metro map and information, and route planning including route, time and fare information. No network connection is needed.
Also, when riding buses or taking the subway, you need an 一卡通 (yīkǎtōng), a public transportation smart card. Scan the QR code for more on the Yīkǎtōng card, and on how to ride a bus or take the subway like a local.

This article appeared on p50-51 of the beijingkids July 2018 Home & Relocation Guide issue.

Living in China, it’s easy to take for granted how easy life is thanks to the rapidly evolving mobile app market. There’s just about an app for everything to help make a life a little bit more convenient. Below is my selection of commonly used apps that provide various services including ordering food, online shopping, and easy to use mandarin dictionaries to guarantee a bit of ease as you settle into your new life in China.

Alipay
Alipay is one of the two most-used online payment apps—the other is WeChat pay. Almost everything can be paid by Alipay once you get your bank account linked: ordering food, booking train or flight tickets, or paying the electricity bill… It’s truly life-changing! Besides this, without Alipay, there is no Taobao.

Air Matters
Sadly, air pollution is still a problem that haunts Beijing from time to time. As such, getting real-time air quality information from Air Matters becomes a part of the daily routine for people living in the city. This app informs you when to wear a pollution mask as it monitors the PM2.5 concentration in the air at any given moment.

Sherpa’s
Sherpa’s provides a food delivery service but only works with top quality restaurants, which means a less wide range of options compared to its Chinese-language counterparts but mainly consists of western-friendly selections. Sherpa’s couriers are trained to ensure a quick, courteous, and correct delivery. Currently, it is only available in Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou. They also have an online website for convenient access.

Pleco Chinese Dictionary
Pleco is probably the best offline Chinese – English dictionary. It integrates dictionaries with an amazing amount (over 110,000) of frequently-updated entries and example sentences with Pinyin, document reader, flashcard system with fullscreen handwriting input, and live Optical Character Reader (OCR). It also includes audio to help your pronunciation and displays stroke order diagrams showing you how to draw each character.

Metro China Subway
Metro China Subway might be the most helpful metro app that provides accurate metro maps and information, route plans that include time and fare information. No network connection needed. It covers most big cities in China such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, and Tianjin. As subways grow and become more popular and more convenient to use, this app is a must-have.

Ctrip
Ctrip is loaded with everything you need for going on a perfect holiday—flight and train tickets, hotel reservations, and even whole holiday packages according to your budget. You can narrow the search results for hotels with handy filters such as price range, city districts, and facilities, and reviews from verified hotel guests will help you make a better choice. For flight bookings, you are also able to find cheap flights by filtering the price, duration, departure, or arrival.

Dianping
Dianping, which is essentially China’s answer to Yelp, offers guides for living and entertainment including restaurants, hotels, cinemas, and bars, through basic information and an interactive comments section. You can check the app for the reviews and recommended specials before you choose a restaurant, helping you and the family to avoid unpleasant surprises. Additionally, paying through the app usually grants you a discount. (Chinese-only)

XE Currency Converter
All the world’s currencies at your fingertips! XE not only provides live exchange rates and charts, you can also set an XE rate alert to monitor your currencies for immediate notification. Live rates are refreshed each minute for every world currency and precious metal. It’s necessary especially during times when currencies drop and appreciate often.

Photos: PhotoMix Ltd. via Pexels.com, icons from Google play store and Apple store
This article appeared on p34 of the beijingkids July 2018 Home & Relocation Guide.

Your privacy in exchange for convenience: that’s the continuing trade-off the Beijing Metro commuters as the city’s public transportation system is set to introduce facial recognition technology to subway station entrances before the end of the year.

No specific details have been announced yet, but a subway spokesperson said the company plans to incorporate biometric authentication as part of subway entrance policies, thereby suggesting that commuters that allow their faces to be recorded and scanned may be allowed to cross subway security checkpoint without having to submit to a baggage search.

We cannot say for sure if this is the case; it could be that face-scanning may just be used as a way to pay for subway fares. And yet, this seems to be a safe bet when considering the way the city has long been looking to adopt this technology.

Last year, the head of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau said the city will promote the use of facial recognition technology at subway security inspection areas as a way to reduce waiting times for the public.

Besides using a transport card or paying for a one-way ticket, there have never been more ways for Beijing commuters to pay for their subway fares.

This past week, Beijing Metro formally adopted a QR system reading system that allows commuters to pay for fares using e-commerce systems like Alipay and WePay (shown above). In the 20 days since it was introduced last month, some 5.32 million Beijing commuters have used the service, mostly traveling on Lines 10 and 4.

