Getting Around Shanghai

Getting to Shanghai is pretty straightforward.

Shanghai has two main airports [1], with Pudong the main international gateway and Hongqiao serving most domestic flights. Be sure to check which one your flight is leaving from, and allow at least one hour, preferably 1.5 hours, to transfer if needed! 

Domestic airplane tickets should be booked at least two days in advance at one of the many travel agencies. Fares are generally cheap, but vary depending on the season. When backpacking, it may often be better to book a flight along a big traffic line (Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Chongqing, Shanghai-Shenzhen, ...) and travel the rest by bus or train. 

Although direct flights between Taiwan and China are prohibited, it is still possible to travel from Taipei, Taiwan to Shanghai within 4 hours (including layover time) by flying through Jeju, South Korea. 

* Beijing - varying between 400,- to 1200,- Yuan per economy class ticket, depending on the season, where the peak is in the summer. 

Pudong International Airport 

Pudong (浦东机场, PVG, [2]) is Shanghai's new international airport, located 40 km to the east of the city. Arrivals on the first floor, departures on the third, and has all the features you'd expect - but head up to the 3rd if the sole ATM in the arrivals hall is out of order. 

Taxi  ( more info on taxis )

The most convenient but also the most expensive way to get to central Shanghai is by taxi, but figure on ¥145 and up to an hour to get to the center of the city. You should always check with your taxi driver prior to entering a taxi. 

Check that they know where you would like to go and the estimated cost to get there. Often taxi drivers cannot speak English. Some Taxi drivers also use finders to wander the airport and bring you to their cab (who often have a driver waiting - this means you ride with two drivers if you agree to this). Use caution and double check the charges as some will try to charge up to 10 times the normal fare. 

Top of page

Bus

Airport buses are considerably cheaper (¥15-22), but take up to an hour and a half and stop running at 9 PM. There are a number of routes, but two particularly convenient ones connect to the Airport City Terminal on Nanjing West Road (#2, ¥19) and Shanghai train station (#5, ¥18).

Transrapid Trains at Longyang Station 

More a tourist attraction and prestige project than practical means of transport, the Transrapid maglev train is now open to the public and shuttles from the airport to the middle of Pudong in 8 minutes flat at a blazing speed of 430 km/hour. However, it's then another half hour by subway to get to Puxi, and it's a bit of a hike both in the airport (2nd floor) and to transfer to the subway. 

On both ends, there are two flights of escalators or stairs; if you need an elevator, you need to ask for assistance. That said, the maglev to Longyang and a taxi from there is the fastest way to get to places around Pudong, and the ride is definitely an experience in a rollercoasterish way. 

Services currently operate from 6:45 AM to 9:30 PM daily and cost ¥50 one way (¥40 if you have a same-day ticket) or ¥80 same-day return. You can also opt to pay double for "VIP Class", which gets you a soft drink and bragging rights.                                                                

Hongqiao Airport 

Shanghai's older airport Hongqiao (虹桥机场 SHA) services domestic flights, the only exception being the city shuttle services to Tokyo-Haneda and Seoul-Gimpo. 18 km away from the center, a taxi can manage the trip in 20 minutes on a good day but allow an extra 30 minutes for the taxi queue. 

Public buses (numbers 925 and 505) run to Renmin Square regularly and cost only ¥4, but take around an hour. An extension of Metro Line 2 to Hongqiao Airport is under construction. 

Train 

Shanghai Railway Station (Chinese: 上海火车站; pinyin: Shànghăi Hŭochēzhàn) is the main railway station in Shanghai. The station is located in Zhabei, to the North of the city center.

Shanghai Railway Station generally serves north- and westward locations. It is the terminus of the main Beijing-Shanghai railway line and offers up to eight Z (non stop, deluxe) trains each day.

In addition to this there are T trains (high speed trains that only stop at main stations) to Dalian, Beijing, Urumqi, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Xian, Lanzhou, Jinan, Tongling, Tianjin, Taizhou and Ningbo. K trains (fast) serve Guiyang, Changsha, Guangzhou, Kunming, Wuhan, Yinchuan, Xining, Nanchang, Zhanjiang, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Yichang, Chongqing, Fuyang, Shenyang, Shijiazhuang, Baotou, Qingdao, Tianjin, Taiyuan, Harbin, and Jilin.

The train which takes longest to reach its destination is the T52 (which becomes T53 after Xuzhou) departing at 20:38; it takes 47 hours and 13 minutes to reach Urumqi. The shortest journey is to Kunshan, departing at 06:47 daily and taking only 26 minutes.

Many trains to South China and cities of the Yangtze River Delta depart from Shanghai South Railway Station.

Children under 110cm tall travel free, 110-140cm tall travel for half fare, over 140cm tall pay full fare.

Beijing to Shanghai is 1,463 km (914 miles). 

Top of page

How to buy tickets - at the station

You can buy tickets yourself at the station reservation office, remember to take your passport with you.  In big cities such as Beijing or Shanghai you should use the special reservations office for foreigners.  Reservations for the best Z-category express trains open 20 days before departure, reservations for most other trains open up to 10 days before departure, assuming the train you want starts its journey at that station.  If the train you want starts its journey somewhere else and calls at your boarding station already well into its journey, tickets may only be available 2 days before departure.  The rules vary by city..!  You can generally only book a train journey at the station where your journey starts, so (for example) the reservations office at Shanghai can sell you a Shanghai-Beijing ticket but not a Beijing-Xian ticket.  Berths are best booked at least 2-3 days in advance, apart from peak periods (the Spring Festival, May Day 1st May, National Day 1st October) when they should be booked as soon as reservations open.

