Shanghai Tech WriterTechnical Writing, Technology, Web2.0, Google, Shanghai, China

Every day, it takes me nearly an hour to commute to work. The Google Shanghai office is located at People Square, inside the Raffles City office building. People Square is at the heart of Shanghai, the intersection of the three busiest subway lines, where millions and millions of commuters, tourists, shoppers, and vagabonds come and go 24/7.

One of the things I don’t like about having to commute long distance to work now is having to go through the interchange at People Square. Even though I don’t have to transfer lines, Raffles City is located at the opposite end from where I get off of line 2. I have to walk quite a distance (~10 minutes) through the interchange along and against millions of other people going from point A to point B. Some people need to transfer to other lines while others head towards one of the 20+ exits. I don’t think there’s any other subway hub in the world that is as busy as People Square.

In China, there’s no concept of “personal space” so there’s a lot of pushing, shoving, and sometimes groping happening. It does seem to me that more people work along line 2, so I feel like I’m always walking and bumping against the flow of traffic when I go through the People Square interchange. Being five months pregnant, I really hate it when people all around me push and shove until I’m sandwiched between smelly men who stopped showering since the beginning of winter. That is why I opted to leave home/get to work really early to avoid as much of the madness as possible. But still… a few million people minus a few thousand people is still a few million people. Commuting has not been fun at all.

Lately, it has come to my attention something disturbing about commuters that start or end their commute in Zhang Jiang High-Tech, the closest station to where I live. Zhang Jiang station is a terminal stop for line 2, so everyone has to get off at this stop. Everyone getting off the train means that those getting on could actually get a seat — if they are fast enough to grab one. So everyone waiting on the platform at Zhang Jiang station has this mentality that they need to be the first to get on the train, disregard the fact that the people on the train need to get off first. You see a lot of Chinese-style American football action! People push, shove, and dash for a seat. Some people jump to their seats and end up seating on each other’s lap. Then there are the poor commuters who never managed to get off the train because of the mad inflow of seatgrabbers.

So every morning and every evening for the past few weeks, I’ve noticed that there’s a lot more pushing and shoving happening at Zhang Jiang station than at People Square!! Despite the usual pushing and shoving, at least, commuters that get on at People Square don’t fight for a seat. They actually let people get off the train first before getting on. So my conclusion? Commuters at Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech station are less civilized than the rest. Commuters who show up at 7:45am are even less civilized than those who show up at 7:30am. I don’t even want to see what 8:00am or 8:30am commuters are like!

Well, the good news is that Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech station won’t be terminal stop anymore in just a few more months! Line 2 will be extended all the way to Pudong International Airport in time for the World Expo 2010. Hopefully, by then, people waiting at the platform of Zhang Jiang station won’t be as crazy about fighting for a seat. There’s also going to be another station that is much closer to my home, so I don’t have to get on at Zhang Jiang Hi-Tech anymore.