Beijing’s recently opened metro lines offer new experiences in urban transit
Meanwhile, the large, new station at Lize Financial Business District is quite different in design, reflecting more it is also a gateway into the futuristic Zaha Hadid designed Lize SOHO, a business office building well worth going into the foyer to look at its design concepts.
The metro has certainly opened up a wealth of new travel opportunities in Beijing. I use the transit map on my smartphone where I can work out the various stations where lines connect. In my earlier days I was using a paper map which would quickly be out of date as Beijing expanded. I noticed on December 31 how my smartphone had already added the newly opened metro lines. Amazing! They also show the location of bus stops and services that stop there. I find this integration of transport modes particularly useful. For example, Line 14 has a station at Chaoyang Park I use often. I can check instantly when the next bus heading west to Sanlitun will come, for example. A metro line serving Sanlitun is presently under construction. Of course, my transit card or smartphone payments can be used on both forms of travel. I mentioned the former paper tickets, now so much can be done simply via the mobile technology.
