Tram and Subway in Shenyang, China

Cities in China are expanding in an alarming rate, encroaching valuable farmland to grow into monstrous metropolises.  My home city, Shenyang, in Manchurian China, is no exception. My parents have long been priced out of the central part of the city and now live in the area used to be quite remote countryside.

In order to connect various parts of the growing city, new mass transit systems were being built in Shenyang. Last year, I reported the new subway line - there were two operating subway lines and totally at least 10 lines have been planned.  This past September, the newest system of mass transit was a sleek tram system.  When I was there, the tram system was still being tested and only people had tickets dispensed by local department stores could take advantaged of the often empty trams.  Below are several photos I took in my parents' tram stop:















Several days before I returned to the US, seeing the empty cars and the frustrated people who couldn't acquire tickets, the tram allowed any passenger to get on and no tickets were required.  Therefore, tram stops were often packed with people who were eager to try it out, me included.  The wait was usually long because during the trial period, those tram trains ran less frequently than usual and the speed was below the designed speed too.  Though it was crowded, people behaved rather patiently, perhaps the presence of two handsome traffic policemen had something to do with it. After a long wait at the stop of Olympic Stadium, I gave it up.







Eventually, I did get chance to ride in the tram.  The trains were clean and ran smoothly though excruciatingly slow.  Hopefully it would speed up after the trial period.  Another peculiar feature was the presence of two uniformed conductors who would get up from their designated seats to stand by the door when the tram stopped and the doors opened.  Quite often, they had awkwardly asked people to vacate their designated seats after they finished their duties by door and found their seat taken by those who failed to notice the label above those seats:









In order to meet people and do some shopping in central Shenyang, I took subway again.  I needed to take bus/tram to go to the nearest subway station and the ride to downtown was smooth but rather long.  Below is the system map on the back of the subway ticket.  Line 1 is the red horizontal line while the vertical blue line was Line 2.



At subway stations, one could see the tunnel at the two ends, and the platform across the tracks, all behind sliding doors, so no one would fall or jump onto the tracks:





The station when the two existing lines met was often full of people but never too crowded; I did avoid the rush hours though.



The stations were often nicely decorated, matching the main attractions nearby, such as the Olympic Rings at the Olympic Stadium Station:





Below are a group photos taken inside the subway trains:









However sleep those fixtures were, one could always find some funny signage, such as "Take care of the gap", and "Please keep seep inside car", which really should have said "Mind the gap" and "Please keep the car clean". I'd noticed the same "Take care of the gap" sign last year and one year later, it remained unchanged.




Signage telling passengers to keep the car clean


Related posts on Art • 文化 • Kunst:
- New Subway System in Shenyang, China
- Art in Subway Station, New York City
- Industrial Museum of China in Manchurian Shenyang
- Treasure in Liaoning Museum, Shenyang, China
- Ziyan Lavender Manor Garden, Shenyang China
- Art in the Streets of Shenyang, China
- Liaoning (Proving) Museum in Shenyang
- Fruit Shop and Market in Shenyang, China
- Stores and Markets in Shenyang, China
- Rooftop Vegetable Garden in Shenyang, China
- New Subway System in Shenyang, China
- Shenyang, China ... continued

Label: Shenyang, Shenyang Trip 2013

New Subway System in Shenyang, China

I have included some photos taken on the platforms of Shenyang Subway system (first two lines, with at least another 8 lines to come) in my earlier blog, Art in the Streets of Shenyang, China, such as the picture below of the lovely Shenyang Library Station, with inscriptions of "Book" in various styles, adorned the lamp covers:



In general, these two lines run smoothly and the stations and cars were clean and well designed and maintained.  One could leisurely wander about some stations at off-peak hours, while the transfer station or rush hours, one really needed to watch his own steps, and an extra safe measure was the glass partitions separating tracks from the platforms.

 








Transfer Station


Rush hour

The cars were obviously designed for short commutes, with more standing space and holding poles and less seats and many doors spaced through the lengths of the cars:





Inside the car and on the platforms, there were plenty helpful monitors and signage, indicating approaching/boarding/departure information, destinations and the incoming stops, in simplified Chinese and English:





Inevitably, one would encounter some poorly translated English, which was quite endearing:



Finally, I took these photos below at the end of the platform where I could see part of the tunnels:








Label: Shenyang, Shenyang Trip 2012

Art in the Streets of Shenyang, China

Last week, I reported on the art works I saw in the Streets of San Francisco and that reminded me of the art works I saw in the Streets of Manchurian city of Shenyang in China.  Below are several such pictures I took in May when I visited my family.

There were many sculptures in the park and in the residential compounds - fanciful and whimsical though artistic value was not particularly high.

Park Sculpture:


Sculpture in Street:


Sculptures in Residential Compounds:












In shopping district, I saw relief on the ground in shapes of traditional Chinese coins, complete with inscriptions marking on the reign of the emperors:



Shenyang was expanding its public transit system.  There were two subway lines opened last year and there were at least seven more under construction and some more streetcar and light-rail lines as well.  I saw some interesting subway stations, each station had distinctive floor and ceiling design, marking the specific locations.

Industrial Exhibition Hall Station:




Subway Station - Municipal Library Station (writings in various styles - 书, book):




I also like an imposing boat-shaped shelter at a bus stop:



Some utilitarian benches and walls made of cages and pebbles were pieces of art as well:








Art did existing everywhere.  Even a shop door covered with advertisement looked like avant-garde art installtion:



And finally I saw this humble yet lovely flower pot on the sidewalk:

 


Label: Shenyang, Shenyang Trip 2012