I should’ve known that a trip across the city would not only take a while, but would also take some paying attention. After carefully planning my journey from the zoo (the closest metro stop to our house) to Century Park (a large municpal park on the Pudong side) I felt perfectly confident starting on Line 10, changing to Line 4 at the Hongqiao station, then changing to Line 2, and arriving at my destination about an hour later. No problem, right?
Well, the first thing I learned was that not all stations have trains coming every 5 minutes. After walking 10 minutes I waited about another 15 before even setting foot on a train. Oh, did I mention that the 1-way ticket was only 5 RMB? That’s about $.85, probably because it was Sunday.
After getting on the Line 10 I confirmed how many stops until I needed to change, and then enjoyed some good people watching. Once I exited at Hongqiao station and began following the purple arrows pointing the way to Line 4, I made a mental note that Hongqiao is a large station, and that the transfer area is an outdoor covered walkway.
Once I found the platform for Line 4 heading towards my desired destination I checked again to see how many stops before my next transfer. The train arrived, I got on board, and since it was a longer ride I pulled out my iPad to read a few more pages of Little Bee.
Suddenly I was distracted by the rain slashing against the windows, and leaking over the fire extinguisher box mounted near the traincar connection. We had obviously moved above ground, so I moved my attention from my book to my surroundings. I looked to see what station we were approaching. I didn’t recognize the name. I searched the map above the door and finally noticed it. It was a stop on Line 3. Line 3? But I’m supposed to be on Line 4! How is that possible? Frantically, I scanned the map again. Oh. Line 3 and 4 run simultaneously for a while, but Line 4 is a giant loop, and Line 3 runs across the city. Whoops. Now what? I realized I had to devise a new plan to compensate for my unexpected detour. I figured the easiest thing was to get off, go back the way I came, and try again for Line 4 at Hongqiao station. Simple.
Not so simple. By now the rain was coming down in sheets and lightning was flashing across the sky. Although I decided to exit at the next station, I quickly changed my mind when I saw that the next station was an outdoor platform drenched from begining to end by the slanted rain sneaking under the awning. So I looked at my options and realized there really weren’t any because the next stop was the end of the line. Easy enough. I got off at the end of the line and found a relatively dry spot on the other side of the platform, sheltered by a large map in a display case. After evaluating my mistake I realized it wasn’t so bad, considering this was only my second outing on the metro.
After a minute of reflection I was ready to board the train and get back on track toward Century Park. I checked the notice board and it informed me I had at least another 8 minutes to reflect on my situation. Meanwhile, the rain was coming down harder, and the deafening thunderclaps were getting closer and closer to each flash of lightning. It’s even more fun to people watch in the middle of a thunderstorm. Then came an announcement. I wish now just as much as I wished then that I could understand what on earth it said. Without any clue, the best I could do was surmise that the next train was not in fact coming as scheduled. Sure enough, the countdown got to 0:00 and restarted at 12:00 - 12 more minutes on the clock with no confirmation that any train would be coming.
Time for a new plan. Luckily this station was also connected to Line 1. It was obviously not as direct, but there was a way to get over to Line 2 and backtrack to Century Park. At least I’d be moving again, now that I’d already been traveling about 45 minutes. I checked and double checked which way to go, and again got on a train. After a few minutes I decided to see how much further, and got completely disoriented because I didn’t see the stop where we were on my planned route. I got off the train, looked again at the big map, realized I was going the right way but was just further away than I realized, and got back on the next train heading the same way.
The new plan eventually worked, I paid more attention, and I finally made it to Century Park. The rain had let up, and as I mosied across to the park entrance I was really looking forward to a relaxing stroll around the grounds. Unfortunately, that was not to happen on this trip. The park is open from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, and I had just arrived at 5:57. Well, isn’t that special? I studied the rules and regulations and found out how much it costs to enter the park, and made another mental note to arrive with cash whenever I decided to venture all the way out again.
Disappointing? Yes. Frustrating? Slightly. Informative? Absolutely. The return trip was much less eventful, and boy did it feel good to get back home (to the Marriott). I think I’ve fulfilled my metro-riding needs for quite a while.
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