Shànghǎi International Ferry Company (上海国际轮渡; Shànghǎi Guójì Lúndù GOOGLE MAP ; %021 6537 5111; www.shanghai-ferry.co.jp/english/; 15th fl, Jin’an Bldg, 908 Dongdaming Rd; 东大明路908号金岸大厦 tickets from ¥1300, plus ¥150 fuel surcharge; h8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri) Has departures to Osaka (46 hours) on Tuesdays at 11am. Fares range from ¥1300 in an eight-bed dorm to ¥6500 in a deluxe twin cabin.
8Getting Around
The best way to get around Shànghǎi is the metro, which now reaches most places in the city, followed by cabs. Buses (¥2 to ¥3) are tricky to use unless you are a proficient Mandarin speaker. Whatever mode of transport you use, try to avoid rush hours between 8am and 9am, and 4.30pm and 6pm.Walking from A to B, unless it’s a short journey, is generally an exhausting and sometimes stressful experience.
To/From Pǔdōng International Airport
The warp-speed Maglev (磁浮列车; Cífú Lièchē www.smtdc.com; economy one way/return ¥50/80, with same-day air ticket ¥40, children under/over 1.2m free/half price) runs from Pǔdōng International Airport to Longyang Rd metro stop (just south of Century Park) on metro line 2 in eight minutes, running every 20 minutes in both directions. Trains from Pǔdōng International Airport run from 6.45am to 9.40pm. Trains to the airport run from 7.02am to 10.40pm.
Metro line 2 zips from Pǔdōng International Airport to Hóngqiáo International Airport, passing through central Shànghǎi. You will, however, need to disembark at Guanglan Rd station and transfer to another train on the same platform to continue your journey. Pǔdōng International Airport is a long way out: it takes about 45 minutes to People’s Square (¥7).
Airport buses take between 60 and 90 minutes to reach destinations in Pǔxī, west of the Huángpǔ River. Buses drop off at all departures halls and pick up outside arrivals, at both Terminals 1 and 2, leaving the airport roughly every 15 to 30 minutes from 7am to 11pm and heading to the airport from roughly 5.30am to 9.30pm (bus 1 runs till 11pm). The most useful buses:
AAirport bus 1 (¥30) Links Pǔdōng International Airport with Hóngqiáo International Airport (Terminals 1 and 2).
Airport bus 5 ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ) (¥16 to ¥22) Links Pǔdōng Airport with Shànghǎi Railway Station via People’s Square.
AAirport bus 7 (¥20) Runs to Shànghǎi South Railway Station.
AMidnight line (¥16 to ¥30) Operates from 11pm to the last arrival, running to Hóngqiáo Airport Terminal 1 via Longyang Rd metro station to Shimen No 1 Rd and Huashan Rd.
Taxis into central Shànghǎi cost around ¥160 and take about an hour; to Hóngqiáo airport it costs around ¥200. Most Shànghǎi taxi drivers are honest, but ensure they use the meter. Avoid monstrous overcharging by using the regular taxi rank outside the arrivals hall.
Regular buses run to Sūzhōu (苏州; ¥84, three hours, 18 per day) and Hángzhōu (杭州; ¥100, three hours, 12 per day) from the long-distance bus stop at the airport.
To/From Hóngqiáo International Airport
Terminal 2
A Bus
The long-distance bus station at Terminal 2 runs to myriad destinations, including Sūzhōu, Nánjīng, Qīngdǎo, Túnxī (for Huángshān), Hángzhōu and Dēngfēng (for the Shàolín Temple).
AAirport bus 1 (¥30, 6am to 9.30pm) Runs to Pǔdōng International Airport.
Bus 941 ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; ¥6; h5.30am to 11pm) Runs to the main Shànghǎi Railway Station.
ANight buses 316 (11am to 5pm) and 320 (11am to 5pm) Run to East Yan’an Rd near the Bund.
A Metro
Terminal 2 is connected to downtown Shànghǎi by lines 2 and 10 (30 minutes to People’s Square) from Hóngqiáo International Airport Terminal 2 metro station; both lines run through East Nanjing Rd station (for the Bund). Line 2 runs to Pǔdōng and connects with Pǔdōng International Airport (¥8, 1¾ hours) and Longyang Rd metro station, south of Century Park, from where you can hop aboard the Maglev. The next stop west from Hóngqiáo Airport Terminal 2 is Hóngqiáo Railway Station (connected to the airport and accessible on foot).
A Taxi
A taxi to the Bund will cost around ¥100; to Pǔdōng International Airport, around ¥200.