The year before that, the Beijing Metro introduced a new feature that allowed Android users to bind their transport cards to their phones, a feature finally offered to iPhone users this past April.

Even though these new features are not mandatory, the Beijing Metro is unabashedly accepting that they are nothing short of necessary in light of the subway’s inefficient and crowded service. As a Beijing Metro spokesperson said, commuters who don’t sign up for the QR code service are forced to endure a 30-minute-long wait to buy subway tickets at certain stations.

Facial recognition technology is already widely-used throughout Beijing at train stations, airports, staffless convenience stores, fast food restaurants, universities, and public restrooms, and was even used as part of the Didi Hitch destination-sharing car ride app.

This post first appeared on our sister site, the Beijinger. See more stories from this author here.
Photos: Qihoo, Jieman

Commuters using Beijing’s metro system will soon be able to utilize mobile payment platforms including WeChat Pay and Alipay to pay fares with the city’s new transit app. The service launched on Apr 29 and is available on all but the Xijiao line, TechNode’s site is reporting.

The Easy Pass (易通行 yì tōngxíng) app will allow commuters to access the city’s metro system using QR codes.  It uses a “ride first, pay later” feature, in which fares are deducted only when leaving the station. Similar platforms have already been implemented in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Xi’an.

App users are also eligible to commute at the discounted rates of regular cardholders. After spending RMB 100 in a month,  subsequent trips are subject to a 20 percent discount. This increases to 50 percent after spending RMB 150. However, when spending reaches RMB 400, deductions no longer apply.

QR codes are one way of digitizing payments for commutes, but Apple takes a different approach. An iOS update released Mar 30 allows commuters in Beijing and Shanghai to pay fares using Apple Pay. The feature makes use of NFC technology in iPhones and Apple Watches, negating the need to open an app that generates a QR code.

Shortly after Apple’s announcement, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun reacted by saying his company’s smartphones can be used can be used to pay for public transport in over 60 cities in China. He said nine Xiaomi phones are NFC-enabled.

However, NFC-enabled devices are expensive, while QR codes are ubiquitous, making them an accessible medium for payments.

This post comes courtesy of our content partners at TechNode.
Photo courtesy of TechNode

Something in Beijing is celebrating its birthday today!

The city’s mammoth subway train network, officially called Běijīng dìtiě 北京地铁 (Beijing Subway), is celebrating the 48th anniversary of the day it opened to the public in 1969, making it China’s oldest subway network. It took 39 years — or the time of the 2008 Summer Olympics — before Beijing had a line going to the capital airport. Since then, the network has grown rapidly with 11 lines built in a span of eight years after the Olympics.

And since we started with a tidbit, let’s continue with some interesting details about the Beijing Subway.

At the time of writing, the whole network is composed of 19 lines, 345 stations (70 are above the ground), and 574km of track in operation. Construction on other lines and stations is underway, including four new networks that will link Beijing with Hebei Province as soon as 2021, according to China’s National Development and Reform Commission.

It’s massive and the busiest subway network in the world. According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Transport, the Beijing Subway’s annual ridership amounted to 3.66 billion in 2016, with more than 10 million people riding the trains every day.

Its busiest lines are Line 10 (the loop along the Third Ring Road), Line 4, Line 13 (the overground line), and Line 5, with authorities saying these lines “are all overloaded, sometimes at 120 percent of planned capacity.” That being said, the stations are notoriously crowded usually between 8-10am and 5-7pm, so you might need to prepare your survival instincts. In the morning, be prepared to smell something putrid coming from the mouths and the bodies of some passengers. Yikes.

The Beijing Subway uses the yīkǎtōng 一卡通 contactless fare smart card, similar to the Oyster Card of London’s transport system, the Octopus Card of Hong Kong and the Beep Card of Manila’s MRT/LRT. Yīkǎtōng, which literally means “one card pass,” can be also used for buses, public bikes, and the Airport Transport Express. The card can be bought with a RMB 20 deposit (and can be returned at selected stations) and be topped up in units of RMB 10 in reloading machines at subway stations.

The Yikatong card

Upon the development of the subway system, Chinese officials demolished the inner walls and gates of Beijing’s city fortifications. Some subway stations were named after the demolished gates like Xizhimen and Dongzhimen. And speaking of names, many of the stations have interesting meanings, just like the ones we’ve recently featured in our Subway Sunday column.

For tourists, there are stations that are just by or directly below some attractions. Line 1, for example, is what you will take when you want to visit the Forbidden City.

