[Photo via VCG]

This summer, Beijing has seen a noticeable increase in the number of foreign tourists in various scenic areas. To better serve foreign tourists during their trips, Beijing is planning to launch the BEIJING PASS, a new type of transportation cards which is equivalent to the international version of Yikatong. The subway stations citywide are conducting on-site tests to prepare for accepting BEIJING PASS. In the future, foreign nationals will be able to use these cards to use the city's subway system.

To enhance payment convenience for foreign passengers, Beijing Subway has installed POS machines in 335 stations across its 17 operating lines since June 1. Foreign visitors can now use their foreign bank cards to pay for subway rides. In the future, foreign bank cards such as Mastercard will gradually be accepted for purchasing single-ride tickets, paying for ticket extensions, and other services at the subway gate machines.

Beijing's subway stations are conducting on-site tests to facilitate the smooth launch of BEIJING PASS. It is expected that these cards will be available for foreign visitors at "Seven Stations and Two Airports", namely, Beijing Railway Station, Beijing South Railway Station, Beijing West Railway Station, Beijing North Railway Station, Fengtai Railway Station, Chaoyang Railway Station, Qinghe Railway Station, Beijing Capital International Airport, and Beijing Daxing International Airport. This will allow foreign visitors to take the subway more conveniently.

In the past two years, a series of measures were introduced in the transportation industry of Beijing to serve foreign tourists visiting this city.

Besides, the operating companies of Beijing Subway have conducted specialized English training courses to train English tutors and consequentially enhance the bilingual service capabilities of the staff workers. Based on this effort, multilingual translation machines have been installed for pilot trials at eight stations: Tian'anmenxi (Line 1/Batong Line), Dongzhimen (Line 2), Beijing Railway Station (Line 2), Nanluogu Xiang (Line 6), Olympic Park (Line 8), Xi'erqi (Line 13), Maquanying (Line 15), and Universal Resort (Line 1/Batong Line and Line 7).

In addition, at the "Seven Stations and Two Airports" as well as the stations near scenic spots, personalized bilingual (Chinese and English) announcements are now available. Stations can activate or switch between the Chinese and English personalized announcements when necessary, effectively reducing the number of inquiries from foreign passengers.

(Source: Beijing Daily)