It'll be a while before you catch your Beijingologist in subterranean mode again. Here's what happened:

At 09:30 yesterday (a Sunday, of all days), the Beijing Subway decided to go into Explosion Mode when what appears to be scrap metal touched the high-voltage (750V!) third rail, which is how the Subway works anyway (Shanghai uses overhead wires, as will also be the case with Beijing's Line 6). Those in the first car with the driver were the most hit, as eyewitness reports described total horror with two explosions in the tunnel as the train neared Fuxingmen, westbound.

Just about every last soul on the train started -- in essence -- crapping out, totally unable to believe that this kind of trauma was happening. The train had just managed to approach Fuxingmen when a third explosion was reported. At this point, people just got out of the train the moment the doors opened and got the hell out of the station. Smoke was pretty much everywhere.

Obviously, nobody wanted to report this. News of the incident was blocked on the mass media, with the Subway company reporting only of "technical difficulties". Eventually, though, the Beijing Youth Daily reported that there was indeed an explosion.

Holy...