Beijing News You Might Have Missed This Week, Mar 5

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

Beijing sees (second) busiest day for traffic: Thanks to roadblocks and restrictions courtesy of the Paralympics and Two Sessions, evening rush hour was supposed to be particularly heavy last night, according to Beijing Daily. This is similar to the phenomenon that took place two weeks ago when highways were choked by the greatest rush hour traffic the city had seen in five years – only this time at night for an odd bonus round of sorts.

Students at multiple schools were even let out of class early to relieve the pressure, with one school releasing students around 12.50pm today, and others announcing they’d release students after lunch. Likewise, some parents got off work early, ensuring they’d be able to take their kids home traffic-free.

Beijing's gasoline prices increase: Retail prices for gas and diesel have gone up as of Mar 3, by as much as RMB 260 and RMB 255 per ton respectively. If you don't drive, this might not have an initial impact on you, but there is the off chance that the price increase could eventually affect public transit prices or even prices for food and other commodities that are transported around the city.

City releases urban rail transit plans for 2022: More subway developments are afoot this year, with Beijing’s transportation commission announcing plans to continue the construction of two lines connecting to Line 6 in the city’s west. These are phase one of the Changping Line, which will go from Qinghe to Xueyuan Qiao, and Line 16, which will go from Yuyuantan Dongmen to Yushuzhuang.

Beijing to shorten bus-to-subway transfer times: The city has also announced plans to ease transfers between different modes of public transportation, according to the transportation commission. The commission says the city plans to shorten transfer distances between subway and bus stations by either moving existing ones or adding bus stations to current routes.

City continues efforts to go clean and green: Those blue skies keep on coming this year, and it’s all thanks to continued efforts at lowering energy consumption, carbon emissions – and an increase in trees perhaps? Beijing has reportedly established 79 natural protection areas as of last year. These include nature reserves, scenic spots, and forest and wetland parks, increasing the capital’s per capita green space to 16.7 square meters.

It’s even been reported that the reduction in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions have met national requirements, and that carbon emissions have been on a steady decline since the end of 2021.

READ: Beijing News You Might Have Missed this Week, Feb 19

Images: about.bnef.com, beijing-kids.com, 最爱北京