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Airport Info

By admin - Sat Dec 26, 2:46 pm

Edited byadmin

Shanghai Pudong international Airport Info

Pudong ( IATA: PVG) is Shanghai’s new international airport, located 40 km to the east of the city. Arrivals are on the first floor, departures on the third, and the airport has all the features you’d expect. There are now two gigantic terminals (T1 and T2), so check which one you’re going to. A free shuttle bus service connects the two.

The most convenient, but also the most expensive way to get to central Shanghai is by taxi, but figure on ¥145 and about an hour to get to the center of the city. Head for the official taxi line to the far right of the arrival terminal. Taxi drivers seldom speak any English, but you may want to check that they know where you would like to go and the estimated cost to get there. Ask an attendant at the info desk to write down the name of your destination in Chinese for you to show the driver. It is not advisable to follow any person inside the terminal claiming to be a taxi driver, unless there are two of you and someone speaks good Shanghainese or Mandarin. Use extreme caution and double check the charges as some will try to charge up to 10 times the normal fare. Never allow the driver to pick up a “friend” or any other second passenger.

Airport buses are considerably cheaper (¥15-22), but take up to an hour and a half and stop running at 11PM. There are a number of routes, but two particularly convenient ones connect to the Airport City Terminal on Nanjing West Road (#2, ¥19) and Shanghai train station (#5, ¥18). Budget travelers may also consider buses stopping at Longyang Road (1#/5#, ¥12) from where you may transfer to Subway Line No. 2. For a link to lines 3/4, #6 (¥20) goes to Zhongshan Park station (actually a few blocks off- change to the local 947 bus and take it one stop if you can’t walk that distance for whatever reason).

More a tourist attraction and prestige project than practical means of transport, the Transrapid Maglev train shuttles from the airport to the middle of Pudong in 7 minutes flat at a blazing speed of 431 km/hour. If your final destination is Pudong, a short subway or taxi ride remains; however, if you’re looking to go further west to Puxi, plan on 30 minutes or more on the subway. On the 2nd floor of the airport you can purchase Maglev tickets from the ticket counter. The wait for one train is typically no longer than 10 mins. Once you’re at the end of the Maglev line, you can walk down the stairs and in about 1 minute arrive at the Longyang Lu subway station (Line 2). That said, the Maglev to Longyang and a taxi from there is the fastest way to get to places around Pudong, and the ride is definitely an experience in a thrilling way.

Depending on traffic, it may be just as quick to take the subway to western areas of Shanghai rather than risk traffic congestion in a taxi. Some minor inconveniences aside, it’s definitely worth the experience for the cost. The train is very clean, easy to find, and extremely fast! Services currently operate from 6:45AM to 9:30PM daily and cost ¥50 one way (¥40 if you have a same-day ticket) or ¥80 for a round-trip ticket (good for up to 7 days from date of purchase). You can also opt to pay double for “VIP Class”, which gets you a soft drink and bragging rights.

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