Category Archives: beijing

106 ways to say a Beijing Subway station

On our Shanghai metro map, visitors have long been able to listen to the sexy voice of Wang Jing reading out the station names:

[audio:http://www.exploreshanghai.com/metro/sound/35.mp3]

So that our female listeners do not feel left out, we thought we’d better have a guy for the Beijing map. Several days later, all 106 stations now have recordings by our very own Shaun Tang!

[audio:http://www.explorebj.com/subway/sound/10017.mp3]

On the ExploreBeijing subway map you can now hear a spoken Mandarin pronounciation of each station name. Simply click on any station, then click the “play” button which appears in the upper right hand corner of the bubble:

Audio button on the map

The big red arrow doesn’t actually appear on the real map.

Also on all the station pages in Subwaypedia (like this one) you can hear the station name by clicking on the ‘play’ button on the right hand side of the page.

Audio in Subwaypedia

Try it out here:

[audio:http://www.explorebj.com/subway/sound/2015-5012.mp3]

Now if we can just find someone with a Guangzhou accent-ah…

A picture is worth 1000 words

Every station on the Shanghai Metro, Beijing Subway and Guangzhou Metro have their own page on ExploreShanghai‘s Metropedia, ExploreBeijing‘s Subwaypedia and ExploreGuangzhou‘s Metropedia.

Now these pages are more colourful and interesting with the addition of local photos! Powered by Panoramia.com, you can now see photos taken in the geographical area around each metro station.

Examples:

Metropedia and Subwaypedia

Both ExploreShanghai and ExploreBeijing got an upgrade today. On ExploreBeijing you can now explore Subwaypedia, an encyclopedia containing information, timings and maps for every line and station on the Beijing Subway.

Beijing’s Subway Line 8 is now open to the public, providing easy access to the Olympic Green and Forest Park.

Shanghai’s matching Metropedia also got an upgrade, with more accurate information and faster-loading pages.

Don’t forget, to jump to the Metro/Subwaypedia for any station, just click on the station on the interactive map.

Beijing gets three new lines

On July 19th Beijing got three new subway lines: line 8, line 10 and the Airport Express. Details of all the new lines are on the ExploreBeijing subway map. Changes in the latest version:

  • First train/last train info for all the new lines (terminal stations only at present)
  • Updated information on the Airport Express at Terminal 2 and 3
  • Corrected some English station names
  • Improved Chinese translations and highlighting on interchanges

Route-planning for ExploreBeijing

The ExploreBeijing subway map now supports route planning. Simply drag your mouse between two stations to see an estimate for the time needed for the journey (including changes, and time spent waiting for trains).

Note that unlike on the Shanghai metro, all journeys cost a flat 2RMB. The new Airport Express line costs 25RMB! As with other features on explorebj.com, there may be some inaccuracies during the “beta” period, do get in touch if anything looks wrong!

The exact timings for the new lines (Line 8, Line 10 and the Airport Express) won’t be confirmed until later this month when the lines open.

ExploreBeijing beta launches … plus a new look for ExploreShanghai

Two big announcements today!

The Shanghai metro map has been redesigned based on your feedback. It now uses clearer fonts and colors, there’s a handy legend for identifying which line is which, and route-planning has been made more intuitive. To plot a route, just drag between two stations, and a grey arrow will preview which stations you are connecting.

Secondly, I’m pleased to announce the first “beta” version of the ExploreBeijing subway map at www.explorebj.com. You can use the “other cities” link in the top tabs to switch city. The ExploreBeijing map isn’t yet complete, notably:

  • No first train/last train data for the new lines 8, 10 and Airport Express (which open later this month)
  • No route-planning yet… coming soon!
  • No station pronounciations yet… coming soon!

If you’ve got any feedback, please get in touch! info@exploreshanghai.com

Metro maps for Beijing and Guangzhou

If you like using the ExploreShanghai metro map you’ll be pleased to know that new metro maps for Beijing and Guangzhou are in the works.

You can expect all the features from the Shanghai metro map, including a comprehensive route planner, station names in English and Chinese and pronounciations of all stations

ExploreBeijing

The Beijing Subway map will be available later this year at explorebj.com

ExploreGuangzhou

The Guangzhou Metro map will be available at exploregz.com