Subway blues

Just as you think youve aced the 8-line Metro system of Guangzhou armed with a route map and some bravado,the Opening Ceremony day rush with half the vehicles pulled off the roads means my Orange Line No 5 packs me back to the station I originally started from 20 minutes ago. Metro-schedules changed sometime in the interim when I wasnt listening carefully or not comprehending Chinese or both and its like a trusted port-key has gone wrong,leaving me in the lurch.

Why does this feel like MumbaiChurchgate Fast on Platform 5 instead of the scheduled 3 and might just not stop between Mumbai Central and Churchgate! Its not an agony Ill carry to my grave as a way is found to another metro terminal 10 minutes away. Its 8-line network expansion hastened on the pretext of the Asian Games,Guangzhous much-touted subway line experience isnt merely hyped.

Line 3 goes right up to the airport 50 km away from the city centre. Youngsters dressed trendily and metro-hopping and canoodling couples love this train in the city that also boasts of Chinas first 200kmph passenger line between Guangzhou and Shenzen thats listed on the stock exchange. After motorbikes were pulled off the streets in 2007,the metro has rivaled buses as the most preferred mode of transport. Once inside,the fast-moving trains around the world share the same dynamic if you get a place to sit,you stare at those less fortunate the unseated. Conversely,if you are standing,you get stared at. Simple. Universal.