Beijing News You Might Have Missed this Week, Oct 16

Beijing is a happening city! Don't miss a thing with our weekend roundup of the latest news.

Beijing Designates Driverless Car Road Test Area: On Oct 15 the capital desigated its first testing area for driverless vehciles, located along a 100 meter road loop in Majuqiao Town in southeastern Beijing. Testing, which will be carried out by Baidu and Xiaoma Zhichang, will be carried out with someone first overseeing the drive from the passenger seat and from the backseat (giving a whole new meaning to the term "backseat driver") before advancing to testing without anyone in the vehicle.

Roads within the zone will be closed to public traffic during testing to avoid accidents or mishaps and will reopen once each test has been completed.

Line 8, Line S1 See Weekend Operation Changes: From Oct 16-17, a number of subway lines in the city will see changes to hours of operation. On Oct 16, the last train at Line 8’s Zhuxinzhuang Station will be at 7.30pm, while the last train from National Art Museum Station will arrive at 8.25pm. For the southern section of Line 8, the last train from Yinghai Station has been moved to 8.20pm, and the last train from Zhushikou moved to 8.55pm.

Throughout the weekend, from Saturday to Sunday, Line S1 will see a change to train times as well. The last train at Shichang Station will arrive at 8.45pm, while the last train at Jin’anqiao Station – which connects S1 to Line 6 – will be at 9.08pm.

Beijing Subway Starts Digital Currency Trials: The city’s subway system has implemented trials for digital currency ticketing in conjunction with ICBC. By using the 北京一卡通Beijing Yikatong app, which will enable them to receive a special digital coupon to pay reduced fare on their first subway ride of use from Oct 12 to 25.

China Sends First Female Taikonaut to Space Station: China has sent its first woman astronaut to go to the country’s new space station early on Saturday as part of the Shenzhou-13 manned mission. Wang Yaping will stay aboard the space station for a record 6 months with her two male counterparts, during which they will continue to oversee the construction of the station as well as carry out a number of research projects.

Beijing Weather Authority Issues Cold Weather Alert: The city’s meteorological observatory has issued a cold warning from Oct 15 to Oct 17. The observatory forecasted the city’s temp to drop to 5 C on Friday night, and to reach 1-2 C from Oct 16-17. The colder weather is expected to be accompanied by strong winds.

READ: Beijing News You Might Have Missed, Sep 25

Images: Beijing Daily, The Beijingers, ECNS, The Daily Beast