Li Guang, a 25-year-old Beijing resident, is pleased with a decision he made two years ago.

At the very beginning of 2003, Li was obsessed by a big issue: Where should he finally settle with his fiancee in this capital metropolis?

Li works in the south, while his would-be bride's office is located in the north.

"How to position our future home, considering traffic convenience for both of us, puzzled me," Li recalled, who works for a Beijing-based newspaper.

There is a clear consensus among local Beijingers that the city's northern part is far more developed than the south.

The development gap is clearly illustrated by the average price for real estate along the northern Fourth Ring Road, which is almost equal to that along the southern Second Ring Road, though the latter is much closer to the city centre.

Lured by the more reasonable housing price, Li eventually chose an apartment near his office in the south, inside of the Second Ring Road.

It was a difficult moment for him because it would mean that his future wife would have to spend long hours every workday commuting between home and her office using Beijing's crowded public transport system: not a fate anyone wants to impose on a loved one.

Li faced no relief from his unenviable decision until Beijing unveiled plans for two new metro lines, Line 4 and 5 to the public last year.

Now Li watches every step of the metro project's development with keen interest.

"It will be a much easier link from our home to my wife's office," he said excitedly. They got married last year.

Metro blueprint

Beijing has been a model of urban development for more than just its own residents.

"The whole country is eager to see what the capital city will look like in the years to come," said Tan Xuxiang, deputy planner-general with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning.

Tan grows animated when talking about the updated urban planning scheme in the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"The new plan provides a window for people to look into the city," Tan said.

Several breakthroughs have been made over previous urban development concepts, which centered around Tian'anmen Square.

The one-centre strategy is now being replaced by multicenterd development guidance, with the introduction of a series of parallel centers, focusing on differing functions.

Zhongguancun high-tech area, Olympic sports centre and the Central Business District, are to be functional centers.

The scheme reveals the city's decision in achieving an all-round development model, which also illustrates the national capital's compatibility to increasing varieties of industries and fields.

The majority of the ambitious plan is to be fulfilled with the stretching of Beijing's metro system.

Currently four metro lines are in operation in Beijing. Line 1 and 2 total 54 kilometers, while Line 13 and Line Batong are 61 kilometers. Together they carry 1.5 million travelers every day.

"Beijing will keep its leading position in metro construction in the coming years," said the senior city planner Tan.

According to the city's plan, there will be 19 lines of 570 kilometers knitted together under the capital by 2020.

"Fifteen lines are set to support urban communication, and the other four lines will be tailor-made for commuting convenience between suburban areas," Tan said.

Unlike metro Line 1 and 2 (loop lines), which were constructed circling the Tian'anmen Square area, the traditional city centre, the new lines being built are expected to reach all the major corners of the city.

"Metro construction enters a key stage in 2005," said Qin Zhaohui, with the Beijing Rail Communication Construction Company.

The company is responsible for part of the construction of Line 4, 5, 10 and the rail expressway to airport.

"This is the first time in China, that so many metro lines are being built simultaneously," Qin said.

Also, the newly built lines are to extend to touch the suburbs. Line 4 connects Fengtai in the extreme south with Haidian in the northwest, totaling 28.16 kilometers, marking the first direct link between the two "poles." Line 5 serves a similar function, aiming to establish a short-cut route between the "developed" north and "developing" south, from Changping to Fengtai.

Besides the two north-south lines, another arch-shaped metro Line 10 is also under construction, with the two tips of the arch set in Haidian and Chaoyang districts respectively, spanning from northwest to the vast east and southeast areas.

A 5.91-kilometre section is specially built for travel convenience during the 2008 Olympic Games, and is also included in Line 10.

All of the three lines began construction a year ago, and are scheduled to be available to the public before 2008.

Airport expressway

"Apart from the listed lines, construction of the airport rail expressway is believed to be the most eye-catching project this year," said Sun Wenjian, an official with the Beijing Municipal Committee of Communication.

With a planned length of 26 kilometers, the expressway still remains a mystery to the public, since no detailed construction plans are available now.

"Proposals on introduction of the light transit railway, the underground metro and the maglev have all been received," Sun said.

The final design is set to be selected by early April, he added.

"After the completion, 15 minutes will be enough for travelers to reach the airport from downtown," he said.

The airport line is set to share the same station at Dongzhimen with the loop line and Line 13.

The passengers shuttle between Dongzhimen and the airport is expected to enjoy hands-free convenience, with the introduction of an advanced luggage check-in and transport system between the two sites.

The project is to be kicked off in June, and is designed to have a train depart every five minutes, carrying 3,000-4,000 passengers per hour.

According to a source with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning, the four-carriage set metro has four stops on the way to the airport, including the busy hub at the Sanyuanqiao station and an interchange station with Line 10

"Line 10 is supposed to pick up a huge passenger flow," said Sun. The line will be running through the International Trade Centre and Zhongguancun, which have great air passenger potential.

Big investment

Qin Zhaohui said 7.05 billion yuan (US$860 million) has been allocated for building Line 4, 5 and 10 this year.

All the newly built lines will be equipped with protective transparent sliding doors, or platform screen doors, for safety concerns and energy-savings advantages.

Line 1 and 2, which have been operating for some 30 years, are expecting their largest-ever renovations since their debuts.

Wang Dexing, board chairman of the Beijing Subway Operation Company, said an all-round upgrade, covering seven systems, is to be undertaken with a budget of 4.3 billion yuan (US$524 million).

About 3.7 billion yuan (US$451 million) will be used on the train upgrades, which will include improvements of related safety devices.

The leftover 600 million yuan (US$73.1 million) is for the adoption of the automatic fare collection systems. "By 2007, buying tickets and checking in from conductors will be history," Wang said.

Inter-city consideration

As a national capital, Beijing shoulders part of the responsibility to push the development of other cities, said Li Xiaojiang, senior staffer with Urban Planning Society of China.

The more renovations they make in the city's south, the more development chances Tianjin and Hebei Province will obtain, said a local resident Ge Zong, who frequently travels to Tianjin for business.

Tianjin borders Beijing to the southeast, while Hebei Province surrounds the capital.

"The revised Beijing development plan does take Tianjin and Hebei into consideration," said Li.

One obvious example is the cautious location of Beijing's second airport, which has finally been positioned in the southeast of the city.

"The huge air passenger flow over Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei requires the launch of the airport supporting a balanced regional development," said Li.

A 12 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) rail transit project linking Beijing and Tianjin directly will shorten the nearly two-hour travel time between the two to some 40 minutes.

(China Daily April 11, 2005)