I've lived in Beijing for the last 9 years. I beat the subway in a taxi on my commute from work to home except during peak rush hour. I work and live on 4th ring, it is a straight shot on line 10 without a transfer (ideal subway shot, routes are identical). Couple that with the subway never having seats, being ultra crowded (say hello to your neighbor's BO), and often having long lines to even get in the station via BS security, I've completely given up on the subway unless the traffic is really really bad. I also hate the subway so much that I've shifted my schedule so that a taxi always makes sense (goto work around 6AM, come home before 4PM).
Now Shanghai is completely different, but Beijing is still way behind.
"lines to even get in the station via BS security"
Yup, at Wudaokou this adds >5 minutes at rush hour.
"Now Shanghai is completely different"
I used to think that, until I started a lot of time in Shanghai. Surprisingly, getting from Hongqiao airport to somewhere in Pudong can be faster by car, even the whole subway journey is on line 2. The difference is not as stark as in Beijing, but it still exists.
Wudaokou is even an extra transfer on line 13. If you can afford it, taxi will save so much time and frustration. Beijing subway is just not well designed or operated compared to taxi and ride sharing services once you reach a certain income level around $2K/month.
So true. "Every time I go in the subway, I die a little bit inside" - a friend of mine used to say this when we lived in Beijing.
Can't remember if I've even been to the Shanghai subway, but the feeling inside in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are like Beijing, but even more foul-smelling. Traffic is also really really bad though, so at least on the subway you know it's going to take an hour instead of the "30 minutes or 3 hours?" estimate you get by car.
Ugh, this was the part I hated most about commuting on the MBTA in Boston. It's not too bad in the winter (cold) or summer (AC is on all the time), but the shoulder seasons, when humidity is high but temperatures are moderate so the AC isn't on, were brutal.
Ya, it often isn't very comfortable. Even our office has this problem, they can never see the bigger picture that humidity is just as bad as temperature for getting work done.
Now Shanghai is completely different, but Beijing is still way behind.