Hello, welcome to Roundtable, where we serve up piping hot debates on the issues that sizzled in China and beyond.
I'm Yeohong Lin. Imagine the sounds that have shaped your life.
The laughter of childhood games.
The chime of the school bell.
The announcements of the bus conductors.
Over the past 75 years, the sounds of everyday life in China have evolved, just as we have.
In our special new series, we'll take you to an auditory journey through the moments that have defined our collective experiences.
From the early days of the People's Republic to the present, let's rediscover the soundtrack of our lives.
Please enjoy Echoes of Progress.
For today's show, I'm joined by Li Yi and Steve Hatherley.
Now grab your virtual compass and follow us to the heart of the discussion.
Today, we are riding through history on two wheels.
Or maybe four. Or many, many more than that.
From the old days of bike bells and trim whistles to the modern marvels of bullet trains and self -driving cars, China's transportation story is one wild ride.
So hold on tight. This is going to be fun.
First, I must ask this question.
In your memory, what's the most memorable sound that represents the most impressive transportation tool from your childhood?
I'll start with Steve because apparently your childhood is not in China, but I want to know, what's the situation in Canada?
In Nova Scotia where I grew up.
Well, I was born in a town of 900 people.
So we don't have an extensive subway system.
We don't even have an extensive walking is the sound walking or maybe.
Yeah, the this one.
That's it. That's the sound of my childhood.
As simple as it is.
It's kind of cool. Didn't expect the answer.
But I think it's kind of cool.
How about you, Li Yi?
We share similar ones because we're the same generation.
I actually brought a very special sound effect that can represent my childhood transportation tool and let's have a listen.
This is easy, right?
This is a bell. That sounds like a bicycle.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.
A little silver bell that sits in the front on the right or left hand side of the bicycle bars.
Oh, yeah. I had that too on the front of my bicycle.
I guess I had forgotten about that because it's been such a long time since I've either ridden a bicycle that had one of those or used one of those.
Yeah, definitely. I think bicycle, I mean, still today is a very important transportation tool for a lot of people here in China and I believe in a lot of countries elsewhere.
But you know, the funny thing is that when I tried to recall my childhood memories, I find that most of them are related to bicycle.
But I will just come back to this later since that was majorly about 1990s and 2000s.
But then, you know, I brought a special sound of bicycle.
There's another reason this that probably to say that the first domestically produced bicycle here in China after the founding of People's Republic of China was built in my hometown city, Tianjin.
Oh, really? So proud.
I don't think so, but I think they can try to build a statue like that.
Or like a bicycle museum or something.
Why not? There must be a bicycle museum.
We should look for that one.
Maybe you can find your bicycle in there.
And this very first bicycle was manufactured in 1950 by a local brand called The Flying Pigeon.
Fake Google. I had a flying pigeon.
Yeah, I had more than one because I had such good memory of my first flying pigeon.
And that is why after losing it somewhere to a thief, I bought another one with the same brand.
The thing about childhood memory or the thing about bicycles in my childhood is that we had that several major brands and also the major patterns.
I would assume this one that's been built in the late 1950s is kind of a traditional one with the bar you can sit on if you're even not riding.
You're talking about what?
The big 28 are bada gong in Chinese.
It's very special because I think that's the bicycle that everyone wanted to have back then because it's named after its 28 inch wheels that allows this particularly model to transport even a family of three members within this one bicycle.
Those are big wheels.
Those are stable. That's why I don't think everyone wants one.
It's more like every family, every household would own one because it's really hard for short girls like myself to ride, but it's for the dad in the family.
And then as a little girl, you can sit on the bar in front of the rider and you can also sit on the seat behind the rider.
So by saying it can carry an entire family, you can imagine the mom sitting behind the rider and the little kid on the bar, and it's like you have the dad's arm around the little kid and the whole family.
I don't think it's particularly safe if it's really fast, but it's definitely lovely and romantic.
It's very romantically poetic, isn't it?
So is that how you drove around, got around with your family when you were a little girl on one of those, what did you call it?
The big 28? The big 28.
Definitely. I think that's one bicycle that typically each family would have back then.
And I don't know why, maybe because my hometown Tianjin is quite a small city.
So basically I think almost everyone has their own bicycle from young kids to older adults, and you have different sizes of bicycles.
And I remember the first time I learned how to ride a bicycle within my neighborhood.
That was super exciting.
And then I remember the first time I ride outside of my neighborhood with my parents, just cycling on the road.
That's so free and exciting.
And I think that helped me build my passion for cycling till today.
That's a lovely memory.
Honglin, do you have that kind of memory with your family too?
Oh, definitely. Before your bike got stolen, that is.
Well, I think more than one bike was stolen in my memory.
Me too. I have good taste for a bike.
That's my explanation.
