Metro in Guangzhou

I was in Guangzhou City of China attending a fair and discussion with the city officers last week. One of the development impressed me the most is the well connected, accessible and affordable public transportation and pedestrian network. I was told the network was in place prior to the Asian Games in Year 2010. I visited the city 5 years ago and I must admitted the speed of urban transformation equally surprised me to say the least. I cannot recall any cities in the World except China that have gone this pace of rapid development.

The public transportation system is very efficient and connectivity is covering almost every corner of the city. It is reachable from one end to the other end within set time frame. On top of that, the pricing structure make travelling affordable. I paid RMB 12 to travel from down town to the Baiyun Airport. I cannot recall of city-airport transfer with similar pricing. Apart from that, the whole metro lines are underground, not even at grade or elevated. With the efficient public transportation, it will stimulate tourism and travelling. My collegues without the knowledge of Chinese of language are able to travel to tourist destinations without any difficulty. Of course, their only inconvenience is how to bargain for the best price.