Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-m58mf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-06-16T05:12:06.339Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Tunnels of power: The cultural politics of the Beijing subway

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2024

Cheng Li  and
Yanjun Liu Open the ORCID record for Yanjun Liu [Opens in a new window]
Cheng Li
Affiliation:
Deparment of Modern Languages, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America
Yanjun Liu*
Affiliation:
Institute of National Governance Studies and Institute of Public Governance, School of Government, Peking University, Beijing, China
*
Corresponding author: Yanjun Liu; Email: yanjun_liu@pku.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article investigates the cultural politics of the Beijing subway. Drawing on diverse sources, we trace the evolution of the subway over the last half-century to reveal that it transcends its fluctuating, time-specific practicalities to serve as a potent conduit through which the Chinese state consistently shapes subjecthood. The article begins with the subway’s Cold War inception as a military enterprise, spotlighting its deliberate concealment to safeguard the echelons of power and obscure both international and domestic tensions. The second section delves into the subway’s rebirth in the wake of China’s opening-up reform and rapid economic rise, as it transforms into a mobile gallery of political aesthetics that extols China’s cultural heritage and triumphs, cultivating national pride under siege from unleashed market and social forces. The final section dissects the subway’s orchestration of undesirable passengers, sculpting a socioeconomic hierarchy in the city’s commuting system. As a multifaceted prism, the Beijing subway encapsulates a range of covert and overt, pragmatic and aesthetic, and inclusive and exclusive elements in the cultural politics of Chinese infrastructure at large; and it illustrates the sustained centrality of state power in shaping individual subjectivities and defining the cultural and representational significance of Chinese infrastructure, albeit amid growing contestation.

Keywords

Beijing subwaybiopolitics of infrastructurepower and citizenshipcultural politicsChina

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 58 , Issue 3 , May 2024 , pp. 840 - 864
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

1 Hughes, Thomas, Networks of power: Electrification in Western society, 1880–1930 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Mayntz, Renate and Hughes, Thomas, The development of large technical systems (New York: Routledge, 2019).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

2 Graham, Steve and Marvin, Simon, Splintering urbanism: Networked infrastructures, technological mobilities and the urban condition (New York: Routledge, 2001)Google Scholar; Ribes, David and Finholt, Thomas A., ‘The long now of infrastructure: Articulating tensions in development’, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 10, no. 5, 2009, pp. 375–398CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Bennett, Jane, Vibrant matter: A political ecology of things (Durham: Duke University Press, 2010)Google Scholar; Latour, Bruno, Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network-theory (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)Google Scholar; Mitchell, Timothy, Carbon democracy: Political power in the age of oil (New York: Verso, 2011).Google Scholar

3 Leigh Star, Susan, ‘The ethnography of infrastructure’, American Behavioral Scientist, vol. 43, no. 3, 1999, pp. 377–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

4 Wang, Di, The teahouse: Small business, everyday culture, and public politics in Chengdu, 1900–1950 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hanchao, Lu, Beyond the neon lights: Everyday Shanghai in the early twentieth century (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)Google Scholar; Jie, Li, Shanghai homes: Palimpsests of private life (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014)Google Scholar; Ou-fan Lee, Leo, Shanghai modern: The flowering of a new urban culture in China, 1930–1945 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1999).Google Scholar

5 Foucault, Michel, The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the College de France, 1978–1979 (New York: Picador, 2008), p. .Google Scholar

6 Larkin, Brian, ‘The politics and poetics of infrastructure’, Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 42, no. 1, 2013, pp. 327–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

7 Leigh Star, Susan and Ruhleder, Karen, ‘Steps toward an ecology of infrastructure: Design and access for large information spaces’, Information Systems Research, vol. 7, no. 1, 1996, pp. 111–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

8 Easterling, Keller, Extrastatecraft: The power of infrastructure space (New York: Verso Books, 2014).Google Scholar

9 Anand, Nikhil, Hydraulic city: Water and the infrastructures of citizenship in Mumbai (Durham: Duke University Press, 2017).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

10 Collier, Stephen, Post-Soviet social: Neoliberalism, social modernity, biopolitics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011).Google Scholar

11 Anand, Nikhil, Gupta, Akhil and Appel, Hannah (eds), The promise of infrastructure (Durham: Duke University Press, 2018).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

