Shanghai travel tips from a Shanghainese tour guide (transportation & accommodation)

4/23/2014 Sum Tips Shanghai 3461

The Chinese version of the article was written by one of our tour guides who was born and raised in Shanghai. She has some info to share with you. 

Metro: 
There are inclusive metro tickets. One-day ticket costs 18 Yuan, with 24-hour unlimited travel; three-day ticket costs 45 Yuan, with 72-hour unlimited travel. The starting price in the metro is 3 Yuan, which means you will be charged at least 3 Yuan for one trip. The cost for riding metro is around 3 to 4 Yuan per trip. It is wise to have a rough calculation on your possible total metro cost before deciding to get an inclusive ticket or to buy every time you ride. 
Shanghai-Metro.jpg


Maglev train (magnetic levitation train):
There is maglev train station at Pudong International Airport, but the train can’t take you to the city center directly. It takes you to Longyang Road metro station from which you can get to the center by taking metro line two. The ticket for Maglev train is 50 Yuan. You can get a 20% discount with a flight ticket on that very day. The interval is 15 minutes. Maglev train is known for its 460KM/H high speed. In fact, in the morning and at night, the train is much slower than such speed. Thus, shuttle bus might be a better option to leave the airport if you arrive at night or in the morning. If you want to have some nice night view of Shanghai, Maglev train is not a good choice because the train crosses very remote area and you will hardly see any light out of the window at night. 
Maglev-Train.jpg


Travel card:
You can use a travel card on most public transportations in Shanghai including metro, bus, taxi, and maglev train. It is a top-up card and each card requires 20 Yuan as deposit. You can top up at least 10 Yuan at a time. I don’t think it is necessary for tourists to get a travel card unless you want to keep one as a memento. Travel cards can only be purchased and returned in Transportation service centers at the metro stations. Please be noted that only some of the metro stations have service center. 

Bus:
Most buses charge 2 Yuan inclusive for one trip. Most of them don’t have conductor so get some changes if you are not traveling with a travel card. 
Shanghai-Bus.jpg


Taxi: 
Taxi in Shanghai is expensive comparing with other cities’. It starts from 13 Yuan plus 1 Yuan as fuel charge, adding 2.4 Yuan per extra kilometer. After 10 kilometers, each kilometer charges 3.6 Yuan. One important notice: from 23:00 to 5:00, the taxi charges 1 Yuan every 10 seconds!

Shanghai-Taxi.jpg


Accommodation:
Recommended neighborhoods:
1. Renmin People's Square: Convenient neighborhood. Metro line one, two and eight pass by. Lots of shops and malls are in that area. Many tourism spots are nearby: Shanghai museum, Shanghai art museum, Great World amusement arcade, Nanjing Road pedestrian zone, Yuyuan Garden, and the Bund. 
2. Jing'an Temple: Metro line two and seven pass by. Nanjingxi Road is nice place for shopping and sightseeing. Lots of good food is nearby.
3. Xujiahui: It is a commercial center of Shanghai at the south-west corner. There are Lots of places for food and shopping. Metro line two and seven pass by. 

Not recommended neighbor:
Pudong/Lujiazui: There is nothing other than skyscrapers.
Hongkou and Yangpu: Too far away from the downtown.

Next time, there will be more information regarding scenic spots in Shanghai. 
Ciao!


Related tourism services from China Tour Advisors:

http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Shanghai-Suzhou-Huangshan-Hangzhou-8-Days-Amazing-Tour-128.html

http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Splendid-China-12-Days-Tour-121.html

http://www.chinatouradvisors.com/chinatour/Essence-of-Shanghai-City-3-Days-Tour-116.html

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