Alex Taggart, who writes for the Global Times Metro Beijing will be heading underground on Wednesday, January 26th as he attempts to visit every Beijing Subway station in one day!

I’m excited to see how he does, as I attempted the same feat in Shanghai in 2009.

So why’s he doing it?

“I’m hoping that in taking up and hopefully beating the challenge, I’ll bring attention to the fact that for less than the price of a jianbing, it’s possible to navigate the whole of Beijing and beyond (336km of track) in a day, with a good few hours to spare if my calculations are correct. In a taxi, the same journey would be super-slow, cost at least 1042 kuai (or 297.7 jianbings), and leave Beijing covered in nasty pollution.

You can follow Alex on Twitter to see how well he does. Good luck!

Our metro map apps will soon support the iPad! We want to ensure it’s a great experience, so we’ll be optimising the interface to work better on the bigger iPad screen.

Check out the screenshot of the version in development, and look out for an announcement over the next few weeks!

The latest updates (version 2.9) of our Shanghai Metro iPhone app and Beijing Subway iPhone app are now available on the iTunes App Store.

The Beijing app includes updated first/last train times for the Changping Line, Yizhuang Line, Daxing Line, Line 15 and Fangshan Line, as well as details of the connecting bus for the Fangshan Line, while the Shanghai app adds the new Line 7 extension.

Both updates are free for all our users, or you can download Explore Shanghai or Explore Beijing directly from the iTunes App Store.

We have lots more updates planned for 2011, so stay tuned!

The latest versions of our Shanghai Metro iPhone app and Beijing Subway iPhone app are now available on the iTunes App Store.

The Beijing app includes all five new lines which opened on December 30th: the Changping Line, Yizhuang Line, Daxing Line, Line 15 and Fangshan Line.

The Shanghai app adds time/price information for the new Line 10 extension and fixes an issue with station names on Line 9.

As we wanted to get the updates in your hands as soon as possible, a few items didn’t make it into this release. There will be another update in the next couple of weeks adding first/last train times for the new Beijing lines and Line 7 extension in Shanghai.

Both updates are free for all our users, or you can download Explore Shanghai or Explore Beijing directly from the iTunes App Store!

The Shanghai Metro and Beijing Subway open new lines today, December 28th December 30th 2010: in Beijing, 5 new lines are opening to the outer suburbs, while in Shanghai, Line 7′s northern extension opens.

We’ve updated our online metro map for Shanghai and online subway map for Beijing with the latest lines and stations (some information, like first/last train times will be added soon).

Updates for our iPhone apps are currently in review by Apple and will be available soon.

Over at CityWeekend’s Beijingology blog, David Feng has been tirelessly profiling every single new Beijing Subway station for 2010! Five new lines will be opening on December 28th, 2010: the Daxing extension to Line 4, the Yizhuang Line, Line 15, the Changping Line and the Fangshan Line.

These all connect to some of the suburbs of Beijing. Each station has an article hyperlinked below. We’ll be updating our online Beijing Subway map and iPhone app with all the new lines, stay tuned!
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Every app, every city, just $0.99

From now until December 15th you can buy any ExploreMetro iPhone app for just $0.99! That’s 50% off the regular price. Whether you live in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei, Singapore or Hong Kong, or are planning a trip there during 2011, be sure to grab a copy today!

Buy one for you, get one for a friend!

The first 100 people who buy an ExploreMetro app will be eligible for a FREE extra copy to send to a friend! That’s right, just purchase any ExploreMetro iPhone app, and forward your iTunes email receipt to iphone at exploremetro dot com. We’ll send you a promo code which you can give to your friend for a free copy of the same app! Hurry, stocks are limited, we only have 100 free apps to give away!

The small print:

• Promo codes will work in any country, the recipient will require an iTunes account
• Promo code will be for the same app you purchase.
• Limited to one code per person
• Only 100 free apps available, we’ll update this blog post once we’ve sold out

We’re delighted to announce version 2.7 of our Explore Beijing subway map for iPhone is now available on the iTunes App Store!

It has all-new retina display graphics designed for the iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4th generation, as well as new Line 4 stations on the Daxing Line. Plus you can now easily switch languages between English and Chinese! Explore Beijing 2.7 is a free update for existing users! Download now from the iTunes App Store!

On October 28th, Beijing’s Daxing Line (大兴线) opens, adding an additional 11 stations on the south end of the existing Line 4. Although originally planned as a separate line, it will now be fully integrated with Line 4 and trains will travel the full 40 km of the line.

The new stations from north to south, are listed below. Tap any station name for a Subwaypedia page with maps and photos.

• Xingong (新宫)
• Xihongmen (西红门站)
• Gaomidian North (高米店北)
• Gaomidian South (高米店南)
• Zaoyuan (枣园)
• Qingyuan Lu (清源路)
• Huangcun Xidajie (黄村西大街)
• Huangcun Railway Station (黄村火车站)
• Yihezhuang (义和庄)
• Biomedical Base (生物医药基地)
• Tiangongyuan (天宫院)

Here’s a view from Google Earth looking south at the new stations.

Daxing district (大兴区) may not be frequently visited by most Beijingers, but it’s home to over 600,000 people. It’s also likely to be home to Beijing’s second airport.

We’ve updated our online interactive metro map at www.explorebj.com with the new stations. We’ll be adding timetable and routeplanner info shortly. An update for our Explore Beijing iPhone app will be available soon!

We’ve just released the 2.5 update to all our iPhone metro maps! That’s five new updates for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore and Hong Kong!

Here’s what’s new!

Google Maps – By popular demand, you can now see a street map for every station. This is really handy if you’re arriving at a metro station and want to see which exit to take, or how to reach your destination. Just tap on any station, then tap Street map (requires a 3G or Wifi internet connection).

New interface – We’ve simplified the interface for browsing stations and planning routes. Just tap any station to see this standard popup. You can switch between Metro map, Street map and Train times (for first/last train times). You can also listen to the name of the station as an audio clip by tapping the station name, or start planning a route.

Easy routeplanning – Planning routes is now even simpler. Tap on the first station, and choose “Plan route”. Then tap on your destination. The route, time and price will be immediately shown. We’ve also updated the Singapore app prices for the new distance-based fares.

Version 2.5 is a FREE update for all existing users. Download our apps today!