12 Barker, Joshua, ‘Engineers and political dreams: Indonesia in the satellite age’, Current Anthropology, vol. 46, no. 5, 2005, p. .CrossRefGoogle Scholar

13 Sneath, David, ‘Reading the signs by Lenin’s light: Development, divination and metonymic fields in Mongolia’, Ethnos, vol. 74, no. 1, 2009, pp. 72–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

14 Rodgers, Dennis and O’Neill, Bruce, ‘Infrastructural violence: Introduction to the special issue’, Ethnography, vol. 13, no. 4, 2012, pp. 401–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

15 Recent studies on Chinese infrastructure demonstrate ‘the material dispositions and socio-technical nature of infrastructures themselves complicates many of our assumptions about what the “China Model” in fact entails’. It compels us to reflect upon the ‘China Model’ of development and understand China’s infrastructure investment beyond policy initiatives perspectives. Rippa, Alessandro and Oakes, Tim, ‘Infrastructural thinking in China: A research agenda’, The China Quarterly, vol. 255, 2023, pp. 547–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

16 Min, Ye, The belt road and beyond: State-mobilized globalization in China: 1998–2018 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020)Google Scholar; Freymann, Eyck, One belt one road: Chinese power meets the world (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2022).Google Scholar

17 ‘地下铁路’ (‘Subway’), 申报 Shenbao, 15 February 1897.

18 ‘演说巴黎地下铁道之历史’ (‘Lecture on the history of the Paris underground’), 时事新报 Current Affairs Update, 26 May 1914.

19 ‘日本地下铁道九月可开通’ (‘Japan’s subways to open in September’), 东省经济月刊 East Province Economic Monthly, vol. 3, no. 5, 13, 1927.

20 ‘莫斯科的地下铁道’ (‘Moscow’s subway’), 小朋友 Little Friends, vol. 663, no. 39, 1935.

21 ‘莫斯科地下铁道’ (‘Moscow’s subway’), 解放日报 Liberation Daily, 6 November 1945.

22 ‘市临时参议会成立’ (‘The founding of Shanghai’s temporary senate’), 申报 Shenbao, 28 March 1946.

23 Anonymous, 北平市都市计划设计资料第一册 (Beiping urban planning design materials, vol. 1) (Beiping: Beipingshi gongwuju, 1947), pp. 56–57.

24 Wang Dexing (王德兴), ‘北京地铁在我心中难以抹灭’ (‘Beijing subway is indelible in my heart’), in 中国地铁60年人和事 (60 years of people and stories in China’s subway), (eds) Wang Hanjun (王汉军) and Feng Aijun (冯爱军) (Beijing: China Architecture and Building Press, 2017), p. 102.

25 William K. Wolf, ‘Russia’s revolutionary underground: The construction of the Moscow subway 1931–35’, PhD thesis, Ohio State University, 1994.

26 Zubovich, Katherine, Moscow monumental: Soviet skyscrapers and urban life in Stalin’s capital (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

27 Beijing Metro Operation Co., Ltd (北京地铁运营有限公司) (ed.), 责任与使命: 北京地铁发展史 (Responsibility and mission: History of Beijing subway) (Beijing: Beijing Press, 2011), pp. 17–18.

28 ‘中苏进一步加强科学合作’ (‘China and the Soviet Union further strengthen scientific collaboration’), 北京日报 Beijing Daily, 6 July 1958.

29 Anonymous, ‘承载一代传奇—记中国第一条地铁总工程师谢仁德’ (‘A legend of a generation—Xie Rende, chief engineer of China’s first subway’), in 60 years of people and stories, (eds) Wang and Feng, p. 12.

30 Li Fuchun (李富春), Bo Yibo (薄一波) and Luo Ruiqing (罗瑞卿), ‘关于国家经济建设如何防备敌人突然袭击的报告’ (Report on national economic construction to how to avoid enemies’ sudden attack, 19 August 1964), 党的文献 Party Documents, no. 3, 1995, pp. 33–25.

31 Meyskens, Covell, Mao’s third front: The militarisation of Cold War China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

32 Beijing Metro Operation Co., Ltd, Responsibility and mission, pp. 33–35.

33 Xie Rende (谢仁德), ‘北京地铁起始’ (‘The beginning of Beijing subway’), in 60 years of people and stories, (eds) Wang and Feng, pp. 4–5.

