Shanghai

Flights to Shanghai

Direct prices from airlines | Crazy Llama

August 20

Learn more about flights to Shanghai 🛫  

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Shanghai is a vibrant city with bright lights, tall skyscrapers, bustling markets and creative energy. Also it's a treasury of colonial style.


This is one of the largest cities in China. To see it all is a real challenge. Fortunately, the subway works great in Shanghai, so getting to any of its points will be an easy task. But in this city you can see with your own eyes how China has changed over the millennia, and find out what it came to in the 21st century.

Shanghai Airports

There are two international airports in Shanghai and both are among the five largest airports in China. Although you are 99% likely to come to Pudong, there are a few things to know about Hongqiao.


Pudong International Airport, PVG


Almost all international flights fly to Pudong, connecting it with 70 cities around the world. There are two huge terminals at the airport connected by bus.


Interesting that residents of most European countries and developed countries of other continents can arrange visa-free transit for 144 hours in Pudong and stay for 6 days in Shanghai and the surrounding area before flying to the end point of their journey. It is very convenient for those who want to quickly get acquainted with China, without bothering with documents.


Hongqiao International Airport, SHA


Hongqiao is located on the opposite side of the city relative to Pudong. At the same time, both airports are connected by a direct metro line, so you can get from one to the other in about an hour and a half. It is impressively fast, as for a gigantic city with 26 million population.
If Pudong was built just recently in 1999, then Hongqiao had already celebrated its 100th anniversary. Now it serves mainly domestic flights, and some Japanese and Korean airlines.

How to get from the airport to the city center

No matter what airport you are at, you have 3 ways to get to the center of Shanghai: metro, bus, taxi.

Subway

The most cost-effective and fastest way to use the subway. Pudong and Hongqiao are connected by line No. 2, which will take you to the center. The fare will vary depending on the distance: an average of 3 to 20 yuan (0.5–3 dollars). The trip will take about an hour.

Bus

A bus ticket will also cost $ 3. Yes, and in time the trip will take the same time, but only if the famous Chinese traffic jams do not meet you on the way.

Taxi

The most expensive way to get to the center is by taxi. The cost will be approximately $ 25 in the daytime and about $ 30 at night. At the same time, as usually in Asia, you should immediately tell the taxi driver that he should turn on the meter. Otherwise, you can pay several times more.

Express train

From Pudong, the express train runs to the center. It is both convenient transportation and attraction for tourists. An express ticket costs $ 7, and it takes only 10 (!) minutes to travel.

Quick facts about Shanghai

Car rent
from $ 20 per day
Hotel booking
from $ 16 per night
Currency
CNY
Yuan

Reference average prices in Shanghai

🌭 Meal, Inexpensive Restaurant
$ 4,95
🍕 Meal for 2 People, Mid-range Restaurant, Three-course
$ 28,4
🍺 Domestic Beer (0.5 liter draught)
$ 1,42
🚌 One-way Ticket (Local Transport)
$ 0,57
🏠 Apartment rent per month (1 bedroom in City Centre)
$ 1022

Best time to visit Shanghai

Best season to travel: October to November
Prices
Hotel from $15
Temperature
The average temperature during the year ranges from 1°C to 32°C
Precipitation
The average rainfall per year is 1066 mm
Weather

Shanghai is hot and rainy in summer, and it is piercingly cold in winter. The best time to visit is the mild weather of spring and autumn, and the second half of autumn can be considered ideal for walking.

What to do in Shanghai

Shanghai will appeal to anyone who knows how to live in the rhythm of a big city. A huge number of people live here. At the same time, this is real China, which is absolutely different from any other country in the world.


Shanghai is full of life and movement. Something interesting always happens in the city. It happened so that Shanghai became the forefront of China, and not Beijing, as it should be in the capital. Here you can find all the new and unusual that China can offer the world now. Why else go to Shanghai? For these things:

Museum of Shanghai

Does it make sense to look to the future if you do not know anything about the past? To understand any city, you must first study its history. You will be much more surprised at the contrast of the old and the new, which are adjacent in Shanghai at every step, if you visit the Museum of Shanghai. There is a gigantic collection of ancient Chinese art in the Museum. Remember the famous Chinese porcelain, jade figurines, calligraphic scrolls, and so on? The Museum of Shanghai has it all and even a little more. This dose of beauty and skill is enough for you for the whole trip!