A Train
Attached to Terminal 2, Shànghǎi Hóngqiáo Railway Station has high-speed G-class trains to Hángzhōu, Sūzhōu, Nánjīng and Běijīng.
Terminal 1
A Bus
AAirport bus 1 (¥30, 6am to 9.30pm) Runs to Pǔdōng International Airport.
AAirport shuttle bus (¥4, 7.50am to 11pm) Runs from Hóngqiáo Airport Terminal 1 to the largely defunct Airport City Terminal in Jìng'ān; it's useful for accessing the Jìng'ān area.
ABus 925 (¥4, 5.30am to 10.30pm) Runs to People’s Square via Hongmei Rd and Shimen No 1 Rd.
ABus 938 (¥7, 6am to midnight) Runs to Yángjiādù in Pǔdōng via Hongxu Rd, North Caoxi Rd and South Xizang Rd.
Bus 941 Links Hóngqiáo International Airport with the main Shànghǎi Railway Station.
ABus 806 (¥5, 6am to 11pm) Runs to Lùpǔ Bridge in the south of Pǔxī.
A Metro
Hóngqiáo Airport Terminal 1 is the next stop east on line 10 from Hóngqiáo Airport Terminal 2 metro station. Change to line 2 for the metro to Pǔdōng International Airport (¥8).
A Taxi
Taxi queues can be long at Terminal 1; it can be quicker to take the metro or the bus.
Bicycle
If you can handle the fumes and menace of Shànghǎi’s intimidating traffic, cycling can be a good way to get around town, but you will need to link it in with public transport.
Bikes are banned from some major roads, so cyclists often surge down the pavements (sidewalks) of busy streets.
Cars will give you little room; if you’re new to Shànghǎi, allow a few days to adjust.
Make sure that you have your own bicycle cable lock and try to leave your bike at bike parks.
Cyclists never use lights at night and Chinese pedestrians favour dark clothing, so ride carefully.
Several hostels around town, including Le Tour Traveler’s Rest, can rent you a bike. BOHDI ( GOOGLE MAP ; %021 5266 9013; www.bohdi.com.cn; Bldg 15, 271 Qianyang Rd; 千阳路271号 h8am-5pm Mon-Fri; mZhenbei Rd) also sells and rents quality bikes.
The city has a public bike-hire scheme called Forever Public Bike Hire Scheme (bikes per hour ¥4), launched for the World Expo in 2010. It's far more limited than the fantastic system in Hángzhōu (the world's largest) and has not proved a success, especially for visitors, due to registration difficulties, a lack of docking stations in tourist areas and a Chinese-language-only website (www.chinarmb.com). To register for a card (¥300 deposit and ¥100 credit), you will need to take your passport to the Xújiāhuì Tourist Information Centre (徐家汇旅游咨询中心; Xújiāhuì Lǚyóu Zīxún Zhōngxīn GOOGLE MAP ; %021 5425 9260; www.xjh.sh.cn; 166 Puxi Rd; 蒲西路166号 h9am-5pm) or the Wukang Road Tourist Information Centre (武康路旅游咨询中心, Wǔkāng Lù Lǚyóu Zīxún Zhōngxīn MAP GOOGLE MAP ; 393 Wukang Rd; 武康路393号 h9am-5pm; mShanghai Library).
Boat
Ferries cross the Huángpǔ River between Pǔxī on the west bank and Pǔdōng on the east. Most useful is the Shanghai Ferry ( GOOGLE MAP ; 127 East Zhongshan No 2 Rd; 中山东二路127号 one way ¥2; mLine 2, 10 to East Nanjing Rd, exit 1), which operates between the southern end of the Bund and Dongchang Rd in Pǔdōng, running every 15 minutes from 7am to 10pm. Tickets are sold at the kiosks out the front. The Fuxing Road Ferry (复兴路轮渡站, Fùxīng Lù Lúndùzhàn GOOGLE MAP ; one way ¥2) runs from Fuxing Rd north of the Cool Docks in the South Bund to Dongchang Rd. Ferries run every 10 to 20 minutes from 5am to 11pm.
Bus
Although sightseeing buses can be extremely handy, the huge Shànghǎi public bus system is unfortunately very hard for foreigners who don't speak or read Chinese to use. Bus-stop signs and routes are in Chinese only. Drivers and conductors speak little, if any, English, although onboard announcements in English will alert you to when to get off. The conductor
will tell you when your stop is arriving, if you ask. Bus stops are widely spaced and your bus can race past your destination and on to the next stop up to a kilometre away. Suburban and long-distance buses don’t carry numbers – the destination is in characters.
Air-con buses (with a snowflake motif and the characters 空调 alongside the bus number) cost ¥2 to ¥3. The far rarer buses without air-con cost ¥1.5.
