Beijing by Numbers
2, 889, 900
Number of passenger trips recorded on Beijing's subway system last Friday, Nov 16. A new record for the swamped system whose load has increased dramatically since last month when line 5 opened for business and fares were reduced to 2 kuai. As we discovered recently when trying to take a train home from the Dawang Lu station, Fridays are the busiest days. Two weeks ago during the evening peak hour the station was closed for 20 minutes due to platform overcrowding.
We have People's Daily to thank for this prize quote from a Beijing Subway official:
"Passengers should go to work earlier and come back home later than usual, so as to avoid transport peak."
34.5
Percent of the city's commuters choosing public transport. This is the first time this number has exceeded the percentage of people driving a private vehicle to work (32) since figures were first recorded in 2001
6.27
The price Beijing motorists now have to pay for a liter of the premium #98 petrol. For those trying to work out what this would be equal to back home it’s about 84 U.S. cents/58 euro cents a liter or US$3.20/€2.20 a gallon
In related news the city government has decided to subsidize taxi drivers an additional RMB 110 a month, following the 10-percent price hike
70
Number of trainee drivers hired to man the new "driver-less" Airport –Dongzhimen lightrail system
88
Percent of people taking part in a survey organized by Sina who support one of the new recommendations that will see the number of official holidays increase from 10 to 11 days
100
The number of new emergency shelters to be built in downtown Beijing
208
The height in meters of the big wheel (don't call it a Ferris wheel) that construction began on in Chaoyang Park last week
1000
Number of Bank of China branches that will be selling Olympic tickets in the second attempt at a second phase come Dec 10
3,400
Number of illegal guns either seized or collected in a gun amnesty by the Beijing police that were recently disposed of at the Shougang smelter
50,000
The number of trees up for adoption at the Olympic Memorial Park in Badaling
430,000
number of boxes of fireworks expected to arrive in the city next month. The city will allow fireworks to go on sale outside the fifth ring road on Jan 1 2008 and between Feb 1-21
10,000,000
Amount in RMB that Beijing Guo'an Football Club offered as a prize to their players if they could manage to win premiership honors in the 2007 China Super League
China Wide
54,000
The average bid in RMB for private car license plates in Shanghai this month. This is the second consecutive month prices surpassed 50,000 yuan
2,040,000
Age of the fossilized human remains that Chinese archaeologists have found in the Three Gorges area of southwest China.
3,720,000
The number of tourist who traveled to Tibet during the first 10 months of the year.
30,460,000
The number of "illegal publications" confiscated in China during the past in 3 months
90,000,000
Amount in RMB that Lust, Caution has earned at the Chinese box office since it opened two weeks ago
Links and Sources:
The First:本周五地铁客流创新高 (image)