Underground art. Some wall sculptures on one of Beijing’s subway networks.

So there you go, those are the fun facts about this mammoth subterranean railway network in Beijing! With its continuous development, I’m sure there’ll be more interesting tidbits that I can share in the future.

If you know or want to share any story about subway stations or subway travel in general, let us know by emailing webeditor@beijing-kids.com or by leaving your comments below.

Photos: BJ News; Beijing Subway logo and Beijing Subway extension plan from Wikimedia Commons; Yikatong photo from ECCS; Andy Penafuerte III

See more of my stories here.
Email: andypenafuerte@beijing-kids.com
Web: coolkidandy.wordpress.com
Instagram: @coolkidandy

I have been waiting for the blue skies to come back to go to our next Subway Sunday station – to see a park that used to be the breeding ground for mosquitoes. Okay, so why on earth would we go to such place? On a clear day, you’ll get to see these vistas…

It was not until early this week that the air became breathable again so I visited Taoranting station on Line 4, just beside, uh you know, Taoranting Park (陶然亭公园 Táorán tíng gōngyuán). It’s located southwest of the Forbidden City.

It may not be as majestic as other imperial palaces in Beijing, but let me tell you: the park gives you a sense of what a “downgraded” Summer Palace is. Its namesake, 陶然亭 Táorán tíng, which means “Joyous Pavilion” in Chinese, is just one of the pavilions in the park that offers a nice view of… willows and a stagnant lake.

Other pavilions sit on top of hills, which wouldn’t look spectacular on any given Beijing day. But since I went to the park on a miraculous AQI 4 air day, I was treated with a calming but sleepy breeze, complete with dama singing high pitched Chinese opera repertoire and laoren talking about life and playing Chinese chess.

The view of Taoranting is underwhelming in today’s sense but in imperial times, it’s the only place where commoners could have a view of the city given it is sitting on a hill higher than most of the city fortifications. Also, common houses were forbidden to be on a level higher than the imperial palace. For ordinary people, it’s the only elevated ground to go – and this was important for them.

The Taoran Pavilion, which is technically now a part of a wider museum complex.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the pavilion was called “Jiangting” or Jiang Pavilion, named after a secretary of a government ministry. Its current name came from the inscription on a wooden plank, with characters 陶然 or “joyous.” According to China.org, the secretary wrote the calligraphy where the characters for the plank was drawn from, and that the word 陶然 he used was derived from a line of a famous poem during the Tang Dynasty:

更待菊黄家酿熟，与君一醉一陶然 (Gèng dài jú huáng jiā niàng shú, yǔ jūn yī zuì yī táorán)
Let us wait until the chrysanthemums are golden and our home-brewed wine matured, then with us all shall be intoxication and joy.

This passage depicts the joy of people who went to the hill during the Double Nine Festival, or the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, a tradition when people “ascend to a high place.”

A closer view of the wooden plank that shows “陶然亭” (spelled backward in calligraphy style)

Anyway, as for some tidbits of nonsense that I collected from asking some people (aka students who asked the staff), the pavilion overlooks somehow attractive views in the imperial and current times…
– To the north were common houses; today they’re high-rise apartments.
– To the east were desolate tombs as the whole area used to be a cemetery. The park is directly south of Caishikou execution grounds and Xuanwumen, or the “Death Gate” (which I featured in a recent Subway Sunday)
– To the northwest, you can see a shallow, non-flowing lake full of lotus and reed.
– To the south were city walls; today it’s a big road that occupies the southern area outside of the park.

The 风雨同舟亭 Fēngyǔtóngzhōu tíng (Wind and Rain Pavilion) overlooking the lake

I wouldn’t go into details about the history of each pavilion (there are 24), but according to the park introduction, Taoranting is one of four most famous pavilions in China (it didn’t say more about the other three, though).

And despite being famous, the area wasn’t maintained during imperial times, so that the lake became stagnant and a breeding ground for mosquitoes. China.org adds that the thick forest was a place for criminals while the pine trees there were used for, uh, suicides by hanging. It was not until the park’s formation in 1952 that the area was rebuilt and converted into a park., becoming a “municipal priority and a protected site” in the city. Replicas of pavilions from other parts of China were subsequently added during the reconstruction.

A panoramic view of Taoranting Lake just before sunset.

So there you have it! If you know or want to share any story about subway stations or subway travel in general, let us know by emailing webeditor@beijing-kids.com or by leaving your comments below.

Photos: Andy Penafuerte III

More stories by this author here.
Email: andypenafuerte@beijing-kids.com
Instagram: @coolkidandy