Maybe that's why. But yes, riding bicycles and also after growing up like that, you kind of developed this romantic feeling about bicycles, which is why even for these days, if you're in a park and there is a huge lake in the park, and you get to ride a bicycle around that lake as a way of exercising,
as a way of enjoying the view, you would do that.
Or at least I would do that, maybe for our generation.
That is a collective memory.
And we know that China used to be called the kingdom of bicycles in the 1980s because bikes were the most popular mode of transport for Chinese people at that time.
In Canada, it's just not that popular.
It's just not a common way to get around, I guess.
I saw a survey result that said only 16 % of Canadians ride a bicycle on a weekly basis, meaning once a week.
And that's just not so common.
And that is a modern day statistic, but that goes back, I think, decades.
It's just not that common for people to use as a way to get around.
Even in that last mile, you know, we always talk about that last couple of kilometres or that last mile of transportation.
Even in that sense, different modes of transportation are more popular.
I think the last mile concept is quite important for today's bicycle rider.
I'm not talking about those rider, those enthusiastic ones, who are using bicycle as a way of exercising.
It's more like previously, if we talk about 20, 40 years ago, we are thinking about those who are using bicycle to get around in the city or in the county.
Yet nowadays, it's more like a last mile kind of solution.
You use buses or use metro to get around.
And then from the metro station, you can get a shared bike, not your own very beautiful with the chime and belt and everything kind of bike, but very convenient shared bike that you can use to get to the destination without walking that last mile, which is also quite convenient fun.
When you were young, did you have the little basket on the front of the bicycle?
Definitely. I even have a basket on the back seat of my bicycle.
Oh, the double basket system.
Yeah, double basket.
That's super cool. Well, only the big 28 can hold that much cargo.
Well, I think that's a common thing, actually.
Standard setup for my classmates and me to have this double baskets because it's so common that people can just ride a bicycle not only to school, but also my parents will just ride their bicycle to work.
So that's how popular it was.
And also, you know, across this whole city, you can easily find a stand with maybe an uncle or an auntie to help you fix your bicycle.
That's how popular the bicycle culture was.
Oh, really? Yeah. So whenever your chain broke.
I can do that myself.
I do not even need anybody else good for you.
That was the worst, though, when your chain broke and you had to touch that greasy chain with your hands and you had no other choice because you were usually in the middle of nowhere.
Right at the time, you weren't close to anywhere that could help you out.
So, yeah, I do have those memories.
What about bicycle injuries?
I got injured quite bad.
Well, I should say that more clearly, not quite badly.
But when you're a kid, even a little tiny injury can hurt.
I remember one time I fell off my bicycle right in front of my house and I looked around.
You know, when you're a kid and you stand up so quickly hoping that nobody saw you.
Then you look around and after you realize there's nobody there, then you start to cry.
Yeah. Right. You got to act tough and cool first.
I lived on a gravel road and I was taking my bike to get some ice cream or something.
On the way home, I was too worried about holding my ice cream, and I've dropped the bike and the ice cream, too.
This reminds me of once I was sitting on the backseat of my dad and I got my feet stuck into the wheels.
That's my bicycle injury.
Got that, too. So I guess it's actually a good thing, a really good decision that nowadays there's no seat on the shared bike.
You can get your own shared bike, but do not carry anybody else.
It's not safe, especially one nowadays, if you think about it.
Yes, we do have the science lens for bicycles in most cities.
But occasionally there would be these delivery guys with this motorcycle kind of really fast vehicles.
And occasionally you would encounter cars once there is a crossroad.
So yes, it is no longer that safe because vehicles on the road are moving much, much faster these days.
And carrying someone with no helmet or anything is just not safe.
I mean, those are good memories, but do not do that in today's China anymore.
Yeah, let's not repeat those memories.
Yes. And one other transportation I can think about on top of bicycles is that because when I was a kid, when I need to go to my middle school, I think in primary school, I was still a bit too little to travel by myself.
But during middle school, in order to go to my middle school, I used to be in a tram.
Do you know what a tram is?
Familiar with that?
Sounds like the big 28.
Version 2 .0. Yeah, tram.
I know that trams exist in some cities around the world.
San Francisco has a tram system, I think.
This is where you have the little rail car, and then above the rail car, you see the pigtails.
The pigtails. It feels like a pigtail of the car.
Yeah, well, you see the wire and it follows the wire, right?
Yeah, I didn't have one growing up, but I was curious.
And by the way, I should say I was really excited to do this episode with you guys today because I got to learn so much about China, and I learned about the Shanghai tramway system, and I learned that it's been around for so long.
It had a lifespan of nearly 70 years from 1908 to 1975.
And the interesting thing about it was that it came along with the really dramatic expansion of the city, and it helped define how Shanghai is laid out even today.
