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Print or download your Shanghai metro map PDF

Sunday, February 8th, 2009

Our ExploreShanghai metro map is great for finding stations and plotting routes, but what if you’re away from the computer? We now provide a handy PDF version of the Shanghai metro map in A4 size, which you can print out and take with you on your trip.

PDF screenshot

The map neatly fits on one page, and although its only 105KB, it’s high resolution so it will look great when printed out.

Hi-resolution

To load the PDF, click this button on the map.

PDF button

Here’s a direct link to the PDF.

The map is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. That means you’re welcome to print it out, email it to a friend or put a copy on your site. If you want to use the map commercially (for example, printing it in a guidebook or magazine), please contact us.

We’d love your feedback on the new printable version. Does it print out correctly on your machine? Would you like any information added or changed?

Currently, the PDF is for the Shanghai Metro, English only. A Chinese version and PDFs for Beijing and Guangzhou. will follow soon.

Every Shanghai Metro Station in 10 hours, 14 minutes and 42 seconds

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

It was pitch dark and freezing cold as I sat outside Songjiang Xincheng metro station at 5.45am on Monday morning, eating dumplings for breakfast. I had set myself the challenge of visiting every Shanghai Metro Station in one day, and was thinking this was not the most glamorous of beginnings. After a few minutes the staff rolled up the shutters and let me and a few other bleary-eyed commuters into the station.

My route took me along line 9 to Yishan Road, up and down line 3, all the way around the circular line 4, then onto line 2 into Pudong. It was now mid-rush hour and the trains and stations were packed.

rush hour

As each train reaches the terminus, a small snatch of Kenny G is played over the loudspeaker. After Kenny played his sax at Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, I headed back to Century Avenue, then onto line 6 north into the depths of Pudong - all while I would usually be asleep :) Throughout the day I was updating Twitter from my phone, and getting messages of support from the many people following from their desks!

Tweet on line 6

Heading south down line 6, I managed to meet up with agent 00J, who kindly brought me a sandwich. At the south end of line 6, we took a shortcut via bus to Line 8. I then headed on alone to the north end of line 8, where I managed to dash into the toilet for a much-needed comfort break (Note for would-be imitators: a strong bladder is a must)

I was making good time, and was already an hour and a half ahead of my plan! At Hongkou Football Stadium station, I transferred back onto line 3. Hongkou Stadium is a ‘virtual interchange’ which involves crossing a main road and running up several flights of stairs! Up to the north ends of line 3, then time for another bus transfer. I managed to mess this one up, ending up running over a kilometre trying to find the bus stop. Still, before long I was at Fujin Road on line 1.

Fujin Road

Then there was just one long journey southwards the length of Line 1, through the start of the evening rush hour. At Xinzhuang. I transferred onto Line 5 towards Minhang in south-west Shanghai.

We pulled into Minhang Development Zone Station, the final station, at 4:14pm. I had finally made it in 10 hours, 14 minutes and 42 seconds, surpassing my expectations, and hopefully providing a tough target for Wang Jian Shuo to beat :)

Finished!

After completing the challenge I had to get home, so I took the metro. Somehow I had made it through the day without caffeine, and believe me when I say crappy McDonald’s coffee has never tasted so good…

Here’s my route… if you think you can beat my time, then start researching on the interactive metro map! If you want to take the challenge, just contact us and I can answer any questions!

route
Falling asleep on the way home…

sleeping

Shanghai Metro Challenge - LIVE!

Monday, January 19th, 2009

Today (Monday) I will be attempting the Shanghai Metro Challenge, trying to visit every station on the network in just one day.

You can follow my progress during the day via exploremetro on Twitter or text me on +86 13482644407.

Full report and photos to follow on Tuesday. Jiayou!

Every Shanghai Metro station in one day

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

jump

On Monday 19th January I will attempt to visit every Shanghai Metro station in one day!

