Subway fares

Up until now the fare on the Beijing Subway has been a flat rate of 2 RMB to get from anywhere to anywhere. That is about 20p so it was amazing value. It has been the same price since 2002 when there were only two lines in operation. Once Beijing won the Olympics they started tunnelling like some kind of duracell bunny/mole hybrid on steroids and now there are 17 lines and the network is bigger than London's.

On Sunday, they introduced fares based on distance travelled for the first time. It now costs me about 6 RMB each way to get to work. Although the price has tripled, it is still very good value. They also put an extension to line 15 into operation on Sunday which means now instead of two transfers, I only have one which cuts about five minutes off my journey time and saves me a lot of walking.

This photo shows the board that is now necessary at the station to work out your fare.