So the tram system was retired in 1975, but when it was in service, it allowed people to have access to the CBD, the Central Business District, right?
So it made land and property values, even as they are today, it set a price for them because they were very valuable.
If you could access the CBD in Shanghai from the tram, then that increased the value of your property.
Well, even though the tram's not in practice today, it still has an effect on property value because, as I was reading, I learned that when the tram was in place, then businesses or factories were built along that tram line as well, and some of those businesses and factories still remain there today.
So the property values, even though the tram system has disappeared, the property values in the city are still the same today.
That's kind of an interesting little history lesson.
It's kind of like the footprint of development.
You get to know the reason behind the layout, behind the design of the city.
And we know that in 1899, China's first tram car appeared in Beijing, connecting the suburban Ma Jiapu Chuan station with Yongdingmen or Yongding Gate, so that was the very first one.
Over the following decades, trams were introduced in more cities such as Hong Kong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Fushun, Dalian, Shenyang, Harbin.
I know I throw in a lot of different names there.
For those of you who are not familiar with these names, these are relatively developed cities during that period of time in China.
And I still remember getting onto one of the tram, but it's no longer the one with rails anymore.
It's like they still have the pigtails, the lines connecting with the electronic systems, yet there's no rail anymore.
You mean the rail on the ground?
So I think the development path actually happened even faster than we realized.
So from that, we get to move on to already buses.
So first of all, you have the rails, you have the lines, and later on, you get rid of the rails, and now we're getting rid of the lines, so the buses can move around everywhere.
And in the 1970s and 1980s, buses become a major mode of public transportation in China.
That's that old diesel engine.
Yeah, that's the typical bus engine.
Getting ready. That's the one that's not good for the environment, but not much around anymore.
Well, that also reminds me, you know, when I was small, the bus can be quite primary and the traditional.
They are not as clean, modern and spacious as they are today.
And one typical scene inside this bus is that sometimes you have to sit right next to the driver without the seat because the front body...
The shotgun seat? Yes, the shotgun seat.
And there are somehow these bumpy and big boxes, and inside that is the engine of the bus.
And somehow as a small child, you are just invited to sit there because the bus can be too crowded and people just need that bus services.
That's a no -seater thing.
Yeah, that's it for me.
Oh, that's a little bit sad.
That's exactly the same sound, that sound effect that we heard as the school bus that used to take me to school when I was a small child.
Now, the yellow ones, the yellow and black ones, that are pretty big when you're an older student, but for a little kid, they're the little yellow ones.
It was that exact same sound.
I remember standing outside with my mom waiting for the bus to come when I was a kid and thinking, I don't want to go to school today.
I want to stay with my mom.
And then, you know, when the bus would bring me home and my mom would be standing there waiting along with the other moms from the community to pick me up from the bus.
Yeah, I remember those days and that was the sound of it.
We have these kind of school buses nowadays to take kids around the neighborhood.
They would stop at each and every residential community to pick up the kid and then bring the kid to schools, especially kindergarten kids, I would assume.
But for me, I like that sound because that showcases that the car is not that fast.
The bus would not go that fast.
I remember once I was almost late and I rushed to the car, the door of the bus has already closed.
I tapped on the door really, really hard and the bus already getting started actually stopped and opened the door for me.
And I went on. So yes, it's not always the faster the better.
I mean nowadays, buses cannot do that because most buses nowadays here in China.
In fact, over 81 % of buses here in China are electric buses.
And we know by the end of 2023, China had 682 ,500 buses and now they start really fast.
And it's hard for you to stop them and get on, right?
You talk about the e -buses in China now.
China has the world's largest market for electric buses, making up more than I think it's 95 % of the global stock.
That's from the BBC.
And at the end of 22, the Ministry of Transport here in the country announced that more than three quarters, that's 77 % or 542 ,000 plus of all urban buses in the country were new energy vehicles.
That's really, really impressive because of the transition and the speed of the transition.
Back in 2015, 78 % of Chinese urban buses still use that old diesel or gas engine.
That's according to World Resources Institute.
But the NGO now estimates that if China follows through with its plan for decarbonization policies, its road transport emissions will peak before 2030 and one of the big reasons for that is all the electric buses around the country.
It's such a fast and really impressive transition.
It's really impressive and I think nowadays buses can be a very comfortable riding experience for any passenger.
But I was quite impressive when I was small and it was my first time to visit Beijing because back then each bus was actually equipped with a driver and also ticket salesperson.
Oh yeah, that is old school.
That's old school style and that is quite impressive because driver just needs to drive the bus of course and then the ticket salesperson because if you are not really a local resident and there's a chance that you don't really own this bus pass, I mean monthly pass and you have to buy the ticket and you
just need to tell that ticket salesperson the destination style for you.
And she would just, maybe he would just do the calculation very quickly and tell you how much money you need to pay for.
