Underground art, literally

A metallic relief work of Beijing's Drum Tower enlivens Guloudajie Station on Line 8 of the Beijing subway. Jiang Dong / China Daily

Beijing's subway is one of the longest in the world and will shortly be one of the best looking, according to Wang Kaihao, who looks at the artistic makeover of stations.

It's the morning rush hour at Guloudajie Station on Line 8 of the Beijing subway and passengers stop to take photos of an artwork showing traditional Chinese timepieces.

Wang Zhong, deputy director of the design school at China Central Academy of Fine Arts, is confident about public reaction to the large-scale arts project underway in the city's subway stations that was launched in 2011.

Fifty-eight art works at 38 new subway stations, covering lines 6, 8, 9 and 10, are the work of about 20 artists from the academy and many others. Though some works have already been revealed, Wang says the best is yet to come.

"There are many more subway passengers than visitors to museums and arts galleries, so the stations are a much bigger platform to express creativity," the 50-year-old Beijinger says.

Beijing's subway had just four lines before the 2008 Olympic Games, but today has 16 lines and 442 km of track, making it one of the world's longest subways. An average of 7.6 million people take the subway every day.

The focus was originally on constructing the subway in time for the Games and the aesthetics were largely ignored, says Yu Huayun, chief of the municipal public sculpture office, which supervises the art project.

"Construction is less urgent now. Subway stations showcase an international city. As long as their needs for functionality are met, it's necessary to make them beautiful."

Ninety percent of the works, including reliefs, sculptures, and some avant-garde art pieces, will be finished by the end of 2013 - and each line has its own theme.