Subway Life

Line 10 Passengers walk out of Beitucheng Station on July 19, 2008, the opening day of the first phase of Line 10, the Airport Line and the Olympic Special Line. It was the first time three new subway lines had been put into operation simultaneously
Line 4 A Silk Road themed exhibition ahead of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held in Beijing from May 14 to 15, 2017
Line 14 Inspectors examine the tracks after the cessation of normal services on February 11, 2015. Every night, they need to finish examination of 4-km long tracks
Line 7 A passenger swipes a QR code instead of a ticket on their way into the Beijing subway
Line 14 A member of staff performs tests at Guozhuangzi Station on the western section of Line 14 on April 18, 2013. The western section, 12.4 km in length, was designed to alleviate traffic in southwest Beijing

The Beijing subway entered a new digital era on April 29 when physical tickets began to be replaced by QR codes. Passengers need only download an application on their smartphones and choose a payment source before being able to ride the city's most efficient transport system with the tap of a screen.

Beijing has 22 subway lines with a total length of 608 km as of December 2017, at which point another 17 lines were under construction.

(Photos by Xinhua)