Getting around: Opening Day countdown and Century vs Shiji

Time to top-out your public transport cards, all RMB 999 folks, Opening Day is upon us! The Shanghai metro system will soon be welcoming into the family "three lines and two segments," as the opening as been nicknamed, consisting of new Lines 6/8/9, the 2nd northern extension of Line 1 and the final stretch of the Line 4 loop line. Thanks to "planning with Chinese characteristics" it is still unclear whether the first day of operation will remain on the original 28 of December, or be pushed back to December 29. Whenever it is, on that day Line 6 will begin shuttling Pudong'ers up and down their side of the river, Line 8 will bring civilization to the northern boonies we call Yangpu, Line 9 will make quarantining those rowdy university students out in Songjiang that much easier, Line 1 will become twice as crowded as it already is, and Line 4 will mess with our sense of direction by abandoning the concept of terminal stations.

(As for the date, rumor has it that certain city officials are unavailable on the 28th, but are looking for an opportunity to make a good impression after a certain "double-fish incident" involving a former Shanghai mayor and his son.)

For all the new stations and trains to be gracing the city soon, there will be a couple notable absences. First, Line 9 will not reach its final planned destination of Yishan Rd, where it would have connected with Lines 3 and 4. Due to delays in construction at the anticipated interchange (again, rumors, this time of unharmonious evictees) the line will only reach Guilin Rd, and buses are being prepared to shuttle passengers directly to Yishan Rd for a "seamless" interchange. Second, the planned Line 3/8 interchange at Hongkou Stadium has been put on hold until Cloud Nine Mall owner Tong Jinquan gets his act in order and finds more funding for his stalled Hongkou Cloud Nine project, through which the interchange was to take place. So when mapping out your December 28 (or 29!) maiden tour of the new metro lines, keep these absences in mind.