Although the end of 2016 is less that a week away, local transportation officials have announced some major subway developments set to take place before the New Year is rung in.

First up: the openings of Chaoyang Park station on Line 14 and Wangjing East station on Line 15. Beijing News reported today that the hotly anticipated station, situated just north of the Line 6 Jintailu transfer station, and near the park of which it shares its name, will be ready for boarding and departing passengers before December 31.

Chaoyang Park station’s central location and proximity to several major hotspots are sure to make it most noteworthy subway opening for anyone who lives just east of Sanlitun. However, more and more business professionals are being situated in the budding northeastern Wangjing hub, making Wangjing East station a convenient stop for them. Its closeness to Beijing Capital Airport also certainly won’t hurt.

Chaoyang Park and Wangjing East stations are two of 10 currently under construction stops that passengers have glimpsed on their commutes, some of them no doubt eagerly waiting for the stations to open so that they can enjoy a shorter walk to their destinations. That leaves eight such uncompleted stops remaining, including Hongmiao (south of Chaoyang Park and Jintailu on Line 14), Fatouzhan on Line 7, and Yizhuang Train Station on the Yizhuang Line (all of which are bound to be less exciting to all but the most wanderlust-stricken of us). Authorities have not announced when these will eventually open.

Also breaking is the announcement today by state media that Subway Line 16 is also set to open by year’s end, but with no specific date provided. And while the opening of a new line would normally be of major note to all Beijingers, the outlying, northwestern Fengtai-situated stops (all of them branching Suzhoujie station on Line 10) make them unlikely to stir the excitement of anyone but the most dedicated of rail riders. We’ll save our energy for the far more conveniently located, but sadly still unfinished, Sanlitun Line 17 station.

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Image: Travel China Guide