Reflections on Beijing's underground labyrinth

What a difference three years make! When I first moved to Beijing in August 2006, the city had three subway lines - 13, 2 and 1. Stations of Line 1 and Line 2 were and still are scruffy. Commuters had to line up and buy paper tickets before riding the subway.

Beijing now has four new lines - the 4, 5, 8, and 10 - along with the Airport Express. Line 4 is an especially welcome expansion of the network. In addition to taking passengers directly to the Beijing Zoo, Old and New Summer Palaces, and East Gate of Peking University, it drops them off right at the China National Geology Museum. And thanks to Line 10, I can live in Sanlitun and not have a horribly long commute to my workplace, which is near the Bird's Nest Stadium.

These new subway lines all boast bright and clean stations. Many of them, notably the Lama Temple, Tiantang, Peking University, and Old and New Summer Palace stations, are attractively themed to reflect their destinations.