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Travelling from Beijing Capital Airport to downtown Beijing by subway

To help travelers to Asia’s biggest cities, we are running a series of articles on how to travel from major airports to downtown. Today, we’re focusing on Beijing.

Beijing’s main airport, Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) is situated 32 km northeast of central Beijing.

The simplest way to get to downtown is via the Airport Express line. There are stations at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The journey to the city takes 16 to 20 minutes, and a one way ticket costs 25 RMB. Trains run every 15 minutes. City-bound trains depart Terminal 3 from 6:21am to 10:51pm and Terminal 2 from 6:35am to 11:10pm.

There are two stations in the city: Sanyuanqiao (interchange with Line 10) and Dongzhimen (interchange with Line 2 and Line 13).

If you’re planning a trip to Beijing, we’ve got the resources you need for using the subway: visit our interactive subway map, print out a PDF map or download our iPhone/iPad app or Android app.

 

One Way Ticket
Creative Commons License photo credit: bryan@22°N 120°E.

Travelling from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to downtown Shanghai by metro

To help travelers to Asia’s biggest cities, we are running a series of articles on how to travel from major airports to downtown. Today, we’re focusing on Shanghai.

Shanghai has two main airports: Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). This article covers Pudong Airport, see also our guide to Hongqiao Airport. Pudong Aiport is situated about 30 km east of downtown.

There are two main ways to get to downtown Shanghai by rail. Shanghai Metro Line 2 runs all the way to the airport. Trains run every 8 minutes from the Airport Station between 6:00 and 22:00, and travelling to People’s Square takes about 68 minutes and costs 7 RMB. At Guanglan Road station, you’ll need to transfer trains, but this is a quick cross-platform interchange. There are numerous interchange stations to other lines, including to Lines 4, 6 and 9 at Century Avenue and Line 1 and Line 8 at People’s Square.

Vagón del metro de Shanghai
Creative Commons License photo credit: vizcochino

A quicker, but more expensive option is to take the Shanghai Maglev Train, the fastest scheduled train journey in the world, with trains running to a maximum speed of 430km/h. Trains depart the Maglev station at the airport every 15 minutes, and take just 7-8 minutes to arrive at Longyang Road station, where you can interchange on to Metro Line 2 or Line 7. A one-way ticket costs 50 RMB, and trains run between 7:02 and 21:42. Note that Longyang Road is not in central Shanghai, it’s still approximately 20 minutes to People’s Square via Metro Line 2.

Maglev Train
Creative Commons License photo credit: skylarprimm

If you’re planning a trip to Shanghai, we’ve got the resources you need for using the metro: visit our interactive metro map, print out a PDF map or download our iPhone/iPad app or Android app.

 

Travelling from Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport to downtown Shanghai by metro

To help travelers to Asia’s biggest cities, we are running a series of articles on how to travel from major airports to downtown. Today, we’re focusing on Shanghai.

Shanghai has two main airports: Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). This article covers Hongqiao Airport, see also our guide to Pudong Airport. Hongqiao Aiport is situated about 13 km west of downtown.

Hongqiao Airport has two terminals, both with a metro station. Terminal 1 station is on Line 10, while Terminal 2 station is on Line 2 and Line 10. On Line 2, trains run every 6-12 minutes and take about 35 minutes to central Shanghai (People’s Square station) between 5:35 and 22:50, a ticket is 5 RMB to People’s Square. On Line 10, trains run every 10-15 minutes between 5:55 and 22:00. There are numerous interchange stations to other lines on both line 2 and line 10.

If you’re planning a trip to Shanghai, we’ve got the resources you need for using the metro: visit our interactive metro map, print out a PDF map or download our iPhone/iPad app or Android app.

photo by: Lucy (嘉莉)

Try the beta version of our all-new metro maps

We’re pleased to announce that the beta version of our new metro maps is now available! Visit our sites for Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Singapore or Hong Kong – look for this orange banner at the top of the page to opt into the beta:

If you don’t yet see the message, please accept our apologies, we will make it available to you soon!

