Shanghai is the world's largest city both by area and population, it is home to the world's largest container port, the world's longest oceanic bridge, the world's fastest train and is the site of the mighty River Yangzte Delta, a river reknowned for it's river cruises. Because of this the city has seen an upsurge in visitors in recent years, particularly independent travellers, who just a few years ago, would have only ever visited China as part of a guided group.  

Shanghai is served by the two airports of Pudong International and Hong Qiao ( Puxi ) situated 55 km apart.For international visitors to the city, most will arrive at Pudong International, therefore this will be the airport I will deal with mainly in this article, although I will give onward travel details from Pudong to Hong Qioa Airport for those that require it, first.

TRAVEL TO HONG QIAO ( PUXI ) AIRPORT. 

Hong Qiao Airport is mainly a domestic flight airport although it does serve 4 international routes to Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei.

The airport is situated at Puxi 14 kms away from downtown Shanghai and 55 kms away from Pudong International Airport.

The airport is accessed for travellers from Pudong International Airport by way of Line 2 of the Shanghai Subway - accessed by an interlinking bridge from both terminal buildings - which is a 15 minute journey costing around RMB 6, this service is  available between the hours of 06.00 - 21.00hrs. 

By bus one can take bus Route 1 a 40 minute journey costing RMB 30, which leaves Pudong every 10 minutes between the hours of 07.20 - 23.00hrs from outside Gate 16 of the International Arrivals Hall at Terminal 2.

For transfers between the hours of 23.00 - 07.20 a taxi will cost around RMB 150 from Pudong. An automatic toll fee is included in this price.

                                          INFORMATION ABOUT  PUDONG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. 

The airport at Pudong is situated 30 kms away from downtown Shanghai and is the main hub for Shanghai Airlines and a major hub for China Eastern Airlines and Air China.

The airport complex consists of two terminal buildings which between them have 76 gates and three runways, which serve 62 domestic routes and 73 international routes by way of 56 different airlines.

The airport is staffed by several English speaking personnel and all signage is displayed in both Chinese and English.

The Shanghai Pudong International Airport is one of only a few airports in China which is open 24 hours a day, although many of it's onbound transport facilities end around 11 o'clock at night.

For passengers only overnighting in Pudong, there are several hotels within the airport vacinity, with the JinJiang Inn Pudong Airport Hotel being the nearest, it's literally a ten minute walk away, or the 4 Star Ramada Pudong Airport Shanghai Hotel, which has it's own shuttle bus or the 3 Star Shanghai Airlines Travel Hotel, a transit hotel which charges by the hour, situated in the Domestic Arrivals Hall of Terminal 2 - a boarding pass must be shown for admittance into this hotel. All these hotels have check in desks situated in both terminal arrival halls.

                                             SHANGHAI PUBLIC TRANSPORT CARD DETAILS.

For travel by rail or businto downtown Shanghai, the best method of payment is the Jiatong Yikatong, public transport card seen abbreviated as SPTC.

This electronic card can be used on all transport links in Shanghai, including buses, trolley buses, taxis, ferries, subway / metro, the airport Maglev train and car parks and toll roads.

The card comes in multiples of ten Renmimbi from 10 - 1,000 and comes with a handy stick on strip so it can be affixed to the inside of a wallet or the side of a camera or mobile phone.

The card has a RMB 30 refundable deposit and offers a 10 % fare discount for use of over RMB 70 and can be purchased at any subway / metro station.

                                                           AIRPORT TRAIN SERVICES. 

The subway / metro station and the Maglev - magnetic levitation - train station are accessed by way of 3 interconnecting corridors from the airport's terminal buildings or by a free shuttle bus, which departs from outside both terminal arrivals halls, main exits every ten minutes.

The exits you require for this shuttle bus are exits 1 or 8 at Terminal 1 or exits 23 or 27 at Terminal 2.

The train station is situated on two levels with the Maglev highspeed train - the fastest train in the world no less - on the first floor and the Subway Line 2 route train, situated below ground level.

The subway route is for use to Hong Qioa Airport and is available between the hours of 06.00 - 21.00 daily, and the Maglev train is for travel into downtown Shanghai which is available between the hours of 06.45 - 21.40 every day.

