The quiet midnight ride on the subway

It's nearly midnight on the subway, and there are plenty of seats to grab. The train buzzes along, and it's almost too quiet during the No 10 train's final loop of the night.

Say what you will about the air quality in Beijing, but the city's subway is a work of art, at least when compared with systems in other world cities. It is smooth. It is quiet. It is clean. And oh so convenient.

In New York, the subway system, while convenient, is noisy, bumpy and has a distinct aroma that can't adequately be described in simple, polite terms.

As a child growing up in New York during the early 1960s, I can recall riding on subway cars that had to be made before World War II. The seats were made of woven wicker, as were the ceiling fans. And the train still had leather straps for riders to grasp as the train drove through tunnels made in the 1800s. The term "strap hangers" was coined during the early 20th century to characterize people standing during these rides.

In Chicago, the trains are mostly above ground and the system is known as the El - for elevated. The cars are packed with seats and a narrow aisle, relegating others to stand in the front and rear of cars. A Chinese company, CRRC, has been contracted to replace the cars in the Chicago system and is building a factory there to fulfill its order. Boston (also getting CRRC cars), Philadelphia, Washington and Los Angeles also have systems, but none quite as modern as Beijing's.

And perhaps that is the difference. Some lines were completed just last year, and expansion work on others continues today. I was fascinated the first time riding on a Beijing subway when I saw the video advertisement out a window. Not in New York. I recall how I wasn't bumped and bruised as one can get during turns and along uneven tracks of the F Train as it heads under the East River to Manhattan from Brooklyn.

And at midnight on that Beijing subway train, I was surprised at the low number of people aboard.

If one stood at just the right spot at the front of the train with a bowling ball and rolled it down the aisle on a straight track, you could almost imagine it traveling all the way to the last car without hitting a person.

During an average day, the Beijing system carries nearly 10 million passengers along almost 600 kilometers of track. It's already one of the world's busiest systems, yet, unlike many others, at close to midnight the last round of trains are nearly done and the system prepares to shut down for a few hours, preparing for the next morning rush hour.

That's why midnight on the metro is unlike any other subway ride you'll have.

Contact the writer at keithkohn@chinadaily.com.cn