And then when you pay the ticket, she would just tell you, okay, okay, go to the back of the bus and we have to ensure the efficient boarding of this bus.
And that is a very vivid and very lively scene of riding a bus a few years ago or a few decades ago, right?
I almost forgot about all that.
I mean a bus conductor selling tickets with different prices and later on we move on to just to put in the little paper note because it's always one yuan or you buy one ticket with the money.
You put the money in the box, you get the ticket and you walk back, but there was the stage that still someone will be sitting and looking, overseeing all the process, making sure you are doing what's supposed to be done.
Paying. Paying. And later on after that, the bus conductor disappeared and then you started to have this car that you can scan and that beep sound would tell the driver that you've paid so that the driver does not need to pay attention all the time, even if the car is actually stopped and waiting for you
to get on board and off board.
And then later on, I don't know, I don't really remember when I started to use my cell phone and my wearable watch, my smartwatch to be used as a ticket.
Everything just happened so fast.
Was there never a time in China where you paid with cash on the bus?
We paid with the paper note in it.
Yes, that was the stage.
I remember one incredibly, it was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.
This happened to me in Korea during a time.
Yeah, now everything's electronic, right?
But at the time you put money in.
So this is what happened.
I had a okay, let's call it a 5 yuan coin in my pocket.
But the price of the bus was 6 yuan.
Okay, so then I panicked because I could see the bus coming but I had a schedule.
I had no time to go to the store and get more change.
And the only bill I had in my pocket was say worth 30 yuan.
So I wasn't gonna pay that, so I tried to get on the bus.
This is my little criminal moment.
I feel so guilty about it.
I tried to put the 5 yuan coin in and just go quickly.
And the bus driver said, excuse me, 1 yuan more.
So I said wait, but I only have this 30 yuan bill.
And he said just put it in then.
So the bus doesn't give change in bills.
It doesn't give change but it gives change in coins.
Now imagine that ding, you know that sound?
When the coin comes out, ding, ding.
Now imagine how many coins he owed me.
Oh, I'm standing at the front of the bus by myself.
Everyone is seated staring at me.
I'm holding up the bus from leaving and this is the sound while I'm standing there.
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.
It wouldn't stop. And when I finally got all my change, I had like two handfuls of change.
And I shamefully walked to my seat on the bus.
It's okay, you're a little kid.
It's fine. I wasn't.
I was like 24 years old.
I feel sorry for you now.
You know what's the case here in China?
I remember, you know, if that's the case, you need change.
I mean here, buses also don't give you change, not only in cash but also in coins.
So the way we fix this thing is that we stand there and to wait for the next person to come.
And I would just click, say I have 5 yuan and I need like 4 yuan for exchange.
I would just wait for 4 person to give me like 4, 1 yuan.
That's smart. But that's also embarrassing.
I would not be able to do that.
Yes. Which one is more embarrassing?
I'm not sure. Well always bring the right amount of money to the bus.
That's my suggestion.
But yeah, that's my suggestion to the old me living in the old times because now we do not see that anymore.
And all you hear is that lovely ding kind of voice suggesting that you have already paid with your phone or with your watch.
How time flies. And since Li Yi mentioned that her early memory about Beijing is the bus.
Actually my early memory about Beijing, especially transportation of Beijing is subways because we didn't have subways in Taiwan even I think in the past 10 years.
We've got our first subway line.
So Beijing, I associated Beijing with this trendy, shiny, cool, twang underground that it can take that's super fast.
So one of my early days memories about Beijing transportation was actually subways because for me I didn't use two tricepways before coming to Beijing.
And this cool, trendy, shiny, twang underground is all quite fantastic.
To the little girl that didn't use to be exposed to all this.
Yes exactly, I think Beijing is known for being such a busy city and with the one of the world's busiest subway system underground and also subway here in Beijing is quite special for China's subway system.
And I will give you the answer after we hear this sound.
The subway is coming.
It's coming. You should be standing behind the yellow line.
Just to be safe. Wait, I was in the trail.
I was actually in. Do you hear three words you Chen Lu Steve?
Do you hear that three words?
That might be small volume, but I'm not sure if you catch the three words.
What does that mean?
Well, it is very special because Beijing subway line one was China's first urban subway line when it was first opened in 1969 and very special.
It started its construction in 1965 and the guests were was the construction in the operation ceremony held.
You can road that is you know that is exactly where this very first subway line here started off and that also somehow brought the faster development of China's subway modern.
Really cool. I was looking this up as well.
I was on the Beijing travel dot com website and looking for information and I learned that when it started back in 1969 it ran for 21 kilometers from the army barracks at Fu Shuling to the Beijing railway station.
And there were 16 stations in total and today it forms parts of lines one and line two and that's really cool.
And it predates the metros of Hong Kong and Seoul and Singapore and San Francisco and Washington DC.