How to buy tickets - ask your hotel

To Beijing (北京)

There are a number of brand new night sleep trains running daily from Shanghai to Beijing, starting at 7pm in 10 minute intervals to 8pm and arriving at 7-8am in Beijing. Fare is around ¥500 for a soft sleeper, but they are very clean and the four-person cabins very comfortable. In the same new train, normal hards eaters area available for around ¥250. 

From Beijing

There are actually five excellent Z-category sleeper trains between Beijing and Shanghai, all leaving Beijing between 19:00 and 19:30.  These superb trains are soft class only (no hard class), with brand-new top-quality air-conditioned sleeping-cars and bar-restaurant car (with menus in Chinese and English).  Far superior to any flight and saves time over flying, too.  In addition to normal 4-berth soft class, trains Z13/Z14 and Z21/Z22 also have deluxe soft class with 2 berths per compartment and a private toilet and washroom.  All sleeping berths have their own TV..!  Trains Z13/14 & Z7/8 (but not the other Z trains) give passengers complimentary meals in their compartment.

To Hangzhou

The new fast (200+ km/hr) CRH trains go from Shanghai to Hangzhou in one direction and to Suzhou and Nanjing in the other. These are very comfortable and convenient. Look for the separate "CRH" ticket counters.

By car

In recent years many highways have been built, linking Shanghai to other cities in the region, including Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, etc. It only takes 2 hours to reach Shanghai from Hangzhou.

By bus 

There are several long-distance bus stations in Shanghai, but most buses only go to small towns nearby the city. And you should try to get the tickets as early as possible.

Ferry

There are ferry services from Shanghai to Kobe ,Osaka (Japan) weekly and Hong Kong.

Top of page

More info on Getting Around

If you intend to stay in Shanghai for a longer time the Shanghai Jiaotong Card (上海公共交通卡) can come in handy. You can load the card with money and use it in buses, the metro and even taxis. You can get these cards at any metro/subway station, as well as some convenience stores like Alldays and KeDi. 

By metro

The fast-growing Shanghai Metro network now has 5 lines with another 4 under construction. The trains are fast, cheap and fairly user-friendly with most signs also in English, but the trains can get very packed at rush hour. 

Fares range from ¥3 to ¥9 depending on distance. Automatic ticket vending machines take ¥1 or ¥0.5 coins and notes, although most stations also have staff selling tickets. You can now transfer between lines freely with a single ticket. The metro can also use Shanghai's public transportation card (non contact). 

By taxi 

Taxi is generally a good choice for transportation in the city. It is affordable (only 11 yuan for the first 3km) and saves you a lot of time, but try to get your destination in Chinese characters as communication can be an issue. Try to get the nearest intersection to your destination as well, since addresses - even in Chinese - are often useless.

Drivers, while generally honest, are sometimes genuinely clueless and sometimes out to take you for a ride. Insist on using the meter and, if your fare seems out of line, demand a printed receipt before paying. If you feel you have been cheated or mistreated by the driver, you (or a Chinese speaking friend) can use the information on the printed receipt to raise a complaint to the taxi company about that particular driver. 

The printed receipt is also useful to contact the driver in case you have forgotten something in the taxi and need to get it back. 

If you come across a row of parked taxis and have a choice of which one to get in to, you may wish to check the number of stars the driver has. These are displayed below the driver's photograph on the dashboard in front of the passenger seat. The amount of stars indicates the length of time the driver has been in the taxi business and the level of positive feedback received from customers, and range from zero stars to five. 

Drivers with one star or more should know all major locations in Shanghai, and those with three stars should be able to recognize even lesser-known addresses. Remember that it takes time to build up these stars, and so don't panic if you find yourself with a driver who doesn't have any - just have them assure you that they know where they are going and you should be fine. 

Taxi colors in Shanghai are strictly controlled and indicate the company the taxi belongs to. Turquoise taxis operated by Dazhong (大众), the largest group, are often judged the best of the bunch. Watch out for dark red/maroon taxis, since this is the 'default' color of small taxi companies and includes more than its fair share of bad apples. Also private owned taxis (You can recognize them easily as they have an 'x' in their number plate) are among them. The dark red/maroon taxis will also go "off the meter" at times and charge rates 4x-5x the normal rate - especially around the tourist areas of the Yuyuan Gardens. Bright red taxis, on the other hand, are unionized and quite OK, furthermore there are more 3-star and above taxi drivers working for this company. 

By sightseeing bus 

There are several different companies offering sightseeing buses with various routes and packages covering the main sights such as the Shanghai Zoo, Oriental Pearl TV Tower, and Baoyang Road Harbor. Most of the sightseeing buses leave from the Shanghai stadium's east bus

On foot

Shanghai is a good city for walking, especially in the older parts of the city across the Huangpu from Pudong. Of course, given the large population, you should expect heavy concentrations of pedestrians and vehicles, but that is part of the excitement. Crossing large roads, in particular, can get hairy and it's advisable to follow the locals.