Song Hong Road ← Bei Xin Jing → Wei Ning Road

First opened: December 30, 2006

Number of exits: 5

Cleanliness: 6.5/10

Interest Level: 5/10 (one of the station’s shops had stockings in it)

General Comments:

The first thing I noticed about Bei Xin Jing Station (北新泾站) was that it had a mini-mall fused into the building. Now, mall/metro station hybrids are perfectly standard in Shanghai, particularly in large, tourist-ridden stations like Ren Min Square (人民广场), but let’s face it: Bei Xin Jing is a bit of a suburban backwater — so why does its metro station get a mall when Song Hong Road Station (the closest station to my apartment and just as much of a backwater), not get one? I know, I know, probably something to do with the half dozen mult-storey shopping centres already surrounding Song Hong Road like a ring of mushrooms, but it still hurts, y’know?

Metro Station Environs

Bei Xin Jing really epitomises suburban Shanghai. It’s just ordinary people getting on with their lives, with nothing obviously touristy besides a museum of the area’s historical developmemt, and the omnipresent signs and statues spruiking next year’s World Expo (and at this point I’m convinced the propaganda is as much for the local people’s benefit as for any foreigners happening to pass by).

There are toilets to buy (AUD$60 a pop)…

…parks to wander (and dodge motorcycles) through…

…green mailboxes and buildings with five storey’s worth of bamboo scaffolding…

…and the first example of stencil art I’ve seen in Shanghai.

It might not be Banksy, but can anyone deny the iconic significance of a good keg of drinking water?