Hoping for a bit of help here...
I have a mileage run booked to PVG for Thanksgiving weekend (arrive Thurs, leave Sunday). I've been to Shanghai before, just last December, and did most of the big things to do in town. I'm sure I can fill 2-3 days of hanging around Shanghai, but I'm thinking of exploring outside of the city. I have the Waldorf-Astoria booked on points, so I can cancel without penalty up until the day before. I was looking at Hilton locations in nearby towns that have tourist sites, and Nanjing keeps coming up.
While looking through the forum yesterday, I found the following in a thread somewhere, by
@JPDM:
I often fly into Pudong on an international flight and need to make my way to Hongqiao to take a train to Nanjing.
I have tried every combination and find the bus (30RMB) to be the "best" alternative in terms of cost and time to get there. However, there are often a lot of people meaning that you can't get on the next bus, resulting in a wait in excess of 30 minutes. If the waiting line is too long, I take the Maglev + subway.
If I wish to connect to a very specific train (some high-speed trains are faster than other), I take the Maglev + subway. While it may or may not be faster then the bus, the travel time is 100% predictable and I know exactly at what time I'll be in Hongqiao as traffic has no impact on travel time.
So my questions are:
1. Is Nanjing somewhere I can visit and will there be enough to keep me busy for 2 full days (plus nights on either side)? If not, are there any other cities you would recommend? Or I could possibly keep a night in Shanghai, then go to Nanjing (or elsewhere).
2. Is the Maglev-->subway connection recommended to get from PVG to Hongqiao? I don't speak Chinese, but I can read some of the characters (I speak some Korean and Japanese). I can sometimes understand a little Chinese when it is spoken slowly (which seems to be next to never). Does the Maglev take the T-Money card? I have one from last year, but will need to add to it. Is the connection between Maglev and subway pretty seamless?
3. Between here on FT and posts on TA, picking up tickets at Hongqiao sounds like a horror story. Is it really that bad? Has anyone done it and can give directions how (specific level and/or window I should go to)?
4. My flight arrives at PVG around 4pm. In looking at Flightaware, it seems to be on time most of the time, if not 30 minutes early. In the past 2 weeks it has been late twice, as late as 20 minutes. I will have carry-on baggage only (a roller and a backpack). Do you think I can feasibly make a 7:30pm train?
5. For arrival in Nanjing, I'm planning to stay at the Hilton in town (not the one on the river unless someone has a recommendation). According to Google maps, the main Nanjing and Nanjing South stations look similar distance. Should I just select the station based on schedule, or is one better than the other?
6. When leaving Nanjing to head back to PVG, what time would you recommend booking a train for? Would noon be too early? For that, I can have the ticket delivered to the hotel, and otherwise just follow what I did inbound (but in reverse order).
Thanks for any help!