According to official forecasts, October 17-18 will be the start of a cold outbreak. That's why I wore a sweater under the coat this morning. In the packed subway car, what at first was tolerable heat now became stifling. I couldn't believe I was riding a Line 5 subway train instead of a Line 750 bus——in the subway you don't expect a train to stop for two minutes at each stop and get stuck on the tracks.

When the doors closed at Tiantandongmen station, the train didn't start going. Five minutes later the train was still there. When the doors suddenly opened I felt relieved and tried to move. But, alas, no one around me made any effort of egressing. What's worse, more passengers on the platform were entering!! Now the exit was simply blocked and then the doors closed again! We waited for another five minutes, which felt like hours——I couldn't breathe and was scaring myself visualizing all kinds of underground disasters. There IS an accident, and WE ARE ALL TRAPPED!

The doors eeriely opened again. Surprisingly, I still had to "squeeze" a way out and get some fresh air, because apparently most other people took the train as their shared property and literally refused to get off. (What was on their mind anyway?)

Before I knew I was on the platform, and soon all passengers were cleared out of the cars. Some got mad at the announcements that there was a breakdown of the automation system. Some lady went hysterical and kept yelling at every platform conductor she saw coming by. Some mischievous guys were recording the crowded spectacle with camcorder cell phones.