It's an old metro line.
Not only it is old metro line.
Actually, I remember for a really long period of time.
You can just no matter how far you go, how many lengths you change.
It's only to UN to UN is really not a lot of money.
That is why yes in Beijing and that's why during that period I've read new story is about young couples.
Living in different parts of the city.
They would go on a date in a train station by saying a train station.
I mean the train underground the subway station.
They will meet in a subway station.
They get into the system sitting in the subway for a really long time and then they get out.
It was quite so funny and later on, for example now.
Actually, I think now you have to pay for 3 yuan to as much as 10 yuan depending on how many stops or how long the distance is still quite cheap.
Yeah, absolutely it is and you kind of laugh when you hear that romantic little story of people dating at the subway station, but can you imagine that time nowadays it sounds silly because subways are so ubiquitous and the subway map for Beijing is so intimidating to look at, but back when it first
started, it would have been a really really exciting time, wouldn't it?
This underground travel and doing a little bit underground travel means that if it's really cold winter days, you do not have to stay outdoor, which is, you know, too cold and it's just a nice nice little thing that used to happen in today's China.
I would assume not anymore.
Today, guys, don't take your first date to the subway station.
You will not impress them with that.
And for those of you who have actually visited Beijing and find the changing of length a bit too long, actually there is a reason for that because later on after being so impressed by the subway stations and subway system here in Beijing, I had a learning period in Hong Kong and I realized that Hong
Kong actually adopted a cross -platform interchange.
Situation or solution, which means that if you're changing, let's say from lane one to lane two, you do not really have to walk so far away as long as you pick the right place to get off board, be on the right car, be on the right car and also stop at the right stop.
You can just go across the platform and get to the other lane.
I mean, it's all quite nice, but I used to feel a little bit complain about it, but after your introduction about how Beijing's subway system actually is there way early than all the other subway systems you mentioned, it kind of makes sense.
And also nowadays we complain about a sedentary lifestyle.
So use your changing from lane one to lane 10 as a way of exercising.
Yeah, think of it as the gym.
From someone's perspective who hasn't been in Beijing for that long, I can say that the subway system here is really quite impressive.
It's clean, it's quick, it's always on time, it's safe.
One of the things that stands out as a difference from other cities that I've traveled to outside of China is the security that you need to go into.
Before you actually go down to the platform area, you need to take if you have a backpack on, you need to take that off, put it through a machine and then they scan you just like they do at the airport.
This is the only city where I've ever seen that level of security before so that's a really nice and comforting thing as well.
It's English friendly, which is nice.
I remember I was in Tokyo many many years ago.
I'm not sure about now, but at the time the Tokyo subway system, which is massive too, it had no English on its signs and my friend who didn't come out with me that day wrote down the instructions in Japanese so that I could take the subway back to his place comfortably.
Well, I lost those instructions.
And it took me two hours and 20 minutes to find my way back.
But anyway, my point is it's English friendly for expats or for people who are traveling in China.
It's clean. It's affordable.
It's safe. It's really great.
Thank you. I'm glad to hear that.
And since we do have a good security system, you also have some dustbins in the station making it a bit more convenient in my opinion.
And I keep referring to it as trains because to start with.
I don't know. Do you have a favorite transportation means both of you?
You asked me before we started today and my answer was luxury yacht.
That is not a transportation means by the way.
I've also never been on a luxury yacht.
I just assume that would be my favorite way to get that.
How about you? Let me give you a serious answer.
My answer is high speed railway.
Yeah, me too. I love trains and partly because my high school crash had a thing for trains.
Not sharing that with my current spouse, but the idea is my understanding or my impression about train is You're about to sing a song.
No, that's that's if you take a listen to the soundtrack, you know what I mean.
Oh, that's what you're talking about.
Yes, the sound that the wheels got on the linking area of the reel and it's always the same pattern.
It's always the same sound and I remember once I was on a quite slow train to be honest back then I think 10 years ago or 15 years ago and it was an overnight train and I had a bunk bed and I was on the train.
I was listening to that voice is quite soothing for some people.
Some people find it really loud and cannot sleep.
But for me, it's kind of like the white noise that put me at a very soothing state and during daytime, you can actually sit because the trains here in China.
I think especially for the long distance ones, the one with the bunk beds and everything you have the bed area and also you have the sitting area right beside the bed area.
So you can sit really just right next to a window and you can take a look at the scene outside of the window.
It's a very romantic memory for me.
It's a very romantic memory and I remember, you know, my college graduation trip, we had our trip by having this overnight train trips.
We traveled from Beijing to Yantai, which is a coastal city here in Shenandoah province, and we took the train for one night.
That's about 12 hours.
I remember. And I think that is very suitable for graduation trip because when you're talking about sleeping overnight on a train, there are usually different rooms in this different cabinet.