On buses without conductors, drop your cash into the slot by the driver. Always carry exact money; no change is given.
The swipe-able Transport Card works on many but not all bus routes.
Try to get on at the terminus (thus guaranteeing yourself a seat), avoid rush hours, and stick to a few tried-and-tested routes.
If you can't speak Chinese, have your destination written down in Chinese to show the driver, conductor or even a fellow passenger.
Be alert to pickpockets, especially during the rush-hour squeeze.
Buses generally operate from 5am to 11pm, except for 300-series buses, which operate all night.
For English-language bus routes in town, go to http://msittig.wubi.org/bus.
Car & Motorcyle
It is possible to hire a car in Shànghǎi, but the bureaucratic hurdles are designed to deter would-be foreign drivers – you can’t simply pick up a car at Pǔdōng International Airport and hit the road. You will need a temporary or long-term Chinese driving licence.
For most visitors, it is more advisable to hire a car and a driver. A Volkswagen Santana with driver and petrol starts at around ¥600 per day; it is likely to be cheaper to hire a taxi for the day. Ask for more information at your hotel.
Metro
The Shànghǎi metro (www.shmetro.com) is fast, cheap, clean and easy, though hard to get a seat on at the best of times (unless you get on at a terminus). The rush hour sees carriages filled beyond capacity, but trains are frequent and the system has been rapidly expanded to envelop more and more of the city.
There are 14 lines serving more than 366 stations over 617km.
There are plans to extend the network with nine new lines and 250km of track, starting in 2017, with a 2025 completion date.
Metro maps are available at most stations. The free tourist maps also have a small metro map printed on them, and there’s an English section on the metro website.
Metro station exits can be confusing, so look for a street map (usually easy to find) in the ticket hall before exiting to get your bearings.
To find a metro station look for the red M.
The Explore Shanghai app helps you calculate how long your journey will take, how much it will cost and where the nearest metro station is.
In 2016 wi-fi was rolled out to most metro lines and platforms. To access the internet, users need to download an application on their phones and register.
Fares & Tickets
Tickets range from ¥3 to ¥15, depending on the distance.
One-day (¥18) and three-day travel passes (¥45) for use on the metro are available from service counters in stations.
There can be huge distances between different lines at interchange stations, such as between line 9 and 1 at Xújiāhuì station, so factor this into your journey time.
TRANSPORT CARDS & TOURIST PASSES
If you are making more than a fleeting trip to Shànghǎi, it’s worth getting a Transport Card (交通卡, Jiāotōng Kǎ). Available at metro stations and some convenience stores, cards can be topped up with credit and used on the metro, some buses and ferries, and all taxis. Credit is electronically deducted from the card as you swipe it over the sensor, at metro turnstiles and near the door on buses; when paying your taxi fare, hand it to the taxi driver, who will swipe it. Cards don’t save you money, but will save you from queuing for tickets or hunting for change. A refundable deposit of ¥20 is required.
Taxi
Shànghǎi’s taxis are reasonably cheap, hassle-free and generally easy to flag down except during rush hour and in summer storms.
Taxi drivers are mostly honest, but you should always go by the meter. The driver should push the meter down to start it when you get in the cab.
Fares are metered. Flag fall is ¥14 for the first 3km, and ¥2.5 per km thereafter; there is no need to tip.
A night rate operates from 11pm to 5am, when the flag fall is ¥18, then ¥3.10 per km.
Ask for a printed receipt, which gives the fare and the driver and car number, the distance travelled, waiting time and the number to call if there are any problems or if you left something in the taxi.
If you don’t speak Chinese, take a Chinese-character map, have your destination written down in characters or carry your destination’s business card. Alternatively, download the handy Shanghai Taxi Guide and Offline Maps app to show the driver your destination.
Use your mobile to call your local contact (or the 24-hour tourist hotline – 962 288) in Shànghǎi and ask him or her to give instructions to the driver.
Shànghǎi’s main taxi companies include turquoise-coloured Dàzhòng (大众 %021 96822), gold Qiángshēng (强生 %021 6258 0000) and green Bāshì (巴士 %021 96840).
Around Shànghǎi
Zhūjiājiǎo 朱家角
Thirty kilometres west of Shànghǎi, Zhūjiājiǎo is easy to reach and charming – as long as your visit does not coincide with the arrival of phalanxes of tour buses.
What survives of this historic canal town today is a charming tableau of Ming and Qing dynasty alleys, bridges and gǔzhèn (古镇; old town) architecture, its alleyways steeped in the aroma of chòu dòufu (stinky tofu).
