How "sad" it must be to be a Beijingologist. Instead of spending Sunday napping out till noon, he has to be on the streets way too early than declared healthy. Out it is, then, at 8 AM, with one of the main destinations in view -- Xizhimen.

"Xizhi Renliu" (西直人流) has been proposed as an artsier-fartsier (so to speak) alternative name to the station, now that "Jintai Xizhao" (金台夕照) is with us (or will be with us when the Hanging Omelet Line, aka Line 10, opens later this month). It's probably no state secret that Xizhimen is nearly always full of people -- especially at Exit A, where folks transfer from Lines 2 to 13, and vice-versa.

So how does the whole thing feel like when you add another Subway line into this maniacal mezzo mix? The Planners That Be are already a step ahead of your Beijingologist, and they've included Line 4 (in fiendishly Microsoft teal) on the station signage for the new Exit A (which will just be slightly bigger than the existing Exit A).

It kind of is like a prelude to the massive Line 4 snaking-about -- by which we, of course, refer to Line 4's super-convoluted track. In its 2009 version, it'll snake itself from Anheqiao North (just north of the northwestern 5th Ring Road) via the Summer Palace and Yuanmingyuan through to Zhongguancun, Baishiqiao, the Zoo, Xisi, Xidan, Beijing South Railway Station and finally down to Gongyixiqiao. Line 4 makes four sharp-ish 90° turns at the 5th Ring Road, Peking University, just west of the Zoo and at Xinjiekou, hence the snaking about.

So there you have it -- Xizhimen station, ready for Line 4, 42,076,800 seconds (and counting down) ahead of its planned opening on September 30, 2009.

Please get ready for your arrival.