The Bund or Waitan

One of the main places in Shanghai for any tourist is the Bund along the Huangpu River from the side of the homonymous district. You must come here in the evening when the lights on the buildings on the opposite bank are lit. This Bund is also called the “Museum of World Architecture” because of the strange mixture of styles that can be seen on a 1.5-kilometer stretch of coast. Here you can find Art Deco, and Gothic, and classic, and Baroque, and much more. Was all this mixed up by chance on one bank? Probably yes. But this place did not become less surprising and beautiful. 

By the way, get ready for the lively “Chinese wall” of tourists on the waterfront. We'll have to bother a bit for the best views. Or you can buy a ticket for a pleasure boat along this beautiful coast.

Zhujiajiao

There is a tiny town with a hard-to-pronounce name Zhujiajiao 25 km from Shanghai. This city on the water for about 2000 years, while he perfectly preserved his historical data. For example, most of the small bridges in Zhujiajiao were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Also, traditional Chinese gardens, buildings, and temples have been preserved in their original form in this city, which is often called "pearl". Here you can also try unique local cuisine, the basis of which are beans, soy and lotus roots. You can get here by metro to Shanghai Stadium station, and by bus from this point.

Tian Zi Fang

This is one of the main entertainment areas of Shanghai, where you can find dozens of restaurants, bars, traditional shops with various souvenirs, hand-made works by local artists. All the contemporary art of Shanghai is concentrated here. You can buy a few paintings of Chinese artists. Various exhibitions, performances are constantly held in Tian Zi Fang, and in general, a creative atmosphere reigns here on each of a series of cobbled narrow streets. In this area you will find at least the most Instagramable places in the whole city, and as a maximum you will also find out how the art of China has changed since the classical porcelain painting, which is presented in the Museum of Shanghai.

The Shanghai World Financial Center

As in any modern city, in Shanghai you can also climb to the top of a skyscraper and see the panorama of the city. Here, the Shanghai World Financial Center acts as such a skyscraper. You will find a really stunning view from a height of 474 meters (at this height is located the highest observation deck). True, the entry price bites — you have to pay about $ 25. True, you will have to wait in a long queue. But there is a lifehack for whom 400 meters height is also enough to watch the cityline. Look for the restaurant on the 91st floor (you can get there through the Hyatt hotel), order a cup of tea or coffee and enjoy the view without the hustle and bustle.

Nanjing street

The main shopping street of Shanghai is perfect for the last evening here. Here are collected stores of almost all of less or more known brands in the world. You can find the most interesting things from around the world on the Nanjing Street. And also try different local goodies. Yes, the crowd movement does not stop here even for a minute. The street is full of tourists any time of the day. But, on the other hand, finding solitude in Shanghai is not so simple at all. But if you want to see with your own eyes the modern Chinese "consumer machine", the real Times Square of the Middle Kingdom, then Nanjing Street is a must-see. Here you can understand a lot about the world we live in.

What to eat in Shanghai

The Shanghaians are called sweet tooth. Their local food has more sugar than any other region of China. This should be taken into account for everyone who can't eat sugar — better ask the chef about consistance. Especially when it comes to all kinds of sauces.


The first thing to try in Shanghai is the xiaolunbao steam dumplings, which look very much like Georgian khinkali. Let the dumpling soak for a couple of seconds in soy sauce and carefully send it into your mouth not to burn yourself. Xiaolunbao needs to be careful: they are addictive with their amazing taste.


Steamed crab is another dish that you must definitely try here, because crabs are caught right along the coast of Shanghai. Their claws are tied with thread, put in bamboo baskets and steamed.


Another favorite dish of Shanghai is the red pork Hong Shao Ru. Pork is cooked in spices and brown sugar, and then poured with a special sauce, thanks to which it acquires its red hue. The meat literally melts in your mouth, and this is definitely one of Shanghai's most authentic tastes.

At almost every step you will find various snacks for little money. In Shanghai, you can try about 300 types of different dumplings, rice balls with fillings, fried pies, noodles, steamed buns, and various soups. All this hot and tasty can be tasted in about two thousand cafes and mobile shops throughout the city.

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