China Environmental Law

And now for some good news. . .

I take the Shanghai Metro to work everyday.  In fact, I take the subway whenever I can.  I’m not making a play for your sympathy or to enhance my green credentials.  The simple fact of the matter is that the subway provides the best, most convenient means of navigating Shanghai.  When I need to get to the University at a time when the campus buses aren’t running regularly, I even take the subway into deepest, darkest Minhang via Line 5. 

China’s huge investment in public transportation networks is one of China’s environmental success stories, and it deserves immense praise for its efforts. 

The Shanghai stations have neither the grandeur of the Moscow system nor the decrepit charms of London stops, but they are functional and generally clean.  They are also easy for foreigners to navigate in a way that the Gare du Nord, for instance, is not (perhaps I still smarting from the fact that my generally trusting nature was abused by a scam artist at that particular Parisian locale).  There are still a few glitches, but for a system that has expanded so rapidly, those are to be expected, and will probably be worked out in time.

Shanghai Daily reports today that by May 2010 “it will be possible to take a Metro between Shanghai’s two airports as Line 2’s eastern extension will reach all the way to Pudong International Airport.”  Eventually the Hongqiao Integrated Transport Hub will feature, in addition to the Hongqiao Airport, the Shanghai-Beijing and Shanghai-Nanjing express rail lines, Metros, transit and long-distance buses, and Metro lines 2, 5, 10, 17 and a Qingpu Metro route.

There are a number of really wonderful sites to make your introduction to the system as painless as possible.  Here are a few of the best:

exploreshanghai Metro  

Shanghaiology  

Wang Jianshuo’s Metro Page

In 2020 the system will be absolutely stupendous, although perhaps not quite this stupendous (click for larger version):

Job well done China and Shanghai!