According to Beijing Urban Engineering Design & Research Institute, the four subway stations of the Olympic Branch Line designed by the institute will each have their own theme. Each station will pay tribute to a respective season, using red, yellow, blue or green as their main color, reported the Beijing Times on Thursday.

The Olympic Branch Line will come into operation when the 2008 Olympic Summer Games start in Beijing and will link the Olympic sites with the city center and other lines of the Beijing Metro.

With a full length of 4.398 kilometers, the branch line will be entirely underground.

Red and black will be the main colors of Xiongmao Huandao Station, representing the passionate summer. The Olympic Sports Center Station will be garbed in yellow, symbolizing glory and representing autumn; the Olympic Park Station will be daubed in blue, meaning spacious and representing winter. The Forest Park Station will be in green, symbolizing hope and spring. In addition, the walls of the stations will be painted in gray, the main color of Beijing's traditional residential buildings, so as to be in harmony with the city culture of Beijing.

It is reported that the four stations will be installed with platform screen doors as well as equipped with automatic fare collection systems. Drinkable water will be available in the stations. Elevators for disabled people and blind tracks will also be included.

(China.org.cn by Wang Qian, December 7, 2006)