[dchan]

I was only about 14 or 15 back in 1999, so I didn't really understand what was going on. The single line subway back then had almost nobody on them and seemed completely useless. It seemed like a waste of money to build a subway system to serve a population that couldn't afford the fares, which were expensive compared with buses.

Now, Guangzhou's population is a good deal richer. There are several more subway lines which, as I mentioned above, look far better than the subway before. And there are plenty of people riding the subway not only because they can afford to, but because the expansion of lines has made it convenient to do so.

I barely remember the first time I went to Guangzhou. I was about 3 or 4 back in the late 80's. All I know is that the city was still full of bicycles. In fact, my grandfather used to pedal me around on his bicycle with me sitting in the back. So much has changed in the last 20 years, yet people still have not changed their values that much and have simply adapted the new changes (subways, cars, skyscrapers, etc.) to those values.