You can also visit our sites from an iPhone, iPad or Android device to try out the beta version.

Some of the great new features of our all-new metro maps include:

  • Doesn’t require Flash
  • Layout adapts to your browser size
  • Simplified routeplanning. Just tap on the first station, choose “Plan route”, then tap on the second station
  • Quickly jump to another city using the top menu
  • Zoom in and out using the mouse scrollwheel or zoom buttons
  • Pop open the first/last train times panel. Just tap any station, then choose “First & last”
  • Load the Metropedia article for any station by tapping on the station name

If you’d like to return to the classic version, tap the ExploreMetro logo and choose “Don’t use beta”.

 

As this is a beta version, there may still be a few glitches. If you spot anything wrong, or have suggestions for improvements, contact us!

Card Checker: check the balance of your Shanghai Public Transportation Card on your iPhone

Now you can check the balance of your Shanghai Public Transportation Card on your iPhone, with our new app Card Checker for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.

Card Checker is simple to use, simply enter the serial number of your card which is imprinted on the back. The app will connect to the internet and retrieve your most recent balance.

You only need to enter your card number once – after that, simply launch the app and it will immediately fetch your balance.

One caveat: we use official data from the Shanghai Public Transportation Card site, and there can sometimes be a 24-48 hour delay before changes in your balance are reflected in the app.

Card Checker is a perfect complement to our Explore Shanghai metro map app.

Card Checker is free forever –  download it now from the App Store.

Coming soon: all-new online metro maps

Since 2007 we’ve been providing interactive Flash metro maps at exploreshanghai.com and for four other cities. While recently we’ve been focused on apps for iPhone and Android, our popular online maps at  are starting to look a little dated. It’s time for a fresh start, so I’ve been redesigning the online maps from the ground up. The goals of the redesign are:

  • No more Flash: as an increasing number of devices don’t come with Flash Player installed
  • Make the design responsive – that is to say, it should display well on any screen size, from a mobile phone right up to a large desktop monitor
  • Allow users of mobile devices who haven’t got our native apps to access basic mapping functionality on all devices for free
  • Add online maps for Seoul and Taipei
  • Add some features from our native apps, like more intuitive routeplanning, and zoom in/out

We’re still testing the new maps, but here’s a sneak preview of things to come (click to enlarge):

Soon, you’ll be able to opt-in to use the new version when you visit one of our sites. Stay tuned for updates!

Introducing our newest app: Explore Pyongyang Metro map

ExploreMetro is dedicated to bringing you stylish, accurate maps for Asia’a great cities. Today, we’re delighted to announce our latest iPhone app, Explore Pyongyang Metro map.

At last, smartphone-loving North Koreans will be able to check routes on the go. We hope the app will also be useful for the large number of foreign visitors who frequent North Korea’s popular tourist attractions.

The Pyongyang Metro comprises two lines, the Chŏllima line and Hyŏksin line, which interchange at Chŏnu (Comrade) and Chŏnsŭng (Victory) stations.

 

We’ve brought all the great features from our maps of other cities in Asia, plus a few extra settings for the local market.

You can also search, plan a route between any two stations, or find your nearest station (though not by using the GPS spy satellites designed by the American imperialists).

Another great new feature is tips. Do you know any place to buy basic foodstuffs on the black market? Simply tap on any station and you can leave a tip.

Explore Pyongyang is available for one day only from the iTunes App Store!

Resolutionary! Support for iPad 3 coming soon.

There’s a nasty bug in the current versions of the ExploreMetro iPad apps which means that the maps don’t render correctly on the iPad (3rd generation). We submitted a bugfix to Apple last week and are currently waiting for approval. It should be worth the wait, the apps look great on the new Retina Display devices! Here’s a comparison of Explore Shanghai running on an iPad 1/2 versus the new iPad (3rd generation).
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