Metro How-to

If you've never ridden the Shenzhen Metro, fear not: We're here to help.

This "How to" has nine sections:

• Payment
• Entering the Gates
• Boarding the Train
• Determining Your Stop
• Leaving the Train
• Exiting the Gates
• Leaving the Station
• Amenities
• How Long Will It Take?

Payment

There are two ways to pay for your ride: by ticket (actually a token) or by prepaid card.

TICKET

Buying a ticket is easy. The conveniently-placed machines bear a yellow sign on top reading "Ticket Vending Machine." A bilingual sign on the front of the machine gives instructions in clear English:

1. Select your destination [Do so by pressing the station on the map below the sign]

2. Single / Multiple [If you're buying only one ticket, you need do nothing. If you want more than one, as the sign continues, "Select the quantity" by pressing the appropriate button. In either case, the touch screen will tell you how much to pay.]

3. Insert coins or banknotes. [Use one-yuan or five-jiao coins only; the machine's banknote slot is marked clearly with which notes -- usually 5- or 10-yuan -- it will accept.]

4. Take tickets and change. [This is cool: Stick your open hand palm UP into the obvious tray area at the bottom; push a little, and the token and coins (if any) will fall into your hand.]

You are ready to enter the gates.

CARD

The Metro Card can be used on the Metro and on most buses. You can buy it at numerous locations, including the Information Booth in the Metro station. Most of the staff speak enough English to know what you want; having a 100-yuan note in your hand helps. Be aware that sometimes cards are not sold near the end of the day, say, after 10 p.m.

You will pay 100 yuan for the card; it has a value of 60 yuan, and 40 yuan is a deposit that is supposedly refundable when you no longer need your card. Once you've used your 60 yuan, you'll need to recharge the card.

You can check the remaining load in your card by touching it to the sensor on the "Ticket Checking Machine" shown above, found next some (but nit all) of the ticket machine banks.

The machines for recharging your card (next to ticket machines; be sure not to confuse the two) have a sign on top reading "Adding Value Machine." The process is similar to buying a ticket. A sign explains ways to buy with bank cards or cash. Our advice: Don't count on using a bank card; many of the machines will not accept them.

Follow the instructions on the sign for paying cash:

1. Insert stored value card [in the clearly-marked slot at lower right]

2. Select your way of value adding [by pressing the appropriate button on the touch screen]

3. Insert banknotes [50- or 100-yuan notes only]

4. Click "Complete" [also, choose "print" or "not print" of the receipt]

5. Take the card and the receipt.

You are ready to enter the gates.

Entering the Gates

Whether you use a token or a card, entering the gates will be the same. Enter a gate with a green arrow over it, and simply touch your card or token on the blue circular sensor at the right side of the entry gate. Do not cross the yellow line before touching your token or card; the gate will lock up if you do. Remember: Touch, then cross the line.

Boarding the Train

After descending to the platform level, you will find that most stations have a single platform with trains on both sides

NOTE: Some stations (such Luohu and Dongmen) have two levels; be sure to see the special notes on the pages for such stations. Also, be sure to see the special note for finding the right platform at Huizhan Zhongxin Station, a transfer station where two lines cross.

There is usually a sign at the bottom of the escalator telling you the terminus of the trains on each track. Be sure to know the terminus for your direction (there are only four) if you want to know if this is your train. For example, if you are going from Guomao, to Laojie, you will
want (as the announcer will say) "the train bound for Shijie Zhichuang, namely Windows of the World."

If you don't know your terminus (you may be getting off at an interim station long before), look at the signs over the doors to the tracks. There are two types:

These will show you where you are, where you're going, and the terminus of your train. (The widely spaced video monitors, which tell you how long until the next train, are little help in determining direction: they only tell you the next station.)

Before each train arrives, there will be an announcement in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English, telling you the terminus toward which the train is bound.

When you board, it is proper to wait until others leave the train. Few of your fellow passengers will do so, however. (Remember this when YOU are leaving the train!)

Determining Your Stop

Each stop is preceded by announcements in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. You will usually also be told which side to leave from (on Line 1 it's usually, but not always, the left). Also, watch the usually-functioning signboard over each door for your location and which door will open.

The lights indicate that the train has just left Gangxia Station and is moving toward Huizhan Zhongxin (that is, to the left), the station where the two lines cross. All Line 1 signs show Shijie Zhichuang on the left and Luohu on the right, regardless of which direction the train is going.

Leaving the Train

Mind the gap -- and the people trying to walk right through you. Every station has escalators. Queue up (sort of), and watch your pockets and bag.

Exiting the Gates

If you have a token, you will put it in the slot (bottom of the picture) at the exit gate. If you have a card, touch it on the sensor.

Leaving the Station

See our station pages for information on where each exit emerges at the surface. Currently, all station signs giving such information are in Chinese characters.

Amenities

Every station has the following:

ELEVATORS to the platform are available at all stations. In most cases they're located in the center of the paid areas; sometimes (as at Huizhan Zhongxin, among a few others) they are harder to find; see those stations for details.

ESCALATORS are always available to come UP from the platform to the gate entry level, and are usually available to go DOWN, but sometimes you'll have to use stairs. If this presents a problem, use the escalators. See "Platform Access" in each station's guide for details.

INFORMATION BOOTHS where you buy a card, or go when your card suddenly won't let you out of the gates.

POLICE OFFICE for big emergencies

VENDING MACHINES for little emergencies

PAY PHONES; these use a special prepaid "IC" card only, not usually available inside the station. There are pay phones on most platforms, too.

GARBAGE CANS

Some stations have kiosks, restrooms, elevators to the surface, ATMs, and other amenities. See each station's page for details.

How Long Will It Take?

From one end of Line 1 to the other (Luohu to Shijie Zhichuang) is 30 minutes.

The time between stations averages 2 minutes, except that from Huaqiang Lu to Gangxia, and from Gouwu Gongyuan to Xiangmihu, is about 3 minutes. (While Line 1 runs mainly along Shennan Lu, between these stations it swings down to Fuhua Lu. Three stations -- Gangxia, Huizhan Zhongxin, and Gouwu Gongyuan -- are on Fuhua Lu.)

So look at the map, count the spaces, do the math.

Of course, factor in the train's arrival time. This may be anywhere from 2-6 minutes on Line 1, and considerably longer on Line 4 -- up to 10 minutes. Trains on both lines run more frequently at peak hours.