A real surprise: Shanghai subways are going to be crowded as hell

The good news is this:

A record high of more than 10 million people are expected to flock to Shanghai during the Spring Festival season this year, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent.

Meanwhile, 11.56 million people will leave the city during the 40-day period, mostly migrant workers and university students who will head back home to join their families for the Chinese lunar New Year.

This means that there will actually be less people in the city during this period that usual. The bad news is that with all the people jamming into the subway stations, the authorities are going to try to control the huge influx of people into the Shanghai Railway Station stop on the No. 1 line. Right now there are about 70,000 people pouring into that stop per day, and it's expected to get up to 100,000 -- and when the needle hits the red zone, what they will do is start selling tickets more slowly. If things get worse, they will stop selling tickets altogether and close some of the entry gates. If that still doesn't stem the flow of people, they will have no choice but to close the entrances above ground to prevent people from even getting into the station. Mind you, this measure doesn't seem to affect other stations, but if you absolutely have to go through that station, be aware.

Photo of workers waiting to buy train tickets to go home for Chinese New Year from the Xinmin Evening News website.