I just got back from a great trip to Shanghai. And now I'll start with the simplest tips: how to move.
I landed atShanghai Pudong International Airport. There are many ways to get around the city center: taxi, metro, train, bus.
Perhaps the cheapest and most comfortable solution would have been to take metro line 2 to my hotel, however I decided to take the Maglev train, the only magnetic levitation train that reaches and exceeds the speed of 431 km / h (I saw it with my eyes as written on a screen in each car). Take this futuristic train it costs about 5€ and connects Pudong Airport to Longyang Rd subway station (Shanghai Fair area), where you can then take metro line 2 to your destination in the center. The Maglev runs Monday through Sunday, 6:45 am to 21:40 pm, at intervals of approximately 15-20 minutes. The train ride takes less than 8 minutes, a truly incredible experience.
La subway is clean, orderly as well as economical, and connects the entire Chinese metropolis in 13 lines. The cost of the ticket varies according to the destination and goes 3 to 6RMB (or from 30 to 75 euro cents), very cheap for any European accustomed to our prices.
I taxi then they are a valid alternative to get around. The only problem will be communicating your other half to the taxi driver because it will be almost impossible to find one who knows English, and I don't even mean a word. So you have to arm yourself with patience and possibly a note with the destination written in Mandarin Chinese characters. Alternatively, you can go fancy and try to communicate with gestures or through the images of your guide. As for the costs, a taxi ride costs 11RMB as a starting price (little more than 1 €) and then increases by 2RMB (25 hundredths of Euro) every half kilometer. The night rate, which runs from 23pm, starts at 00RMB. So a very valid way to get around quickly and especially in the evening if you are alone. In the event that you want to take a taxi directly fromAirport from Pudong to the center (about 50 minutes), the cost should be around about € 18-20.
Infin also exist bus, which I did not use during my stay, preferring to walk, metro and taxi. In any case there are more than 1000 lines and the cost is really cheap even if I think it is more difficult to find your way around.
During my trip I walked a lot because I love to do it but Shanghai is not entirely "within walking distance". The distances, which appear normal on the maps, are actually gigantic so, whether you like it or not, you'll have to tinker with taxi drivers and subway maps. And it's absolutely worth it.
