Shanghai: Transport

Shanghai: Transport

Shanghai boasts one of the best transportation systems in China. As a major port city and the largest city in Eastern China, this is the major hub for the eastern region. Shanghai is a busy regional transport hub, and is thus very easily reached by air, land and water.

Shanghai: Transport

International

Plane

There are two airports in Shanghai- Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Hongqiao International Airport (SHA).

Pudong is the new International airport and and it is located 55 km from the city center. The Maglev (Magnetic Levitation) Train links Pudong Airport to the Shanghai Metro System.

The airport for most domestic flights is Hongqiao which is older, and located in the west of Shanghai, 15 km from the city center. A taxi to Hongqiao airport from CBD should cost approximately RMB30-50.

Shanghai is connected with domestic flights to most cities within China.

Inter-city

Train

Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai South Railway Station are the primary railway ports of the city. Travelers can get to Shanghai from virtually any city in China, arriving in one or the other of these stations.
Long-distance buses are also convenient when traveling to Shanghai, but most foreign travelers reserve this form of travel for short distances to nearby cities (Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi and Ningbo).

Water

Transportation via Shanghai’s waterways is extremely convenient as it is located at the estuary of the Yangtze River and the East China Sea.

You can travel by ships to many cities like Zhejiang, Chongqing, Nangjing, Putuoshan and Wuhan. There are also International passenger ship lines that travel to Ichon and Pusan of South Korea, as well as Osaka and Kobe of Japan.

The main passenger port – Shiliupu Passenger Port is on Zhongshan Nan Road. 1 km south of the Bund, there are also several other passenger ports in Shanghai, which are usually far away from the city center.

As a general rule, for long distance destination this is a cheap but slow way to travel. For destination closer to the city however the train is more efficient.

City Transportation

Metro:

The fast-growing Shanghai Metro network has 10 lines with another 9 under construction, with nearly all lines operating underground.

The Metro is fast, cheap, air conditioned and fairly user-friendly with most signs and station arrival announcements in English, but the trains can get very packed during rush hour.

The main city scenery and shopping centers of Shanghai are along metro lines, so metro is a very convenient way for you to visit Shanghai.

Shanghai Metro Map (2010 Feb)

Shanghai Metro Map correct as of 2010 Feb
Shanghai Metro Map correct as of 2010 Feb

Bus:

Shanghai_Bus

There are more than 1,100 bus lines in Shanghai. Buses are often fully-packed and at times, impossible to board. Once on board, keep your valuables tucked away since pick pocketing is easy under such conditions.

Contrary to popular belief, buses are not color coded-the bus number is. Routes 1 to 30 are for trolley buses (now supplemented by regular buses). Buses 1 to 199 operate from 5 am to 11pm. Buses in the 200 and 400 series are peak-hour buses, and 300 series buses provide all-night service. Suburban and long-distance buses don’t carry numbers-the destination is in characters.

The ticket prices are divided into several kinds which are according to the length of the routes and the condition of the bus, RMB1 for the routes less than 13 km long, RMB1.5 for the over-13 km long routes, RMB2 for air-con buses.

For tourists and travelers, we do not recommend you to use bus since it is crowded and often gets caught in jams. Taxi and metro are your first choices.

Taxi:

taxi-shanghai

There are 50,000 taxies running in Shanghai City. They are reasonably cheap and easy to flag down, but try to avoid the peak hours of 7 to 9 am and 5 to 7 pm. The start price is RMB10 for 3 km and RMB2 for following each 1 km.

At night (23:00-5:00) the start price is RMB13 for 3 km and RMB2.6 for following each 1 km, once exceeding 10 kilometers’ journey, it would be RMB3.9 for each kilometer, and the bargain is permitted, also, you could take the taxi to travel in a group.

Hope your stay in Shanghai will be a pleasant one.

Vocabulary

交通    jiāo tōng                      transport

出租车    chū zū chē               taxi

公交车     gōng jiāo chē         bus

Similar Posts