These signs have started popping up in the Beijing subway sometime in the last few months.
They’re my favorite. On so many levels. First of all, I love that Word Art is making a comeback. That was my jam back in middle school when I was making powerpoints about Mount Everest. But the caption is also pretty priceless.
中国梦，地铁梦
China Dream, Subway Dream
Now I like the Chinese Dream as much as the next guy (insomuch as one can grasp a nebulous and purposely obscure concept), but this left me asking questions.
What is the link between the China dream and subway dream?
Presumably these two concepts are linked, but how. Is the subway dream a part of the China dream? Is it about mass public transportation being representative of the Chinese dream? Is it a more traditionally Confucian concept where units of self, family, and group are a representative microcosm of the state?
What is the Subway Dream?
Besides the word cloud POWER, BEIJING, HIGH-SPEED TRAIN DEVELOPMENT, CHINA, and SUBWAY.
My dreams, as one Chunjie crooner sang, are not big. I dream of a subway where I can find a seat. I dream that there’s nobody convinced that the volume of their voice directly corresponds to how successful their conversation is. I dream of a subway where I can sit down in a seat, and when I get up have my own peaceful rise.
When will China hire grown-ups to design things?
Never.
I’m pretty sure everyone’s dream would be to have a seat, but you can buy those little hiking seats and bring them with you if you’re going on a long trek surely?
“Wode Zhong guo meng; wode zuoxia meng”
Oh yes, a genuine master of the Chinese language
Getting all you Beijingers primed and ready for the price hikes and distance based pricing…
‘Keep dreaming’ is probably the only honest tag line to go along with this China dream campaign.
And a seat on the subway? That’ll take more than a 300% price hike. No one is going to take the bus, it’ll be nothing but yet another increase in living costs for all those commuters. I feel sorry for those poor basterds that decided to buy/rent cheaper flats in Tongzhou or Beiyuan North and will have to cough up the money they save on rent to commute by subway now.
你打击了在钉子的头上
Yes, most provincial cities have subway now. And i am living in Chengdu where is building more than 5 subway lines.