Beijing Subway Gets Americanized -- Longer Service Hours, US English Announcements

by DavidFeng | August 12, 2008 at 02:32 am

1099 views | 25 Recommendations | 23 comments

Two quickies that show you that the Beijing Subway is getting more American than anything: first off, after pulling off 24-hour services from August 8 through 9, 2008, the Beijing Subway is now extending its service hours all the way into nearly 2 AM. The first train on the system, by the way, runs a few minutes before 5 AM, making that something like 21 hours of Subway service, non-stop. Gaps between one train and the other are also on the short side: 2 minutes and 30 seconds at peak hours for Lines 1 and 2. The Airport Express, too, is running late -- as in extending its services well into the next day.

As if mimicking (or attempting to mimic) NYC's 24-hour Subway system wasn't enough, Lines 1 and 2 are now featuring new announcements in -- American English. The former stoccato Chinglish accent is history; in comes the new Ms Lines 1 and 2. Apparently, an update to the prerecorded announcements to give new the new Line 10 and Airport Express airtime (as existing lines link to the new Subway routes) was the excuse for the accent Americanization of the Chinese capital's rail transit system.

238

0 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | Digg | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

LeahAndMark.com

at 06:54 on August 12th, 2008

LeahAndMark.com spent the month of April traveling through Beijing and China's rural countryside.

LeahAndMark.com has contributed a photo to this story.

julianw

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:22 on August 12th, 2008

Thanks David. Its great to hear a local perspective on Americanization in China.

indigo11

at 08:18 on August 12th, 2008

a transport connects to the airport line station

indigo11 has contributed a photo to this story.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:21 on August 12th, 2008

DavidFeng, I like this story. It's good stuff.

amyjudd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:26 on August 12th, 2008

DavidFeng, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Great post - thanks!

septuagesima

at 09:25 on August 12th, 2008

I see that the Beijing subway has recently had great benefits, including extensive development and better service ... but how, bar a slightly American drawl in the English language announcements, does this constitute Americanisation rather than, say, Anglicisation, Europisation or just modernisation?

noahunsworth

at 12:31 on August 12th, 2008

I took this in Beijing, August 2007, on my trip to China.

noahunsworth has contributed a photo to this story.

akoo

at 14:28 on August 12th, 2008

This was one of the newer subway stations in Beijing. Being from New York City where the subway stations are very old and rundown, I was really impressed with this subway station and had to take a picture of it to show the folks back home.

akoo has contributed a photo to this story.

Yingzhe

at 15:20 on August 12th, 2008

I found this photo from Internet 2 months ago, hope to bring convenience to people come through the world. Welcome to Beijing, and enjoy the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Yingzhe has contributed a photo to this story.

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:31 on August 12th, 2008

DavidFeng, welcome to NowPublic! Thanks for posting!

biggei (not verified)

at 16:12 on August 12th, 2008

I completely agree with septuagesima. Beijing service standards have (and still are) improved a lot, but this doesn't make it "americanized".

Quite an arguable use of adjectives, Mr. Feng. I'm sure a lot of Beijing's citizens would find it quite offensive.

West Zest

at 17:06 on August 12th, 2008

morning,beijing Fuxinmen Subway exchanger station,lot of men

West Zest has contributed a photo to this story.

SonyaSonya

at 17:35 on August 12th, 2008

This video was taken in 2006.

It's interesting to know that the story is filed by David Feng, because I actually interviewed him in 2004 or 2005 in Beijing about an Mac fan association organized by him. What a small world. :-)

SonyaSonya has contributed a photo to this story.

savvybird

at 20:13 on August 12th, 2008

savvybird has contributed a photo to this story.

djtkdmaster1

at 21:06 on August 12th, 2008

The Subway is very efficient way to get around in Beijing. I can not wait to go back and use the other 10 subways that are running now with the Olympics.

djtkdmaster1 has contributed a photo to this story.

barihenrich

at 23:09 on August 12th, 2008

Beijing subway system

barihenrich has contributed a photo to this story.

lee_on_the_road

at 05:20 on August 13th, 2008

The Beijing Metro has expanded rapidly over the last few years. The recent addition of electronic ticketing as well as new lines (5, 8, 10 and Airport Express) have really turned the subway into a world-class facility.

I read in a publication recently (unfortunately I cannot remember which one, might be China Daily) about the competition that Beijing Metro ran to choose the voices for the electronic announcers, all of which I think may be Metro staff.

It would be a shame to lose the lovely Chinese female voice that has accompanied my family and I on our journeys around Beijing, so I hope that the voice will remain a Chinese one.

The announcements are so well known by my family that my children (two of which are in one of the photos here) can recite them quite well in Chinese as well as their native English!

Lee

j.d.ripper

at 14:40 on August 14th, 2008

from my stream :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nigels/

j.d.ripper has contributed a photo to this story.

pureamber

at 04:16 on August 18th, 2008

-photo by Amber Roussel

www.pureamber.wordpress.com
"Be the change you wish to see in the world." -Gandhi

heimtommy

at 05:19 on August 19th, 2008

I was in Beijing just about a year ago, and I thought the subway system back than was OK, however was not as good as the one in Shanghai.
Although I heard numerous reconstructions (and new line openings) will take place prior the Olympics would take place I was expecting something better.
One thing for sure: LOT of people are using the subway in the Chinese capital!

heimtommy has contributed a photo to this story.

paper-cup

at 09:03 on August 24th, 2008

I like to take photos with long exposure and this shot from the moving train in combination with the idle person is one of my favorites.
Enjoyed my stay in Beijing very much.

paper-cup has contributed a photo to this story.