Passengers except babies and the sick are no longer allowed to eat or drink on the subway in Beijing, according to the Beijing subway passenger regulations. CFP
Traveling by subway can sometimes be quite an adventure, especially during rush hour. There are the times when you have to avoid cups of coffee that could spill on you. The smells of some passengers’ food are very strong, too.
有时候，搭乘地铁也堪比一场冒险，尤其是在早晚高峰时刻。你需要不时注意别让咖啡撒到自己身上。一些乘客携带的食物散发出的味道也很强烈。
According to the Beijing subway passenger regulations, which went into effect on May 15, passengers except babies and the sick are no longer allowed to eat or drink on the subway. Violators who do not stop after being asked to will be asked to get off. The violation will also be recorded in the violators’ credit record.
根据5月15日开始实施的《北京市轨道交通乘客守则》，除婴儿、病人外，乘客不得在列车车厢内进食。对不文明乘车行为劝阻制止不听的，地铁运营单位有权拒绝提供乘车服务，并记入个人信用不良信息。
Some support the rule, citing the reason that the smell of food and drink can annoy other passengers.
一些人支持这一规定，认为饮食的气味会影响其他乘客。
“The smell of food fills the carriage, causing people discomfort, especially in the hot summer. Besides, eating on the subway unavoidably produces rubbish. And on subway trains, people often spill their drinks,” Zheng Yiou, 17, a student from Hefei No 8 Senior High School, Anhui province, told TEENS.
“满车厢都弥漫着食物的味道，会引起别人不适，尤其是在大热天。另外，在地铁上吃吃喝喝难免会产生垃圾。而且在地铁上，人们常常会弄撒自己的饮料，”安徽省合肥市第八中学的17岁学生郑奕鸥在接受本报采访时表示。
However, others question this rule.
但也有人对这一规定提出质疑。
“Some citizens live so far from their work places that they have limited time to have breakfast before they go to work. Eating while they travel saves them time and decreases the chance that they will be late for work, ” He Songlin, a 17-year-old student from Chengdu Shishi Tianfu High School, told TEENS.
“有的人住的地方离单位很远，上班前没时间吃早餐。上班路上吃饭节省了他们的时间，降低了迟到的概率，”来自成都石室天府中学的17岁学生何松林在接受本报采访时如此表示。
“And some people, like those with low-blood sugar levels, get sick if they can’t eat when they must.”
“而且对于一些低血糖的人而言，在需要时没有及时吃东西会身体不适。”
Other Chinese cities like Nanjing and Chengdu have similar regulations. Some foreign cities also ban eating and drinking on the subway. For example, eating and drinking have long been banned on the subway in Washington DC, reported China Daily. Singapore fines people who eat or drink on the subway up to 500 Singapore dollars (2,417 yuan).
南京、成都等其他城市也发布了类似的规定。一些外国城市也在地铁上禁止饮食。比如，据《中国日报》报道，华盛顿早已禁止地铁内饮食。而在新加坡的地铁内饮食，将被处以500新加坡元（约2417人民币）的罚款。
Chen Yanyan, a professor from the College of Metropolitan Transportation, Beijing University of Technology, believed we should consider the need of some people to eat or drink on the subway.
北京工业大学城市交通学院教授陈艳艳认为，我们应当考虑到一些人在地铁上饮食的需求。
“Commuters and travelers are sometimes too busy to eat. Maybe we could learn from Tokyo, where there are many subway stations equipped with facilities, allowing passengers to eat and drink,” she told Beijing Evening News.
“通勤族、游客往往顾不上吃饭。不妨像日本东京的很多地铁站一样，开辟出一定空间，提供简单餐饮的条件和服务，让大家在里面吃东西喝饮料，”她在接受《北京晚报》采访时如此表示。
