Line 5 of the Beijing Subway, opened on 7th October 2007, is
Beijing's first north-south subway line. It runs for 27.6 km, in a near
straight line, just east of the city centre from Tiantongyuan North in
Changping District to Songjiazhuang in Fengtai District, connecting five
main districts of Beijing which is the must-see for affordable China tours: Fengtai, Chongwen, Dongcheng, Chaoyang and Changping.
Line 10 of the Beijing Subway (I), opened on 19th July 2007, is a
major subway line which joins the east and north of Beijing together.
It lasts 25 km long.
Both are important subway lines in Beijing. Many of the places
the lines pass by have a long and interesting history. On line 5 and 10,
citizens not only enjoy the convenience of modern transportation, but
it’s also likely that they will have a journey of Chinese Culture.
Subway stations of Line 5
Beixinqiao Subway Station
It’s located on the high street of Beijing. The name of place has
a long and interesting story. Once upon a time, there was a hero whose
name is Yao Guangxiao. He had fought against the Emperor Chinese Dragon
for a long time. Eventually, Yao was so superior to the dragon that it
hid himself in a well to avoid being punished. Yao locked the well with
an iron chain, constructed a bridge over it and claimed that the dragon
could never come out of the well before the bridge gets old. Every
bridge gets old. However, the dragon hadn’t been happy for long because
Yao named the bridge “Xin”, which means new in Chinese. No one has seen
this Emperor Chinese dragon ever since.
Tiantongyuan South Subway Station
The Tiantongyuan South Subway Station was constructed to resemble
the Olympic Rings Car. Red as its theme, the subway station put each of
the five rings color on a big board and has them connected by a huge
information wall. It represents the close friendship of the five parts
of the world. People in the station have access to the sunlight from
every angle because of the translucent glass. As a matter of fact, it’s
very easy for one in the station to notice what’s going on outside,
while on the other hand , people out of the station can hardly see
through the glass, which adds mystery to this subway station.
Lishuiqiao South Subway Station
China is famous for its Chinese Dragon. The exterior outline of
the station is just designed after this world renowned Chinese figure.
In Chinese culture, the Chinese Dragon is a composition of physical
strength and spiritual perseverance, which always reminds people of
mundane achievements. Actually, the appearance of the station is like an
invisible Chinese Dragon, with white columnar reinforcing steel bar
interleaving as its bones and the irregular glass windows as its squama.
What’s more, the extraventricular stairs at the four exits are like
natural claws and it’s amazing to see people walking in and out from
them.
Huixinxijie Beikou Subway Station
The layout of the station is plain but exquisite. The artistic
ceramic wall inside is decorated by a series of Chinese calligraphy
works that are originated from very famous Chinese ancient books like
Three-character Scripture, Thousand-Character Essay, Hundred Family
Surnames, etc.
Lama Temple Subway Station
This station is the joint intersection of Subway Line 2 and
Subway Line 5. Not far from it is the distinguished Lama Temple (a
popular destination contained in tours top 10 China tour packages),
which used to be the accommodation of Yinzhen, the fourth son of the
renowned emperor of Qing Dynasty Kangxi. After Yinzhen took office, he
made the place state department. His son Qianlong changed it to Lama
Temple to help him achieve his religious end after his death, also with
the purpose of comforting the monks in Tibet and Mongolia area.
Zhangzizhonglu Subway Station
The street where the station is located is named in memory of a
general in the anti-Japanese war. Zhang Zizhong, the commander of the
National Army Corps 29, who fought crazily against the invading Japanese
troops with his men in a battle in Xiangfan, Hubei Province.
Unfortunately, he was surrounded, failed to escape and finally devoted
his life to his beloved nation. On this street, huge reliefs displaying
he and his comrades fighting to the death on the battlefield are carved,
reminding people of those years of tough times and the courage of the
Chinese people.
Dongsi Subway Station
The most remarkable highlight about this station is that two
Chinese chessboards are decorated on the floor of the waiting room. The
Chessboards are made of marble stone with real chessmen on it. It is
like an interesting live Chinese chess game show with the two opponent
players missing. On the chessboards, with only one further step one side
will win the game. But what make things amusing is that it’s the other
side’s turn to make the next move. The result varies, leaving the
situation much more complicated. This is the right reflection of what
Beijing citizens usually do to amuse themselves and kill time.
Dengshikou Subway Station
Dengshikou means Lantern Market in English. The name comes from a
local custom. In the Ming Dynasty, people hung big lanterns and lamps
along the street after the lunar calendar New Year, making it a
sleepless and flourishing street. So the street is called lantern
market.
