Maps, metro, DiDi and airports

Part of Before you go, a sourced pre-trip guide for a first visit to Shanghai. Checked 2026-10-03; rules change, so each step links to its source. Data version 5e1254c0b277.

¥4–26 — Airport Link Line fare; full PVG–SHA trip is about 40 minutes.

In short

Tap eligible UnionPay/Visa/MC/Amex/JCB at metro gates

1. Tap an eligible contactless card at the metro gate for Tap to Ride.

2. Card networks: UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB, plus eligible e-CNY hardware wallets.

3. Turn on password-free small payments and keep a balance or credit.

4. A matching logo is not enough: the 27 June 2025 expansion excludes Type-B and no-ODA cards.

5. At the Maglev gate, tap a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB card.

6. Maglev tap started on 14 June 2025.

7. A dual-brand UnionPay plus foreign card goes through the UnionPay channel first.

8. Pick the right QR product before you scan.

9. Metro Daduhui (and the Shanghai Metro service inside Alipay or WeChat) is the metro QR app.

10. Suishenxing (SH MaaS) generates one integrated code for buses, ferries and metro.

11. The 12306 Suishenma Code, for travellers arriving by train, also names the Airport Link Line, Maglev and ferries, but not Jinshan Rail.

12. Do not copy its cross-mode list onto Daduhui.

13. Buy single-journey tickets at vending machines.

14. For international-card payment, use the card terminals at station service centres.

15. These accept UnionPay and overseas Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, Diners Club and JCB.

16. Consider a one-day pass at 18 yuan or a three-day pass at 45 yuan.

17. The passes exclude the Maglev and suburban railways opened in or after 2024.

18. A Maglev plus metro pass costs 55 yuan single or 85 yuan round Maglev (economy), plus one day of metro.

19. The Airport Link Line has a separate fare: from 4 yuan, 26 yuan for the full journey, about 40 minutes PVG–SHA.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government

Line 2 from PVG: about ¥7, about 1 hour

1. Take Metro Line 2 from Pudong Airport Terminal 1&2 to People's Square.

2. It costs about 7 yuan and takes about one hour.

3. Pudong is about 30 km from downtown.

4. Treat the last-train time from PVG as unknown here.

5. The operator's own last-train table for Line 2 was not captured as text this round.

6. Do not rely on the summer 2025 extra late trains.

7. They ran only from 4 July to 31 August 2025.

8. Extra Line 2 departures from PVG left at 22:45 and 23:00 on Fridays and Sundays.

9. That window has ended and is not a current last-train guarantee.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government

Maglev: about 8 min, ¥50/80, up to 300 km/h

1. Ride the Maglev from PVG to Longyang Road in about 8 minutes at up to 300 km/h.

2. A single ticket is 50 yuan and a round trip is 80 yuan.

3. Tap a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB card at the Maglev gate.

4. Eligible e-CNY hardware wallets work too, with small-amount password-free payment on.

5. Maglev card tap started on 14 June 2025, and a dual-brand card uses the UnionPay channel first.

6. If tapping fails, use cash, the Daduhui app or a local transit card.

7. The metro hotline is 021-6437-0000.

8. Treat the last Maglev departure from PVG as unknown here.

9. It is not printed as text on the fare or tap pages.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government

Airport Link: ¥4–26, ~40 min, official last 22:15 from PVG

1. Take the Airport Link Line for a fare from 4 yuan.

2. The full PVG–SHA journey is 26 yuan and about 40 minutes.

3. At PVG T1/T2 the first Airport Link train is 06:00 and the last is 22:15, every 15 minutes.

4. At SHA, the station is Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2, with first 05:45 and last 22:00.

5. That stop is not Hongqiao Railway Station and not Hongqiao Airport T1.

6. Keep both last-train figures in mind and use the station screens.

7. A traveller on Reddit (5 March 2026) reported a last train around 22:39, which does not overwrite the airport-group's 22:15.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Airport Group, u/biubiuf

Taxi estimates; 守航夜宵线 23:00–05:30 on airport-group table

1. Take a taxi from PVG to People's Square: about 180 yuan and 50 minutes.

2. From T1, use Arrival Gate 12 (walk south from gates 4 or 8); from T2, use Arrival Gate 25.

3. From SHA, expect about 30 minutes and 100–150 yuan.

4. From T1 use Arrivals Gate 1; from T2 use Arrivals Gate 4.

5. Use the free PVG T1–T2 shuttle, which runs 24 hours every 10–15 minutes.

6. Catch the 守航夜宵线 night bus from PVG T1 23:00–05:30 or T2 23:03–05:33 the next day.

7. It runs to Hongqiao Hub East Transport Centre via Longyang Road, Century Avenue and Yan'an Road.

8. Buses run by passenger flow, up to 30 minutes apart, and cost 18–34 yuan.

9. The hotline is 021-68346612.

10. The Shanghai Airport Group table says times are for reference and can change with traffic.

11. The hours above come from the airport-group HTML table.

12. The city English page still shows its bus timetable as an image.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Airport Group

City English pages describe Amap; Google Maps is blocked

1. Expect Google services, including Google Maps, to be blocked on mainland networks; FCDO lists Google among permanently blocked services.

2. Use Amap (Gaode Map) multilingual services for arrival-card guidance, airport onward travel, hotel routes and emergency numbers.

3. Main services work without logging in.

4. The city also prints a Popular Apps page titled 'A guide to using AMap in English'.

5. This hub names Amap because the city printed it, not as an official ranking of Apple Maps versus Amap.

Sources: UK FCDO, Shanghai Municipal People's Government (source line: Amap)

Official taxis: meter and receipt

1. Use marked, metered taxis.

2. Shanghai government advice says some taxis with a compatible POS accept overseas cards.

3. Avoid unmarked or unmetered taxis, insist on the meter, and keep the receipt with the taxi number.

4. Do not expect a city English page to walk you through DiDi International versus the Alipay mini program.

5. No such page was captured this round, and visitor DiDi steps stay in the tips.

Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, UK FCDO

Traveller tips

Next: Arrival day, in order