34 Ibid., p. 8.

35 On 16 April 1970, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) convened in Beijing to form a special military unit to build the Beijing subway. Wang Wenlian (王文亮), ‘一个地铁老兵的不了情’ (‘The enduring love of a subway veteran’), in 我与北京地铁同行: 纪念北京地铁建设四十周年回忆 (I walked with the Beijing subway: A memoir to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the construction of the Beijing subway), (eds) Xie Zhengguang (谢正光) and Zhang Shuren (张树人) (Beijing: Beijing ditie yunying youxiangongsi, 2010), p. 171.

36 Pietz, David, The Yellow River: The problem of water in modern China (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015), p. .Google Scholar

37 The western section of Line 1 (from Pingguoyuan Station to Fuxingmen Station; red in Figure 1) and the southern section of Line 2 (Ring Line; blue in Figure 1) (from Changchun Street Station to Beijing Station) were completed.

38 ‘北京地铁验收合格昨起正式运营’ (‘Beijing subway passed acceptance test and started formal operation yesterday’), 北京日报 Beijing Daily, 16 September 1981.

39 Li Shoushan (李守山), ‘毛主席的 “二·四” 指示指引我们修地铁’ (‘Chairman Mao’s “February 4” instructions guide us to build the subway’), in I walked with the Beijing subway, (eds) Xie and Zhang, pp. 154–155.

40 ‘金日成主席为平壤地下铁道剪彩’ (‘Chairman Kim Il Sung cuts the ribbon for the Pyongyang subway’), 解放日报 Liberation Daily, 7 September 1978.

41 ‘齐奥塞斯库总统视察地铁建设工地’ (‘President Ceausescu inspects subway construction site’), 人民日报 People’s Daily, 24 October 1977.

42 ‘首都地铁究竟由谁来管? 婆婆很多,实际无人负责; 建设方针不明,浪费严重’ (‘Who is in charge of the Capital subway? There are many mothers-in-law, and no one is actually responsible; the construction policy is unclear, and the waste is serious’), 人民日报 People’s Daily, 14 December 1980.

43 Brook, Timothy, Quelling the people (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), p. Google Scholar; Calhoun, Craig, ‘Revolution and repression in Tiananmen Square’, Society, vol. 26, no. 6, 1989, p. .CrossRefGoogle Scholar

44 Wang Dexing (王德兴), ‘昨天的回忆’ (‘The memory of yesterday’), in I walked with the Beijing subway, (eds) Xie and Zhang, p. 71.

45 ‘2025 年建成通车 北三县半小时到北京中心城区 地铁22号线进入全面建设阶段’ (‘By 2025, the construction will be completed and opened to traffic. It will take half an hour from the northern three counties to the central city of Beijing. Metro Line 22 has entered the comprehensive construction phase’), published online on 7 July 2022, available at http://www.beijing.gov.cn/fuwu/bmfw/sy/jrts/202207/t20220707_2765506.html, [accessed 29 April 2024].

46 Beijing Municipal Planning Commission (北京市规划委员会) (ed.), 北京地铁公共艺术 1965–2012 (Beijing subway public art 1965–2012) (Beijing: China Architecture and Building Press, 2014), p. 32.

47 Ibid., p. 26.

48 Lefebvre, Henri, ‘The specificity of the city’, in Writings on cities: Henri Lefebvre, (eds) Kofman, Eleonore and Lebas, Elizabeth (Oxford: Blackwell, 1996 [1968]), p. .Google Scholar

49 Schrag, Zachary M., The great society subway: A history of the Washington Metro (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014).Google Scholar

50 Hohne, Stefan, Riding the New York subway: The invention of the modern passenger (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

51 Wang, Jing, High culture fever: Politics, aesthetics, and ideology in Deng’s China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

52 Hung, Wu, Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the creation of a political space (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).Google Scholar

53 Zheng, Jane, ‘Contextualizing public art production in China: The urban sculpture planning system in Shanghai’, Geoforum, vol. 82, 2017, pp. 89–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

54 Cheng, Han and Worrall, Julian, ‘The influence of public art in developing Chinese urban public space: Current trends and future directions’, in Cities’ identity through architecture and arts, (eds) Mahgoub, Yasser et al. (New York: Springer, 2020), pp. 157–165.Google Scholar

55 ‘刘淇就地铁四号线建设及开通前准备工作进行调研’ (‘Liu Qi conducts research on the construction and pre-opening preparations of subway Line 4’), published online on 3 July 2009, available at http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2009-07/03/content_1356007.htm, [accessed 30 April 2024].