In the last five years the Shanghai Metro system it’s grown from three lines to eight, with 147 stations. It’s now the largest network in China and the sixth largest in the world. In London, people have been doing the Tube Challenge for decades, but as far as I know, this is the first attempt with the current network in Shanghai (feel free to prove me wrong in the comments). By 2020, I fear it will be impossible to visit every station in a day!

I’ll be sending updates via Twitter during the challenge, and supporters are welcome to cheer me on. Find out:

  • can I make it to Minhang Development Zone before the system shuts down for the night?
  • what are the best and the worst stations for interchanging?
  • will I remember to get off line 4, or will I keep on going round and round?
  • which little old ladies will I need to elbow out of the way to get to the front of the queue?

It all starts at 6am, 19th January at Songjiang Xincheng.

Here are the rules I will follow, based on the rules on the London tube forum site

  1. All stations served by Shanghai Metro underground and light rail services (line 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,9) must be visited in a single day.
  2. To visit a station, you must arrive and/or depart by an metro train in normal public service.
  3. It is necessary for a through train to stop at the station for the visit to count, although you do not need to get out.
  4. If a stations has two separated parts which share the same name, they must each be visited. This applies to Pudian Road (line 4, line 6), Hongkou Football Stadium (line 3, line 8), Shanghai Railway Station (line 1, line 3/4) and Yishan Road (line 3/9, line 4).
  5. Feet or public buses may be used to transfer from one metro line to another. The use of private motor vehicles, taxis or any other form of privately arranged transport (bicycles, skateboards, Haibao-pulled chariot etc) is not acceptable.
  6. It is not necessary to cover every stretch of track on the network
  7. A log book should be kept throughout the whole journey.
  8. The clock must start the moment the doors close on the first train taken by the challenger(s). It must stop the moment the challenger(s) set foot on the platform at the last station.

147 stations, eight lines, one manic Monday. Wish me luck!

Attaching reindeer to Maglev train…

Monday, December 8th, 2008

Several people have noticed the fun loading messages which appear while our metro maps for Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou are loading.

To celebrate the festive season, we’ve written some new loading messages with the theme “Christmas with Chinese characteristics”. Check it out on one of our maps: SH BJ GZ.

CNReviews on ExploreMetro

Tuesday, November 25th, 2008

CNReviews have kindly written a very positive review of our sites in their latest post.

Every so often you run into something so completely wonderful, it forces you to ask yourself, “how the hell did I never hear of this before?”

ExploreMetro should be a nice reference for China’s many expats and foreign visitors who opt not to waste time or money hopping into taxis to get wherever they want to go when the subway is equally accessible and often times much faster.

Thanks guys, we love you too. Read the full review here.

A picture is worth 1000 words

Sunday, November 16th, 2008

Every station on the Shanghai Metro, Beijing Subway and Guangzhou Metro have their own page on ExploreShanghai’s Metropedia, ExploreBeijing’s Subwaypedia and ExploreGuangzhou’s Metropedia.

Now these pages are more colourful and interesting with the addition of local photos! Powered by Panoramia.com, you can now see photos taken in the geographical area around each metro station.

Examples:

I am a Roman hash gangster = Shanghai Metro anagrams

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008

Inspired by the work of bloggers in Toronto and London I have created my own anagrammed map of the Shanghai Metro!

Anagrams

So if you’ve ever fancied travelling from I’m a hot dashing dinosaur (Shanghai Indoor Stadium) to Thoroughly Hawaiian Satanists (Shanghai South Railway Station) to Drab Penguin (Nanpu Bridge) now is your chance!

Check it out: Shanghai Metro anagram map

Note for pedants: I used the common English name of the station as posted on signboards, spelling out directions e.g. South Lingyan Road. For some challenging stations (particularly the ones with lots of Xs and Zs I added “station” e.g. Dongjing Station -> Standing, I jog not.

Shanghai Housing Scanner

Saturday, August 25th, 2007

Looking for an apartment, but fed up with searching lots of different websites? Try out the Shanghai Housing Scanner which combines results from many different classifieds sites in Shanghai.