And for regular room, there might be like six people in one room and there are six beds.
And that can be a very good chance for you to meet strangers and talk to strangers.
A romantic story, right?
A group of peers and you can share your stories with every person, you know, traveling by train, especially slow train.
I feel like they're carrying their special story and that can be very special moment for you to talk.
And that's something that you can't really achieve by taking high -speed railway because they are too quiet, too spacious, too fast.
How can we complain about China's high -speed rail network?
I mean, honestly, it's one of the best in the world, one of the fastest, if not the fastest in the world.
And I did have the opportunity to take that during my short time in China as well.
Compared to my other experiences of being on high -speed trains in Japan and in Korea, honestly, 100 % honestly, the train experience itself is relatively similar.
But I can tell you where China exceeds expectations.
It's with the booking of the tickets to the point where you get on the train.
Everything is done through applications on the phone now and it simplifies the process.
And it's so easy, even for expats, it's so easy to do.
And the application was in English, which was stress -free.
And then, of course, the train experience is really fast and really cool.
And you get to see, you know, it goes out of Beijing, it goes out of the city, and then you're into the countryside a little bit, which is really nice to see, too.
It's just a totally stress -free experience, I can say.
Yes. And I have to admit, the reason that train is my favorite transportation means is not really because of my high -school crash.
It's because I can work on a train because it's really steady and the seats are comfortable.
And it's just nice.
You're one of those Shanghai to Beijing people, aren't you?
And the thing is, there used to be a trend, I think a hashtag on China's social media, when the really high -speed train got operated, started to operate.
I think it's more than 350 kilometers per hour kind of fast.
There used to be this trendy videos that is one hop on a really fast to fast -speed train and started to have a coin stand on the side of a window.
And once the train starts to go, you see the coin keeps standing there.
And talking about that, do you know which line marks the very first high -speed rail that with a speed of 350 kilometers you were talking about per hour?
Which one? From Beijing to 10 degrees.
And your hometown! My hometown again.
Is it called the Big 28?
High -speed rail. There is my cold bag.
Or the Fast 35. I don't know.
Yeah, well, this line was, you know, starting operation on August 1st, 2008, just one week before the opening of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games.
And that somehow unveiled a very rapid, modern high -speed railway network here in China.
And I also got this very special sound that I captured on this rail.
And let's have a listen.
I have a little quiz about that, actually.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Take This Train.
The next stop is Tianqing Railway Station.
Smokin' is banned on this train.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Is that you? No. Have you recognized whose voice?
Oh, by the way, this is the sound of the announcement in this high -speed rail that has been widely used, not only in the Beijing -Tianjin line, but also across the country.
Have you recognized whose voice it is?
I know. Wait a minute.
Do they work in this building?
Yes. Xinyan's voice.
What? Yes! And she's not the only one.
Actually, multiple of our colleagues have recorded these kind of announcements for different lines, for different… I think there's one in the airport in Beijing, Shoudu, the capital airport.
And there's one also from, I think, on the train from Beijing to Shenxi Province, Taiyuan, that's my hometown.
I get to hear… I think that's Zhongqiu's voice.
Yeah. And Xiao Huan, Shen Ting, these are all our colleagues or former colleagues.
I have a new bucket list I need to be on those high -speed rail trains or at the airport.
Right. It's my newest dream.
You will make it steep.
I just got a new dream.
It is really super cool.
Well, you know, talking about the Beijing -Tianjin railway line is really special because, well, first of all, it's extremely fast.
I mean, with the speed of 350 kmph, it can be even faster, I mean much more faster than driving from Beijing to Tianjin.
And for reference, the distance between Beijing and Tianjin is about 150 km, and it might take you like two hours to drive from Beijing to Tianjin without a traffic jam.
And with this high -speed rail, it only takes you 30 minutes.
I remember when I was in college, and I had to travel back to Tianjin during weekends, and my roommate, who lived in other areas of Beijing, she was still on her way home when I had already arrived at my home at Tianjin.
So that's how the speed we were talking about, so that's how impressive the high -speed railway is.
It must be kind of common, I guess, for people to maybe live in Beijing and work in Tianjin or the other way around.
It's quite common, and if Lai Ming is on the show in the studio, he would be sharing the story of him as a little young boy living in the rural area of Jiangxi province coming to Beijing or going to Shanghai or Beijing by one day or even longer than that for his study and now finding it really, really
fast. I mean, he shares these stories.
And we know that the total operational length of its high -speed railway network has exceeded 45 ,000 km with Fuxing high -speed trains operating across 31 provincial -level regions nationwide here in China.
And one thing a little bit special about trains or high -speed trains is that we say here in China, for example, we get rid of the trams because they're not fast enough.