The Maglev departs every 15 minutes from the Pudong Airport Station and takes 8 minutes to travel the 30 kms journey at speeds of upto 400kmh costs are from RMB 50.

There is just the one Maglev station in Shanghai situated at Longyang Road. From there one can access other lines of the Shanghai subway / metro.

Both subway / metro and Maglev routes have signage in English, there is also an English version of the Shanghai subway / metro map. 

For details about the Shanghai Metro, visit - travel-on-the-shanghai-metro

                                                                AIRPORT BUS SERVICES. 

There are 8 bus routes from Pudong International Airport.

The bus station is situated at Gate 16 of the International Arrivals Hall at Terminal 2 and is served with well signposted routes in English.

The numbered routes, showing destination, hours of service and fares are -

Route 1 - Hong Qiao Airport - 07.20 - 23.00 - RMB 30.

Route 2 - Jingan Temple - 07.20 - 23.00 - RMB 19.

Route 3 - Galaxy Hotel - 07.20 - 23.00 - RMB 20.

Route 4 - Hongkau Football Stadium - 07.20 - 23.00 - RMB 18.

Route 5 - Shanghai South Railway Station - 07.20 - 23.00 - RMB 18.

Route 6 - Zhongshan Park - 07.35 - 23.00 - RMB 20.

Route 7 - Dongfang Road - 07.35 - 23.00 - RMB 14.

Route 8 - Ling Xin Cheng - 08.00 - 18.00 - RMB 16.

                                                 AIRPORT LONG DISTANCE COACH SERVICES. 

The inter city, long distance, coach station ticket office is situated at Gates 6-7 + 8-9 of the Domestic Arrivals Hall in Terminal 1.

There are 8 city destinations which depart from the south end of the terminal's airport coach parking bay.

The coach destinations with journey duration, fares and daily departure times are -

Hangzhou - 3 hours - RMB 100 - Departs at 10.10, 12.00, 13.30, 15.30, 17.30, + 19.30.

Jiaxing - 2.5 hours - RMB 58 - Departs 11.10, 13.10, 16.10 + 18.10.

Kunshan - 2hrs 40 mins - RMB 70 - Departs hourly from 10.30 until 19.30.

Quingtian - 7 hours - - RMB 230 - Departs 10.40 + 13.40.

Suzhou - 2 hrs40 mins - RMB 84 - There are 17 departure times for this service starting at 10.00 with two departures an hour until 18.50 and a final departure at 20.00.

Wuxi - 2 hours - RMB 100 - Departs 10.10 then hourly from 11.20 until 19.20.

Yiwu - 4 hours - RMB 180 - Departs 11.10 + 17.10.

Zhangjiang - 3 hours - RMB 122 - Departs 12.50, 14.40, 15.40 + 17.40.

                                                          AIRPORT METERED TAXI SERVICES. 

Taxi bays are situated out side the main arrival halls of both terminal buildings.

Taxis in Shanghai are chosen by destination, so please look for the destination of your taxi before joining any queues, which will be signposted.

Taxi drivers do not speak English, so have your destination written down in Mandarin in order to show the driver.

A journey into downtown Shanghai should take around 40 minutes and cost about RMB 150.

Fares can be paid with cash or by way of Jiatong Yikatong ( SPTC ) public transport card.

PLEASE NOTE - All prices are of April 2011.

PLEASE NOTE - Many Shanghai hotels offer a personal or shared pick -  up service at the airport for their guests, so try to arrange this service with your hotel before travelling, especially if your expected time of arrival is during the night.

                                                             For more informational links -  

For details about the Shanghai Metro, please visit - travel-on-the-shanghai-metro

For details about the city of Shanghai, please visit - shanghai-the-worlds-largest-city

For details of Yangzte River Cruises, please visit - china-the-mighty-river-yangzte

For information on transport from Beijing Airport, please visit -rail-and-bus-services-at-beijing-capital-international-airport-bcia 

For information on transport from Hong Kong Airport, please visit -rail-bus-ferry-services-at-chek-lap-kok-airport-hong-kong-hkia