56 Hu Liping (户力平), 北京地铁站名掌故 (The anecdotes of Beijing subway station names) (Beijing: Oriental Press, 2020), p. 55; Beijing Municipal Planning Commission, Beijing subway public art, p. 88.

57 Tsu, Jing, Failure, nationalism and literature: The making of modern Chinese identity, 1895–1937 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2005)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Wang, Zheng, Never forget national humiliation: Historical memory in Chinese politics and foreign relations (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014).Google Scholar

58 Wu Dingyu (吴定宇), ‘北京地铁公共艺术的探索性实践–“北京·记忆”公共艺术计划的创作思考’ (‘Explorative practice of public art in Beijing subway: Reflections on the creation of “Beijing: Memory” public art project’), 装饰 Decoration, no. 1, 2015, pp. 112–114.

59 David Harvey, Social justice and the city (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2010).

60 ‘北京地铁是否也设置免费WIFI引起强烈关注’ (‘The possibility of offering free Wi-Fi on the Beijing subway has garnered strong attention’), 地铁资讯 Subway Information, published online on 25 October 2023, available at https://www.yunhuoche.com/ditieshow-2356, [accessed 30 April 2024].

61 Bourdieu, Pierre, Language and symbolic power (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1991)Google Scholar; Leeman, Jennifer and Modan, Gabriella, ‘Commodified language in Chinatown: A contextualized approach to linguistic landscape’, Journal of Sociolinguistics, vol. 13, no. 3, 2009, pp. 332–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

62 Phillipson, Robert, Linguistic imperialism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992)Google Scholar; Blommaert, Jan, The sociolinguistics of globalization (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

63 ‘北京地铁将 “zhan” 改回 “station”?’ (‘Did the Beijing subway change “zhan” back to “station”?’), 网易新闻 NetEase News, published online on 24 April 2023, available at https://www.163.com/dy/article/I33BD98F05562NEZ.html, [accessed 30 April 2024].

64 Cass, Noel, Shove, Elizabeth and Urry, John, ‘Social exclusion, mobility and access’, The Sociological Review, vol. 53, no. 3, 2005, pp. 539–555.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

65 Coutard, Olivier and Rutherford, Jonathan (eds), Beyond the networked city: Infrastructure reconfigurations and urban change in the north and south (New York: Routledge, 2015), p. .CrossRefGoogle Scholar

66 Titchkosky, Tanya, The question of access: Disability, space, meaning (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011)Google Scholar; Muñoz, Daniel, ‘Accessibility as a “doing”: The everyday production of Santiago de Chile’s public transport system as an accessible infrastructure’, Landscape Research, vol. 48, no. 2, 2023, pp. 200–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

67 Cockain, Alex, ‘Riding and reading the Shanghai Metro: Signs, subjectivities and subversions on and around Line# 8’, Social Semiotics, vol. 28, no. 4, 2018, pp. 533–554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

68 Sadana, Rashmi, The moving city: Scenes from the Delhi Metro and the social life of infrastructure (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2021).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

69 ‘我国最早的公交月票’ (‘The earliest monthly bus pass in China’), in 古今交通拾趣 (Interesting things in ancient and new traffic), (ed.) Guo Xin (郭欣) (Beijing: China Communication Press, 1992), p. 111. As early as 1908 in late Qing, a monthly ticket was in use in Shanghai’s trolleybus.

70 ‘地铁月票伤及公平与效率’ (‘Subway monthly pass hurts fairness and efficiency’), 北京日报 Beijing Daily, 18 December 2006.

71 ‘9月26日, 北京市将举行听证会——北京地铁票价有望降至2元’ (‘On September 26, Beijing will hold a hearing—Beijing subway fares are expected to drop to 2 yuan’), 人民日报 People’s Daily, 21 September 2007; ‘北京轨道交通路网票制票价听证会’ (‘Beijing rail transit network holding fare hearing’), published online on 26 September 2007, available at http://news.sina.com.cn/c/2007-09-26/133013977362.shtml, [accessed 30 April 2024].

72 ‘本市地铁票价有望全国最低’ (‘Subway fares in Beijing are expected to be the lowest in the country’), 北京日报 Beijing Daily, 27 September 2007.