We got rid of most of the buses using diesel because it's not environmentally friendly, but we didn't really get rid of all the relatively slow trains.
Yes, and I like that idea because I like keeping things from our past as we continue to develop new and modern technologies that assist us in our futures.
And when you were talking about the trams and the fact that they were retiring them before, you heard me sigh and say, because I wish we could keep those too, right?
You know, it's a sign of how things used to be as we continue to go forward, but I think we should be keeping some of those things, not all of them, of course, but keep some of them around.
People would still love to use those.
I love the romantic side of yours, but it's not the only reason that some of the relatively slow trains are kept.
One major reason is that because of territorial situation in different places, actually, high -speed rails are not easy or not practical to be operated in all of the places.
We still need some trains to carry people from, for example, relatively deeper area in the mountains.
And one very lovely example I found is that in Shanxi Province, somewhere near Beijing and with really delicious noodles.
And there is this train running only at the speed of 70 km per hour, and they actually would stop around 30 times.
So there are 30 stops during its 300 km journey, and that is a relatively slow train.
Yeah, do you see a lot of farmers, a lot of people working in the urban area, living in the rural area, get onto that train?
And one lovely, lovely thing is that the conductors decided that the farmers carrying their food produce to sell in the county area, for example, should not be carrying all of the heavy stuff if they do not want to.
So they started a little bit of a farmer's market on the train, so you can sell your chicken on the train, and you can buy a chicken on that train.
And those not so fast yet quite loving moments make me feel like, yeah, everyone is being taken care of in one way or another.
I like that idea. I think that's exactly why we need to guarantee this diverse option of different transport modes, right?
Because when we are talking about, say, bicycle buses and the cars, subways, and different trains, some of them can be replaceable.
They can be interchangeable, but we have to guarantee they are there because in most cases, say, buses can be cheaper than taking a subway, and then slow train can also be cheaper than hospital railway.
So that's why we need to keep them, because we have to make sure that public transport is accessible to everyone of different income.
Absolutely. You need to give people different options as well.
But it's also important to connect city to city because it gives people more options too.
People will live in Tianjin and work in Beijing and the other way around.
And Census data tells us that China has 105 cities with more than 1 million people.
And through the HSR, the High Speed Rail Network plan, it's looking to connect as many of those as possible.
All of those cities with more than 500 ,000 people actually, that's the plan.
And one very important and actually a little bit boring way of connecting those cities would be cars.
You have private cars, you have, we didn't mention the long distance buses, but the long distance buses were there and many of them are still here, here in China, helping people to get around.
And one foundation for that is actually China's expressway or highway system.
And actually China has aimed to extend its highway network to 461 ,000 kilometers by 2035.
I think cars for us are relatively common these days.
They're quite common here in China.
And as a matter of fact, we complain about traffic jam a little bit.
We complain about finding it a bit hard to always being able to find a parking spot.
Yet we have to admit the convenience of cars brought to our daily lives is also tremendous.
I don't notice the traffic as much as I have in other big cities around the world.
Seoul, for example, terrible traffic during rush hours.
Los Angeles in, in California, they say they have the worst traffic in the world.
I don't know statistically if that's true or not, but that's what they say.
That's what they complain about.
But here in Beijing, you know, I knew before I came here that the population was roughly 21 million people.
So I thought, Oh my gosh, I'm never going to take a taxi anywhere because it must take eight hours to go from point A to point B with 21 million people living in the same place.
Right. It's not the case at all.
I mean, I've been in taxis quite a bit in Beijing so far.
And I've noticed that, yep, rush hour traffic conditions are worse.
But generally speaking, during the daytime, getting from the east to the west sides of the city doesn't really take that long.
It takes about 40 minutes.
But for a big international city, that's about standard time.
I think the city is so spacious and the streets are so wide as well here.
There are plenty of lanes for the cars to go.
I don't think the traffic is that bad here in Beijing, but I've only been here for a short amount of time.
So maybe I need some more experience on the roads or maybe it is being improved because of different systems.
Not all cars are allowed to be on the road.
Some cars are staying in the parking lot.
So depending on your license plate?
Exactly. And also we are having different types of car sharing experiences and car sharing services in the city, making sure that if you do not really necessarily have to use your car, you do not at least have the choice of not using your private car.
And I feel like, relatively speaking, compared to, for example, bikes or buses, actually, private cars have shorter history.
Here in Beijing, we know that actually in 1984, China officially recognized the legality of private car ownership, making a significant shift in the country's automotive consumption policy.
And now in 2022, there were almost 278 million privately owned motor vehicles registered in China in the past three decades.
So the number of cars are growing really rapidly, yet we are trying to find a way to better design the traffic system, the road system.
And so that in the future, probably, I guess with the help of a little bit artificial intelligence and calculating big data and everything, if every car can be a driverless car, can be run within one system, one huge system, regulating and helping and guiding every car, then cars can move faster, they
can stop better and the system can be smoother.
