"Please get ready for your arrival."

The age, era, period, whatever of the trusty-but-dusty paper-based tickets is about to be sealed in that thing we call "History". Paper's out; plastic's in. None is human-edible (d'oh!), although the latter is machine-edible (by which we don't suggest taking a machine apart and having that for a meal, unless you feel like being a candidate for Jaws II (is that thing out already?)).

The writing is on the wall. The bells are tolling. The gates are in position. Your hands are shaking. The Beijing Subway AFC system will be reality beginning June 9, 2008. That's next Monday. The whole thing is about to be reality. A new era's dying to begin. An old era's about to die out.

So -- in the interests of getting the whole city ready for the AFC switchover, the Beijingologist presents this four-part Official Beijingology Subway AFC Cheat Sheet.

On, then, with the program.

What's AFC?

Let's see -- KFC stands for Kentucky Fried Chicken, so AFC stands for... Automatic Fried Chicken. Well, nearly. AFC actually stands for Automatic Fare Collection, but we'll let the KFC-ish cloner... you know, off the hook. (That actually sounds pretty brutal -- when you come to think about it.)

The thing with AFC is that it's an automated ticketing system. Wait -- that's just the tip of the iceberg. AFC is also this incredibly great thing that lets the Subway company calculate how many people are in the Subway (stats are updated faster, allowing the Subway company to get more trains on the tracks if about a million and two people flood one particular line), as well as stop those people who are escaping into the Subway system -- by this rocket science called fare evasion.

Criminal (or at least illegal) rocket science, at that.

What Makes AFC Go 'Round?

Money, cards, and glitzy new machines. The whole turnkey to the entire system is -- your money. You'll need to exchange that for a Beijing Super Pass ("Yikatong"), or a Single Journey Ticket. The whole system doesn't work without money -- as in the Beijing Subway is not a free system. (Yet. If ever, that is.)

Where do you get your cards? If you're after the Swiss Army Knife of Beijing, card-wise, you get the Super Pass at a counter. If you can care less (or want to appear super-cheap with a single trip ticket), you get the all-new Single Journey Ticket through a machine.

Cards, by the way, are your only way into the system; no longer can you "make do" with money (and note that money on its own never worked: you had to be "ticketed", as in come in with a ticket and not bills or boingy coins -- see, we had to try make that rhyme) and expect to fake your way into the system. Na-ah; no card, no ride..

What's Changed (Or Not)

Brief and brilliant:

• You have to dip your card twice if you're riding with a Super Pass (aka "Yikatong").

• You have to dip your Single Journey Ticket upon entry and stick the card into the exit gate slot if you want to make it out of the Subway system alive. (We don't advocate any other mode -- when you're exiting the station, that is. We sure hope you stay clear of the tracks!)

• Here's what's the same: the great, ultra-low price: CNY 2 for unlimited mileage.

• Ah-ha. Until you try the Airport Express. This thingy, slated for a July 5-ish opening (we know, they wanted to open this thing as early as June 20, and officially the opening was slated previously for June 30), will suck an incredible CNY 20 off your pocketbook.

• You no longer have to do your part in creating a human straightened python (queue-wise) in front of the counter; automatic ticket machines and refillers are all the rage.

Tomorrow: Meet The Machines.