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

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

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.

Here is the list of stations, from west to east, with links to Metropedia articles for existing stations. The English names are our unofficial translations, based on the naming of current stations. Corrections and comments are welcome. The 28 stations on the main line are as follows:

• 虹桥火车站站 - Hongqiao Railway Station
• 虹桥机场西站 - West Hongqiao Aiport
• 虹桥机场东站 - East Hongqiao Aiport
• 上海动物园站 - Shanghai Zoo
• 龙溪路站 - Longxi Road
• 水城路站 - Shuicheng Road
• 伊犁路站 - Yili Road
• 宋园路站 - Songyuan Road
• 虹桥路站 - Hongqiao Road … interchange with lines 3 and 4
• 交通大学站 - Jiaotong University
• 上海图书馆站 - Shanghai Library
• 陕西南路站 - South Shanxi Road … interchange with line 1
• 新天地站 - Xintiandi
• 老西门站 - Laoximen … interchange with line 8
• 豫园站 - Yu Garden
• 南京东站 - East Nanjing Road … interchange with line 2
• 天潼路站 - Tiantong Road
• 四川北路站 - North Sichuan Road
• 海伦路站 - Hailun Road … interchange with line 4
• 邮电新村站 - Youdian Xincun
• 四平路站 - Siping Road … interchange with line 8
• 同济大学站 - Tongji University
• 国权路站 - Guoquan Road
• 五角场站 - Wujiaochang
• 江湾体育场站 - Jiangwan Stadium
• 三门路站 - Sanmen Road
• 殷高东路站 - East Yingao Road
• 新江湾城站 - New Jiangwan Town

There’s also a branch line from Shanghai Zoo, towards Hanghua New Town. The three stations are:

• 龙柏新村站 - Longbai Xincun
• 紫藤路站 - Ziteng Lu
• 航中路站 - Hangzhong Lu

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.

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!

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.

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

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!

Falling asleep on the way home…

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!

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!

Here’s a quick tour of the new site

• Homepage
• About us - Information about ExploreMetro, who we are
• Maps - Links to our metro and subway map sites around China
• Advertising Solutions - Information about our forthcoming local advertising platform
• Blog - You’re reading it right now
• Contact us - Contact us by email, web form or Twitter

Please feel free to explore the site and send us any feedback!

No more: as of 28 December 2008, you can now take a Line 9 metro train directly to/from Yishan Road, where you can interchange with Line 3 and Line 4.

The Explore Shanghai metro map has been updated to show this new connection. If you drag between two stations to plot a route, you’ll now see the new faster times.

We’ll post updates from our blog, as well as links to interesting articles about the main metro and subway systems

So that our female listeners do not feel left out, we thought we’d better have a guy for the Beijing map. Several days later, all 106 stations now have recordings by our very own Shaun Tang!

On the ExploreBeijing subway map you can now hear a spoken Mandarin pronounciation of each station name. Simply click on any station, then click the “play” button which appears in the upper right hand corner of the bubble:

The big red arrow doesn’t actually appear on the real map.

Also on all the station pages in Subwaypedia (like this one) you can hear the station name by clicking on the ‘play’ button on the right hand side of the page.

Try it out here:

Now if we can just find someone with a Guangzhou accent-ah…

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.