Grand Central China
October 12th, 2007
I came across this NY Times article and video on Grand Central Station in NYC.
Does this article and video apply to the train stations of China in Beijing and Shanghai?
Well, in my view, maybe the part about feeling ‘vigorous’ and ‘hypnotic’ from a people watching standpoint.
But any ‘ballet’ comparison? In China?
Uh, I don’t think so. My experience has been that it’s often a free-for-all with massive numbers of bodies trying to get out of the train station with their life and luggage intact, including me.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, Beijing, Shanghai, China
3 Comments Add your own
1. Erik | October 12th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
I don’t know anything about ballet, but I can say that the train station in Suzhou was chaotic and definitely was the one place I paid EXTRA attention to my wallet, my bags, and my surroundings. I may even have held onto Paula’s sweater to make sure I didn’t somehow get left behind.
The train station experience was definitely claustrophobic and overwhelming.
-Erik
2. Brandi Eng-Rohrbach | October 21st, 2007 at 10:17 pm
You want to see a beautiful mass transit system go to europe. I actually think China’s is more impressive than the U.S. Our mass transit is deplorable.
3. Ashley Breneman | December 12th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Apparently congestion isn’t supposed to be as bad since the additional rails were added, but still just the sight of so many people crammed in one area makes me claustrophobic. Since that time though, a lot of upgrades were made in anticipation of the Olympics. They are also moving to paperless ticket traveling which they already have in Shanghai. This article mentions that even in Beijing the crowds aren’t as big as Grand central station during rush hour. More or less crowded aside, those people trying to get on the train while the people inside are trying to get out, all pushing trying not to miss the doors closing doesn’t remind me of ballerinas. But I guess if you tried filming it with a camera from the early 1900’s that doesn’t really work you could call the black splotches whatever you’d like!
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