moondog

yes, you can learn more by searching: shanghai maglev (here or google)

it's not all that convenient (pretty inconvenient, actually), but it is a fun ride.

ButIsItArt

...all 9 minutes of it -- barely enough time to get someone to take a picture of you next to the speedometer when it maxes out.

But seriously it is cool ride

party_boy

Not exactly new...maybe 2-3 years now, but never got a chance to ride on it. Every time I've been to Shanghai, I've had a driver. It's great in theory, not that great in execution.

dtsm

It takes about 10-15 minutes w/ your luggage, etc. to walk from exit of customs to the station to purchase ticket and board. The ride itself is less than 10 minutes, and then you still need to taxi into town, across the river (another 20-40 minutes, depending on where you're going and traffic).

It's worth trying - fun...one time only but not efficient if you're going to Puhsi. If you're staying in Pudong area, it's ok.

IMHO

anacapamalibu

This is a tip I found regarding getting a taxi at Hongqiao...have not tried it as I have not yet encountered a long line...but sounds like it would work.

About the taxi line at Hongqiao.

If there's a long line, but it's not raining, you can take any bus to get out of the airport, then hail a cab on the street. That'll save you the queue.

If you're not concerned about being totally honest, you can also walk towards the McDonald's, and then turn left. You'll hit the downramp where taxis that drop off passengers at Departures are exiting the airport. Many of them will be happy to pick you up from the side of the road.

moondog

I just searched for this thread because I've since perfected the technique in question and wanted to elaborate. BTW, thanks, anacamalibu, for providing the wisdom that got the ball rolling.

You actually want to turn right after you get to the McDonald's and go through the mini tunnel that takes you behind the airport loop. Then keep walking away from the airport on the surface road, which is separated from the ramps by a median. If you don't do this, you will have to cross the ramp at the tail end of departures, which can be challenging with luggage. If you get lucky, you'll find a taxi on the surface road (as you near the hotel ahead to your right). Otherwise, you'll need to grab one of empty cabs that has just dropped off a passenger. Be careful at this stage because if a cop sees a cab stop for you, the cabbie is going to get the third degree. It's best to keep walking about 200 meters until the traffic bottlenecks and jump in a stationary (unoccupied taxi).

While the above process may seem needlessly hairy, it saves at least 20 minutes of waiting. I would not attempt with anything larger than a carry-on rollaway.

Vulcan

BUt, the terminus of the maglev in town (Lonyang Road)connects with the subway. So if your final destination is close to a subway station, and it is not rush hour and you have reasonable carry on luggage, this is a viable option. The Westin is about 4-5 blocks from a station and not that bad a walk. Time wise it would probably beat a taxi from Longyang Road.

dtsm

My point was this isn't the most cost or time effective way to get into town. And why didn't they just build it to go all the way to 'town', like HK?

moondog

As I understand it, the main purpose of the Maglev was proof of concept and the track needed be be 30 km long in order to allow the train to reach top speed so Longyang Rd. made sense to them. Sure, 20 more km into town would have been nice (and may well have made economic sense since people would actually use the Maglev), but they simply didn't have the money to make that happen.

Once again, rumors are persisting that the Maglev is going to be extended to: 1) the expo center; 2) Hongqiao airport; and 3) Jiaxing/Hangzhou. However, I'm not holding my breath because: 1) TMK no one has stepped forward with $4 billion and 2) there is a sizable faction within the MOR that wants to kill the Maglev completely in favor of conventional -- HK style -- rail service.

Vulcan: I actually used the Maglev to get from the Westin to PVG last month. My total travel time (walking + subway + Maglev + walking) was 55 minutes. A taxi could have got me there in under 50 minutes (even taking into account rush hour).

Switching gears, I had an opportunity to expand upon AnacaMalibu's SHA strategy once again this weekend. 8 of us were hanging out on the depatures level at SHA 3 hours before our flight so we decided to check out Hooters. We ended up hailing 2 taxis without doing the McDonald's walk. And, it wasn't that hard (out of 10 cabs, 2 stopped).

FlyZ46

Beijing Capital Int'l Airport (PEK) is the major airport, but a low-cost domestic airline company serves Beijing Nanyuan Airport (NAY).
BJS include both PEK and NAY.

jpatokal

What is this airline you mention, and where do they fly do?

moondog

I wasn't aware of this either, but google proved useful:

.

Peter N-H

The airport is 18km south of Qian Men, and is really a military field with some civil services that do not appear in the main airline timetable and whose existence is sometimes denied by travel agents even in China. China United (Lianhe Hangkong Gongsi) certainly used to fly to more destinations than those given above, notably with a direct flight to Suzhou, which doesn't even appear in the main airline timetable. The aircraft were older Russian planes the last time I looked. The airline runs a shuttle bus from its Gonzhufen office to the airport. Tickets are indeed available from the company's booth at Xidan.

There is said to be a third airport somewhere out to the west of the city, but I believe this to be merely a military field with potential for civil aviation if needed in the future.

moondog

I passed by it on the way back from Xiangshan last year. It is between the 5th and 4th ring roads out there. Both BJ and the PRC have big plans for the west 5-10 years out so I'm guessing it will get used in the not-too-distant future. In fact, I've heard that the PRC government is planning to relocate to that area within the next 5 years. Plus, the east-west subway line is supposed to get 3-4 new stops.

My company has actually been attempting to do a major development in that area for the past 3 years and it looks like it might get off the ground in time for the Olympics, but we shall see. The approval process has been absurd (over 300 bureaucratic stamps received so far and a legal bill that would make your stomach drop). If it happens, I will try to host an FT event there in 2008.

jpatokal

Excellent info, thanks! Here's China United's website (Chinese only) and a rather brief entry in Wikipedia. Looks like their only plane now is a 737.