Tiantan East Gate Subway Station
Tiantan, or the Temple of Heaven, is the place where emperors in
the Ming and Qing dynasties came to worship and pray for an abundant
harvest and now become the famous attraction for popular China tours.
Tiantan East Gate Subway Station creates a small temple of heaven
in itself. With round lamps on the ceilings and square marble bricks
embedded in the floor, this small temple of heaven is an annotation of
the old Chinese legend saying that the heaven is round while the earth
is square.
Subway stations of Line 10
Suzhou Street as the station is called, it used to be a trade
street here that was built in 1761. The Chinese Emperor Qianlong in Qing
Dynasty (1964-1911) created this street following famous town Suzhou in
the south to celebrate his mother’s 70th birthday. Stretching from
Wanshou Temple to Haidian Town, the street lasted miles. Sharp
businessmen from Suzhou (a most-visited destination included in China travel packages
) were invited to do business here. Seeing fancy stores around and
hearing the soft southern accents from them, when walked here, you felt
like you were in the old but flourishing southern town Suzhou. Anyway,
the street was demolished in 1860 by the combined armies of the English
and French. However, with the rapid development of Beijing city, this
street come back to life again with even more stores and some fantastic
boutiques.
Jiandemen Subway Station
The station shares the same name with the northwest gate of the
Capital in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), which used to be a must place to go
through when the Yuan troops set out to the North. When the anti-Yuan
Captain Xu Da (1332-1385) captured the city in 1368, the old Yuan
Dynasty’s capital’s northern rampart was relocated south 2.5 kilometers
away. As a result the Jiandemen at the old city rampart disappeared with
the old wall, leaving only the title.
Beitucheng Subway Station
The name came from the site of the north rampart in the period of
the Yuan Dynasty. 24 meters wide at the bottom, 8 meters on the top,
with a height of 16 meters, the wall is just like an earth platform. So
it is called tucheng, meaning city made out of earth. Like Jiandemen,
the earth platform fell behind the time and disappeared too when the
Ming Dynasty（1368-1644）came to power and rearranged the rampart.
Beitucheng Subway Station is the originating station of subway line 8,
the special Olympic line.
Shaoyaoju Subway Station
Shaoyaoju means Chinese Peony Palace. The sub district nearby is
called Shaoyaoju Subdistrict. It used to be an anonymous village with no
more than thirty households. It is said that every family here grew
Chinese Peonies, which is special for imperial use. The emperor even
titled the village shaoyaoju, meaning Chinese Peony palace and the name
has passed down from generation to generation.
Taiyanggong Subway Station
Taiyanggong is Sun Palace in English. The station is named after a
temple nearby. It is said that when Emperor Qianlong toured passed
here, the sun was rising in the east. The village here was showered in a
mild light. Amused by the view, Qianlong named the place taiyanggong,
which means sun palace in English. The villagers felt grateful to the
emperor and built a temple with the same name to show their respect to
the emperor.
Liangmaqiao Subway Station
The title which means bright horses bridge originated from the
Liangma Bridge outside Dongzhi Gate. It is said that in the early years
groups of ancient businessmen often washed their horses in the stream
under the bridge before they went into the city, then tied them to the
willows along the river to have them dried. That’s why the river is
called Drying horses River: Liangmahe. With time passing by, the
pronunciation remains, but the meaning has changed into Bright Horses
River. In the Qing Dynasty, a white marble bridge was built over the
river and shared its name.
People named the station after one of the Eight Scenic Locations
of Beijing: The Golden Terrace in the Glow of the Setting Sun,
Jintaixizhao in Chinese. The tale goes that there once was a golden
terrace constructed by King Yan Zhao more than 2,500 years ago. The king
built it with a purpose of attracting people with abilities from all
over China by mountains of gold. But whether it’s true or not, remains a
mystery. What is affirmative is that the terrace did exist and was
listed in the Eight Sceneries of Beijing in Jin Dynasty（1115-1234）before
it was destroyed in the Qing Dynasty.
Guomao Subway Station
Located in the CBD, the most bustling downtown area in Beijing,
the station has a pretty simple and plain theme. This reflects the
special purpose of the designer. With Chinese painting bamboo decorated
along the hallway, the designer aims to create a Xanadu out of the
high-paced metropolis. After a day of hard work, the white collar
workers will soon be comforted by the quite and folksy atmosphere.
It is cheap to take subway to attractions in Beijing and save for your China travel.
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