They can move more efficiently as well because I was reading a report from another country and I apologize because I don't remember where it was, but they were saying on the highway, for example, with driverless cars, with a particular system, the cars could be closer together.
Yes. And that would allow for better traffic conditions because now we know we're taught as drivers leave a lot of space between yourself and the car in front of you.
That's a safety precaution, right?
Driverless cars in the future may not need that.
And I think hearing China's self -driving cars is no longer a dream because we already seen that China is taking a lead in research and development as well as application of autonomous driving technology and also has introduced a series of policies to promote the commercialization of self -driving vehicles
in recent years. And very recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as well as four other central government departments selected 20 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing, major cities across the country to participate in a pilot program on vehicle road cloud integration for intelligently
connected vehicles.
And there are specially designated areas in Beijing and also in other cities in the country to allow self -driving cars and as well as self -driving taxis to have their trial application, which will, I believe, to contribute to the future development of this technology.
And flying taxis as well.
That's also super cool.
I was about to say this reminds me of a sci -fi moment.
That is, I think I've read novels about human fighting insects as a species.
And the insects are super smart because they think together.
It's like they share the same system, share the same brain.
And it makes me feel like all the cars, the driverless cars, as well as the flying cars can share the same brain and they can be instructed together by one huge computer.
Yeah, and there's a lot to work out before you see that done in mass, of course, because they have to work out almost like a road system in the sky.
Yes, as well. Right.
So there's a lot to work out.
But I mean, it's not that far away at all.
Yes. I think for the future transportation landscape, we can definitely see artificial intelligence playing a very important role.
And flying car like Steve has just said, we've talked a little bit about low altitude economy, which includes flying cars and delivering services in the air.
And also Brendan said it's a terrible, terrible name because low altitude is not exciting, but it's kind of like flying economy.
Let's call it that low altitude flying economy.
And what are some other trends that we're observing that might drive the future transportation system here in China?
Well, I think another trend here that is dominant here in China, especially among younger generations, is definitely the green transportation because you've got cities rise of shared bikes here in China.
I mean, if you live in Beijing or any other major city here in China and have ever tried the shared bike business, you will be familiar with this dinging sound when you try to open a shared bike.
Ah, familiar with that.
It's a lovely, lovely voice because it's hard for me to find a shared bike in certain occasions, especially if it's rush hours and you want to get work.
Oh, interesting. Just like everyone else.
Oh, they're in high demand, are they?
Yes, they are. And if you can find one and if you scan the cold and you hear that sound, it's like, ah, secured.
The bike is mine. And I can use the shared bike.
Question. So these shared bikes are really, really popular in Beijing.
If you visit Beijing, you're going to see people on them all day long and into the nighttime as well.
So you wake up in the morning and you go out.
You can't reserve it.
You just have to go to and find a bicycle.
Yes. On the app. Does the app tell you where the bicycles are at any particular moment?
Okay, so you don't have to walk around the neighborhood and search for one.
But yet you do have to find one that's empty.
There's no reservation system.
No reservation system.
Just first come, first serve.
Do you have to leave them in a very specific location when you're finished?
I was just thinking strategically you could leave one like around the corner from the front door of your apartment.
I'm not allowed to do that because we have very strict regulation about how to park those shared bikes because we don't really want to cause a lot of burden on the roads traffic system.
So you have to park your shared bike in a designated area alongside the roads.
And also there will be some personnel and operation stuff to make sure that you have a regular and guaranteed stream of supply and shared bike supply in different areas across the city.
Well, that's probably the best way to get people like me to follow the rules as opposed to hiding one near my front door.
Don't do that. And also here in Beijing, riding a motorcycle would require you to have a license, but in other relatively less crowded places, cities in some county areas, you do not need a motorcycle riding license, which means you can also enjoy these shared motorcycles or basically shared mopeds.
They're slower than a motorcycle, much faster than just a bike.
And also you do not need to ride it by yourself.
So there are those as well.
So yes, green transportation, shared economy in the transportation area is definitely quite popular here in China.
And low altitude. Maybe we'll see flying bicycles at some point, flying shared bicycle system.
Then you need to be really, really strong.
Join us again in 80 years and we'll review that topic.
What that would be like.
As we zoom through the decades, it's clear that transportation in China has gone from slow and steady to fast and futuristic.
Whether you're a fan of the good old bike or can't wait for your first ride in a robo taxi, one thing is certain, getting around has never been so exciting and fun.
Here's to the next great leap forward in how we move.
That brings us to the end of today's roundtable.
Thanks to LiYi and Steve, and of course those of you who are still listening.
Until next time, keep the conversations going and the ideas flowing.
I'm Neil Hong Lin, bye bye!
