Shanghai Transportation

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The Maglev train runs from the Metro center to Pudong Airport. It offers a good alternative to get to and from the airport. It is nearly impossible to find the Maglev when you are standing in the arrivals area of the airport, because there are virtually no signs. If you find an elevator to the second floor, just walk ahead and you will find a sign to the Maglev. I think the people at the airport try to encourage people to only use the other ground transportation. They are reluctant to talk about the Maglev and the city has done a terrible job of posting signs to the Maglev. On the last trip I found a sign for the Maglev that pointed outside to the taxi area!

A taxi to the airport cost 130 RMB from the City Hotel in Puxi. The taxi to the Maglev is 50 RMB plus 50 RMB for the Maglev and you get to the airport for 100 RMB. The bonus is the chance to go over 430 KPH or 250 MPH in the most advanced form of ground transportation in the world.

On the minus side, the Maglev only runs from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.

Note that there are two major airports in Shanghai.

1) Pu Dong (airport code=PVG) - catering mainly for international flights. Located on the other side of the Huangpu river, about an hour or more from downtown Shanghai. There is a megalev express train from the airport but pricey.

2) Hong Qiao (airport code=SHA) - catering mainly for local flights. Located on the same side of downtown Shanghai.

So when booking your flight, check which airport in Shanghai you will be landing or departing.

Before the opening of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport used to be main airport of Shanghai. During the 1990's, the expansion of Hongqiao was impossible when the city grew and surrounded Hongqiao. So then the government had to look for an alternative for Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to take almost all of its international flights. A particular place was at the coast of the Pudong development zone to the East of Shanghai.

The train runs from Longyang Road station in Pudong on the Shanghai subway line 2 to Pudong International Airport, and the total track length is about 30 kilometres, with an additional, separate track leading to a maintenance facility. The train takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to complete the journey, and its top operational speed is 431 kilometers per hour.

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The best way to get around in Shanghai is taxi and Metro. Besides taxi, and metro, bus is another good way to get around - cheap, and more importantly, you can see street scenes in a slow pace.

There are several types of buses you can choose.

Air Con vs. Non Air Con
Most route offers buses with air condition, or without it. The stops are exactly the same, but the price is not. Typically, buses with A/C charges 2 RMB (25 US cents) for the whole route, and buses without A/C charges 1 RMB. Typically, buses with A/C are of better condition. See these Scrawl on Shanghai Buses without A/C.

Self-served or conductor-served
Many buses are self-served. There is no conductor on the bus, and you have to pay either with Shanghai Transportation Card, or coins (no change is provided). The driver acts as a conductor. On other buses, you can give cash to a conductor, and they provide changes. Look at the side of the bus to determine which type it is. It is really embarassing to get on to a bus without a conductor, and you don't have the change to pay the fee. You either deposite big bills like 10 RMB or 50 RMB into the box, and donate the part higher than the ticket to the bus company, or leave. Some passenger does deposite 10 RMB, and stand at the gate to be temp conductor, and collect coins from the next 4 passengers. It happens all the time.

Bus Stops
Buses are very easily accessed in the whole city. If you can read Chinese maps, do spend some time on the map and study the route of buses. Typically, you can get to any place by one bus, or two buses. Here is instruction on How to Read Shanghai Bus Stop Plate.

This is very simple. If you are trying to go between Shanghai and Suzhou, do it on a train. I can't explain why it is, but the train takes 30 minutes whereas a bus can take up to 2 hours. OK, it has something to do with the bad traffic.

This tip is short and sweet - shanghai to suzhou trains are neat!

When you get in a cab, have a map to point to where you want to go. If possible, have the destination written in Chinese as well. Hotel concierges can help you with that.

The driving is insane. Street lights, lanes, rules of the road…merely suggestions. It’s a free for all, so sit back and pretend you’re on a roller coaster ride.

It’s quite scary at first, but once you let go of your fear, you will discover that in all the craziness, there is a sort of ebb and flow to their style of driving.

We flew from Xi'an to Shanghai with Shanghai Airlines for about 2 hours or so. I don't know what happened to the pilot but the landing was awful. The landing gear hit the ground so hard that I'm sure it damaged. The service on board was good.
Pudong Airport is located about one hour from downtown but sometimes traffic is heavy. And you can take the train to downtown; I didn't because our tour bus was already waiting for us.