A History of Beijing’s Subway
Government Planners looked to Moscow’s design, which began
operation in 1935. First proposed in 1953, Chinese leaders decided on a subway
rather than above-ground transport partially out of a desire to create a means
of transportation in and out of the central city that couldn’t easily be
destroyed by conventional bombs, reportedly admiring how Moscow’s stations were
used as effective bomb shelters for civilians. Construction began in 1965 with
the first line opening 1969.
