While construction has slowed down in Michigan, it was hard to notice any slowdown in Beijing. In addition to the countless apartment buildings and shopping malls being built, I was impressed with the subway system.
There was a major upgrade to the subway last year for the Olympics, but that was just the start. There are roughly 13 lines under construction this year. The goal is to build the largest subway system in the world in the shortest amount of time (561km running by 2015). I was able to observe one line being built while in Beijing. One week the land wasn’t even cleared so I was not sure where it was being built exactly. Another week, fences were placed up. And another week the foundations for the elevated line were being built. It is supposed to be running a year and a half from now.
It is exciting to see all these changes happening, one of the reasons I keep coming back to China.