Voices

Strategy makes mass transit a moving and cheap experience

By Daniel Garst (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-31 08:01

I differ in many ways from most laowai living in Beijing, and one of them is my heavy reliance on public transportation.

Foreigners on fat expatriate packages typically have private drivers take them everywhere, while other laowai with relatively good salaries often commute by taxi. I fall into the second category, but probably used a cab just a half dozen times last year.

Thanks to their extremely low fares, buses and subways are simply too good a deal to pass up. When I lived in Dongzhimen, I commuted by bus to my office in the Ming Ren Plaza just east of the Bird's Nest stadium. Getting there and back home cost just 8 yuan a day; that amounts to slightly less than 2,000 yuan a year. In contrast, commuting by cab would have cost 50 to 55 yuan a day, which amounts to 13,000 yuan a year.

To be sure, Beijing's buses and subways are usually very crowded. This necessitates special strategies when using public transportation.

For example, after moving to Sanlitun last summer, I now commute to work via the subway line 10 and 3 express bus. I leave the office at 5 pm and take the 3 bus to the Anzhenmen subway station. Since rush hour has started, the train is full when it pulls into Anzhenmen.

Because the next station, Huixinxijie Nankou, is an interchange station, lots of passengers get off the train. I seize this opportunity to work my way across the car and get near a left-side door - at Anzhenmen and Huixinxijie Nankou, passengers exit from the right side of the car. My aim is to squeeze in right by the side of the door.

By doing this, I won't block other passengers from entering the car, but will still be able to easily exit at the Tuanjiehu station. While lots of passengers get off at Huixinxijie Nankou, about as many get on at that station. And after the Liangmaqiao stop, the train is really jam-packed.

If I'm not right by the door, I'll have to push my way out. One time this involved shoving a young lady passenger out of the car. And if migrant workers are on the train, as they often are, I'll also be tripping over the big plastic bags they leave on the floor in the middle of the car (while I get angry about that, these people certainly can't afford to take a cab).

When I commuted to and from work by bus from Dongzhimen, I was always able to get a seat. In the morning, I typically got on the bus at 6 am, so I could have 90 minutes in the office for Chinese listening lessons before starting work, a routine I've stuck with since moving. I took either the No 2 or 858 bus, whichever came first.

Riding the 2 bus to work was usually an interesting experience. We often had a young driver who drove this double-decker bus as if he was in a Formula 1 race. This particular driver's ticket attendant, who was also a young fellow, always made a quick beeline to the McDonald's opposite the Beichen Mall where I got off the bus in the morning.

One morning, the driver stopped the bus, believing it had some mechanical problem. He gave the engine in the rear a cursory glance, kicked the back tire, and then got back on the bus and drove on. A British co-worker said, "Well, that did the trick!"

To get back home, I always took the No 2 bus. Its route begins and ends near the Ming Ren Plaza, so getting a seat was never a problem, despite it being the start of rush hour.

The Chinese passengers had a strange aversion toward taking empty seats in the front of the bus. Even if all the back seats were filled, they still walked past the empty seats in the front. Some passengers, usually middle-aged women, would pass by these seats, but then suddenly change their minds and reverse course, even though another half dozen passengers had boarded.

I can readily cite plenty of similar examples of rude behavior by Beijingers, the worst of which is committed by the people who barge into crowded buses and subway cars before the passengers have a chance to get out.

But these people also never hesitate to give up their seats for older passengers or women with small children. And most passengers are very happy to talk with this particular laowai stranger whenever I try practicing my Chinese; some even help me when I study my Chinese character flash cards. So I will continue riding the bus and subway, count the money saved and think about the good that is doing for Beijing's environment.