73 ‘北京市公共交通状况好转 “新北京”延伸奥运精神’ (‘Beijing’s public transport situation improves, “New Beijing” extends the Olympic spirit’), 新华社 Xinhuashe, published online on 14 December 2007, available at http://www.gov.cn/ztzl/beijing2008/content_833999.htm, [accessed 30 April 2024].

74 ‘胡锦涛主席接受外国媒体联合采访’ (‘President Hu Jintao accepted a joint interview with foreign media’), 人民日报 Renminribao, 2 August 2008. In the interview, Hu Jintao pointed out that the hosting of the Olympic Games by China, which has one-fifth of the world’s population, showed the world’s trust in China and China’s dedication to the world; and that the Beijing Olympics belonged to the Chinese people as well as to the people of all countries in the world.

75 ‘绿色奥运概念深入人心 地铁已成北京市民出行首选’ (‘The concept of green Olympics is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the subway has become the first choice for Beijing citizens to travel’), published online on 28 December 2007, available at http://sports.sina.com.cn/o/2007-12-28/10263385889.shtml, [accessed 30 April 2024].

76 ‘北京奥运会期间城市运行保障平稳有序 赛时赛事交通顺畅 空气质量全部达标’ (‘During the Beijing Olympic Games, the urban operation was stable and orderly; the traffic during the competition was smooth; and the air quality all met the standards’), 人民日报 People’s Daily, 24 August 2008.

77 ‘北京地铁奥运支线暂不向普通市民开放’ (‘Beijing subway Olympic branch line is temporarily closed to ordinary citizens’), 京华时报 Beijing Times, 18 July 2008.

78 Nye, David, American technological sublime (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1996).Google Scholar

79 ‘超级工程: 北京地铁网络’ (‘Super project: Beijing subway network’), Chinese Central Television, 2014, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR1ZrvDZwzY&ab_channel=CCTV%E7%BA%AA%E5%BD%95, [accessed 30 April 2024].

80 ‘北京地铁 “乞讨地图”背后的处罚难: 乞丐没钱’ (‘The punishment behind the Beijing subway’s “begging map” is difficult: Beggars have no money’), 北京青年报 Beijing Youth Daily, 24 August 2015.

81 Rodgers, and O’Neill, , ‘Infrastructural violence’, p. .Google Scholar

82 Brown, Jeremy, City versus countryside in Mao’s China: Negotiating the divide (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

83 Zhang, Li, Strangers in the city: Reconfigurations of space, power, and social networks within China’s floating population (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2001).Google Scholar

84 Zhou Ning (周宁), ‘走近 “丐帮” 我采写《北京地铁乞丐群调查》的故事’ (‘Approaching the “beggar gang” I wrote the story of Beijing Subway Beggar Group Investigation’), 新闻记者 Shanghai Journalism Review, no. 11, 2009, pp. 78–80.

85 ‘“暑假乞丐” 现身北京地铁 儿童带作业来乞讨’(‘“Summer beggar” appeared in Beijing subway, and children brought homework to beg’), 北京青年报 Beijing Youth Daily, 12 August 2015.

86 ‘北京地铁讲告别 “两元时代” 市民对涨价反应不一’ (‘Beijing subway will bid farewell to the “2 yuan era” and public reaction to the price hike is mixed’), published online on 20 October 2014, available at https://caijing.chinadaily.com.cn/2014-10/29/content_18819942.htm, [accessed 30 April 2024].

87 ‘北上广常住人口增速放缓 专家: 靠政策清理 “低端人口”’ (‘The growth rate of the permanent population of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou has slowed down. Experts: relying on policies to clean up the “low-end population”’), 人民日报 People’s Daily, 1 August 2016.

88 Nixon, Rob, Slow violence and the environmentalism of the poor (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011), p. .Google Scholar

89 ‘带着娃在地铁上乞讨岷县三人因违法被拘’ (‘Three people in Minxian County were detained for illegally begging with their baby on the subway’), 北京青年报 Beijing Youth Daily, 31 March 2017.

90 ‘地铁出行比例最高! 北京绿色通勤还有这些新特点’ (‘The highest proportion of trips by taking subway! Beijing’s green commuting also has these new features’), 北京日报 Beijing Daily, 23 May 2022.

91 Selina, Ho, ‘Infrastructure and Chinese power’, International Affairs, vol. 96, no. 6, 2020, pp. 1461–1485.Google Scholar