A Guide to the Underground

If you are from a town that doesn't have a subway or if you have never experienced a Chinese subway, here is a guide for you on how it works (as of 2019). 

*As a disclaimer, the Chinese people call the underground system a variation of English words such as metro, subway, or tube. Just know they are all the same thing here. 

1. You will need a ticket. You can go to a machine and get a one way ticket. The screens are able to turn into English. Just click what stop you want to get off and pay. Be aware that the machines have different payment methods. Some only take coins while others can take bills, credit cards, or Alipay/WeChat pay. 

You can also choose to go to the ticket counter. You can request to get a reloadable plastic metro card. There is a fee for buying the card and then you also need to "charge" the card with money. This can take up to 20 minutes to do and the lines are always long for these windows. They may request to see your passport. 

If you need to reload your card there are machines outside of most metro stops that you can use. Place your card inside the machine, pay with your credit card or Alipay/WeChat pay, wait for the machine to charge your card, and you are done. They are similar looking to the image below.

Image from https://www.smh.com.au

2. Now you have your card, yay! It will look like this. 

Image from chinahighlights.com

Now you will have to go through security. You will walk through a metal detector and your bags will go through an X-ray machine. 

3. To get through the gates you scan your card digitally. Just place the card on the blue circle above the green arrow. A screen will tell you how much money is left on your card. The doors will open and you walk through. When you scan the card you MUST be behind the post. Otherwise the subway gate thinks the gate is blocked and you can't walk through. 

4. Wait for your subway to come. In China they have plastic/glass walls and doors to wait behind as a safety precaution. The doors will open as soon as the train comes. People will push and shove you to get on or off the train. You have been warned. 
I will say "jay gwa" when I get past people, it means excuse me, which makes me feel less of a jerk for pushing past people. 

5. While on the train in China you are free to talk, eat, and drink. Other countries like Japan and Thailand this is not allowed. In the Czech Republic you can eat on the train but talking should be kept to a whisper. That means on a Chinese subway you can and will get people playing music out loud, talking on the phone, and eating noodles on their commute. It can get hectic. You are expected to give up your seat to elderly, pregnant women, and people with children. However, the courtesy seats you see on trains in China serve more as guidelines than rules. You can sit down in the courtesy seat if you wish, but are expected to give it up as soon as someone needs it. 

6. Getting out of the subway you will need to insert your card into the post if you have a one way ticket. The post will "eat" your card and the gate opens up. If you have a reloadable card, scan the card on the blue circle once again and the gate will open. Easy peasy!

This has been my guide on how to use the Chinese Underground. This is the same as it is from Shanghai, Beijing, to Ningbo. Good luck to you.