Memoirs of Beijing

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted some news tidbits.. Here’s my take for this month.  Some might be old but still relatively useful.

New Subway Extensions & Line

Subway Line 8 (lower left):  If you frequent the subway or you’ve been travelling in Beijing, you might have noticed that the connection to subway line 8 is temporarily closed.  This is due to the construction of the extension of 6 stations to the north of South Gate of Forest Park.  Subway line 8 is scheduled to open by the end of the month.

Subway Line 9 (upper right):  I thought that travelling to Beijing West Railway Station will be a breeze but apparently that won’t happen till September 2012.  This month, the new Subway line 9 will open it’s Southern section which will have 9 stations with a length of 10.8 km.  Line 9 will connect to the Fangshan line in Guogongzhang.  Technically, it’s still a standalone line and won’t connect yet to the major lines in the city.

Subway Line 15:  It’s not the western section which will be extended but the eastern section.  Four additional stations will be added to the eastern section of line 15 which will extend this line further by 10 kms.  This line is rarely full and actually quite nice to ride.  However, the transfer from line 15 to line 13 is a pain as it’s a fair walk.

The good thing with all these extensions and new line, subway fare remains at RMB 2.0.

Social Insurance for Foreigners

In 1 July 2011, the Chinese government introduced a new Social Insurance Law for foreigners.  All foreign employees, including permanent residents of Hong Kong and their employees are subject to this law.

Five types of insurance payments will be shouldered by both employee and employer starting 15 October 2011.  These insurances are retirement, medical, unemployment, maternity and injury.  Some companies have yet to commence on the contributions as they are not sure how will the employees claim back their contributions once they leave China.  It’s actually very vague but the only thing that’s definite is everyone should comply.

Thus, when I opened my pay slip this November, I was dismayed by the deductions that were made on my monthly salary.  Here’s a quick rundown for the employee and employer contributions for Beijing employees:

Countries such as Germany and South Korea are exempt on certain insurance payments due to exemption agreement with China.

Other News Tidbits:

• The Chinese New Year exodus will start by 8 January 2012 as the Chinese New Year comes early at 23 January 2012.  Expect packed bus and train stations as well as airports. 
• The singer who’s famous for the song “Right Here Waiting” will be holding a concert on 18 December 2011 at 8:00 pm.  Catch Mr. Richard Marx at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium and reminisce the past.

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