While first impressions aren't fabulous when you step off the bus – a gritty industrious town – as soon as you hit the old town and its canals (a 10-minute walk from the bus station), you'll be glad you came. The riverside settlement is small enough to wander completely in three hours. Souvenir shops and restaurants line the scenic canal, connected by quaint bridges and narrow laneways that make it genuinely reminiscent of Venice – albeit a very Chinese version.
1Sights & Activities
If you plan on doing a full day's sightseeing, you can buy a variety of packages from Zhūjiājiǎo's tourist information office (旅游办事处; Lǚyóu Bànshì Chù GOOGLE MAP ; %021 5924 0077; www.zhujiajiao.com/en; Xinfeng Lu; 新丰路 English guide half-/whole day ¥120/200; h8.30am-4.30pm). They also have a useful map here.
You can tour the canals in one of the Chinese gondola-style row boats (short/long tour ¥80/150 per boat), which seat six people. They depart from the dock out the front of City God Temple.
Kèzhí GardenGARDENS
(课植园, Kèzhí Yuán 109 Xijing St; 朱家角镇西井街109号 ¥20)
It's a little pricey, but this Chinese garden established in 1912 is a nice spot for a stroll with pavilions, ponds, quaint bridges and rocky outcrops.
Yuánjīn Buddhist TempleBUDDHIST TEMPLE
(圆津禅院, Yuánjīn Chányuàn GOOGLE MAP ; 193 Caohe Jie; 漕河街 ¥10; h8am-4pm)
The Yuánjīn Buddhist Temple is famed for its Qīnghuá Pavilion (清华阁; Qīnghuá Gé) at the rear, a towering hall visible from many parts of town. It's located on Caohe St near the distinctive Tài’ān Bridge (泰安桥; Tài’ān Qiáo).
City God TempleTAOIST TEMPLE
(城隍庙, Chénghuáng Miào GOOGLE MAP ; 69 Caohe Jie; 漕河街 ¥10; h7.30am-4pm)
Moved here in 1769 from its original location in Xuějiābāng, this temple stands on the west side of the Chénghuáng Bridge.
Qing Dynasty Post OfficeHISTORIC BUILDING
(清王朝邮局, Qīng Wángcháo Yóujú GOOGLE MAP ; 35 Xihu Rd; 西湖路35号 ¥5; h8.30am-4.30pm)
A historic 1903 outpost of the Qing dynasty postal service, this is not a huge place but it's nice to walk through the old wooden building's interior, with mildly interesting exhibits such as vintage postcards and a postie's uniform dating from the Qing dynasty.
Zhūjiājiǎo Catholic Church of AscensionCHURCH
(朱家角耶稣升天堂, Zhūjiājiǎo
Yēsū Shēngtiāntáng GOOGLE MAP ; 27 Caohe Jie, No 317 Alley; 漕河街27号317弄 )
A gorgeous church dating from 1863 with its belfry rising in a detached tower by the rear gate.
Fángshēng BridgeBRIDGE
(放生桥, Fángshēng Qiáo GOOGLE MAP )
Of Zhūjiājiǎo’s quaint band of ancient bridges, the standout must be the graceful, 72m-long, five-arched Fángshēng Bridge, first built in 1571 with proceeds from a monk’s 15 years of alms-gathering. It passes over a wide expanse of water, reminiscent of sections of Venice's famous waterways.
4Sleeping
Given its proximity to Shànghǎi, there's no real reason to stay in Zhūjiājiǎo; though if you do, you'll get to enjoy it crowd-free once the tourists have gone home.
oCǎo Táng InnHOSTEL$
(草堂客栈, Cǎotáng Kèzhàn GOOGLE MAP ; %021 5978 6442; 31 Dongjing Jie; 东井街31号 dm ¥80-100, d ¥300-320; aiW)
Not your typical generic backpackers, this friendly and atmospheric hostel is set within a century-old house full of character. Its common area in the lobby has a well-stocked bar and a fire pit to hang out by. There's a lovely courtyard garden too. The rooms are clean and well-kept, including dorms and traditionally dressed doubles and twins.
8Getting There & Away
To reach Zhūjiājiǎo, hop on the direct pink and white Hùzhū Gāosù Kuàixiàn bus (沪朱高速快线; ¥12, one hour, every 20 minutes from 6am to 10pm, less frequently in low season) from the Pu’an Rd Bus Station (普安路汽车站, Pǔ’ān Lù Qìchē Zhàn MAP GOOGLE MAP ; Pu'an Lu; 普安路 mDashijie) just south of People’s Square. Note local buses also ply this route – these are best avoided and take double the time.
Lonely Planet China Page 65
