Suzhou Rail Transit (SRT) has recently rolled out the English edition of Rainbow Notes, which contains route information for famous scenic spots in Suzhou, facilitating the travel of foreign nationals during their visit to the city.
The English Rainbow Notes are piloted at Wenhuabolanzhongxin, Xinghujie, Suzhou Railway Station, and Chayuanchang stations. Aside from the route guide, a QR code is on every note. Passengers can scan the QR code to check out the English map of the rail transit network.
In addition, to help station staffers smoothly communicate with foreigners, SRT provides them with upgraded City, English Pocket Books which especially add English guides to hot spots of Suzhou in the tourism guide part, making the warm service internationalized.
To offer a convenient ticket-buying service for foreigners, SRT has set up bilingual customer service desks at Shidaiguangchang, Shishanlu, Xinghujie, Suzhou Railway Station, and Weiting stations where bilingual inquiries and ticket services are available.
Besides, Dongfangzhimen Station and Chayuanchang Station are equipped with translator devices. Customer service centers also have POS machines that accept mainstream foreign bank cards including VISA, MasterCard, Discover Card, American Express, Diners Club Card, and Japan Credit Bureau Card.
Foreigners can get the Passenger Code on WeChat or Alipay to quickly enter and exit stations. They can search the WeChat mini program "Cheng Shi Tong" or tap "Transport" on the home page of Alipay and bind their cards as instructed to activate the code. They can also download Su e Xing app, link WeChat or Alipay to the app account, and then buy e-tickets to ride a train.
Before taking rail transit, foreigners can search for routes in English, Japanese, and Korean on Su e Xing app app or on SRT's official English website via the Map button on the home page. When taking SRT Line 6 to visit classical gardens, foreigners can switch to the English mode of on-site smart customer service machines to get guide information and buy tickets.
