The Shanghai Subway

My first metro ride was a memorable event, I was surprised how many people there were and the efficiency of the schedule, there is never a long wait for a train.

I saw the travellers in worlds of their own but moving together and adjusting to each other, getting on and off, sitting and standing, but very little talking to anybody but the companions they came with. Even though the stations names are written in an English style, they are very strange to the inexperienced Western ear, Long Cao Road ,Cao Xi Road on line 3 are two of the great challenges; when I first came to China I could not remember the name of the stop nearest my hotel for about two days.

The unfamiliar names also give the Westerner a feeling of being in a strange and wonderful land, Line 10 has some wonderful examples: Youdian, Xincun, HongQiao Road, Xintiandi, Laoximen are few of many. These very names suggest an idea of the Orient as a mystical and wonderful place. There are names that reflect Shanghai's traditions in politics, science and culture: People's square, East and West Nanjing Road Jing'an Temple, Tongji University, Science & Technology Museum, Zhangjiang High Technology Park. The modernity and history of Shanghai, and the dynamism of its people are all encapsulated in a metro journey.

The one below is my observations of travel on the Shanghai subway, written as guide to someone who has never used it.

Wyn Jenkins [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

You can ride the metro for a few kuai

As a mode of travel it's worth a try

First buy a ticket from a machine

By following instructions on a screen

Then climb the stairs or the escalator

Choose your route from the indicator

Scan your ticket, enter the gate

If there's no train you'll have to wait

The yellow marks on the platform floor

Place you next to a carriage door

Where some maneuver to be at the fore

The train stops and they push some more

Children with mothers, middle-aged men

All colliding in mindless mayhem

Leaving the train as others squeeze in

Rushing and pushing to get seating

The train moves and the struggles subside

Passengers are finding space for the ride

Some seated and some standing,

Age and gender not withstanding

Strap hanging and eyes meeting

Strangers touching without greeting

Map reading and head scratching

Station watching announcement catching

When you use an inter change station

Look for the signs for information

Remember the yellow part of the floor

And shove and push just once more

When you arrive at your destination

Reverse what you did at the starting station

Follow the signs and get outside

Your next experience could be a taxi ride

The author is currently studying Chinese full time at Shanghai Normal University. He was a teacher of management at Staffordshire University in England.