Author Archives: matt

Win Expo tickets with Explore Shanghai

We’re giving away five tickets to the Shanghai World Expo!

If you’ve been living in Shanghai, or planning a trip, you’ll no doubt be planning a visit to the Expo Site. Regular tickets cost 160 RMB ($23) but thanks to Explore Shanghai you could visit for free! The competition is open to anyone who uses Explore Shanghai for iPhone, available from the iTunes App Store. Explore Shanghai is a great companion for your Expo trip, it includes up-to-date information on all the new metro lines, including Line 13 directly into the Expo park.

You can download ExploreShanghai for iPhone from the iTunes App Store for just $0.99. Once you’ve downloaded, tap on the Help tab and fill in your details to be entered into the draw. You can enter once per day, and the more you enter the greater your chance of winning! We’ll announce the first lucky winner on May 31st.

Disclaimer: ExploreMetro is the sole sponsor of this Sweepstakes and Apple is not a sponsor or responsible for this Sweepstakes.

8 things you didn’t know about the Shanghai Metro

We recently contributed to CNNGo’s article Another 51 things you may not know about Shanghai – but should. Here’s our selection of facts about the Shanghai Metro!

39. Shanghai’s circular Metro Line 4 was originally not a circle. During construction in 2003, the section under the Huangpu river collapsed, though no-one was injured. It took until 2007 to open the final section from Damuqiao Lu to Lancun Lu.

40. Several of Shanghai’s Metro lines have been given unofficial nicknames. Line 10 is the “Golden Line” as it links many of the city’s tourist attractions like Yuyuan and Xintiandi. Line 6 has been dubbed the “Hello Kitty Line” due to its lurid pink livery.
41. The longest possible journey on the Shanghai Metro is between Pudong International Airport on Line 2 and Anting on Line 11. The journey takes around two and a quarter hours and costs RMB 10. In the time it takes to get to Anting, you could fly to Japan!

42. Shanghai now has the longest metro system in the world, with 420km of track (260 miles), overtaking the London Underground’s 408km. It took London 140 years to reach this length, Shanghai did it in 15 years.

43. The Shanghai Metro has a mascot, a small blue robot called Chang Chang. Its name means “smooth traffic” in Chinese.

44. Due to overcrowding on Shanghai Metro Line 8, staff have been employed to push extra people into carriages at peak times.

45. On some Metro lines, a snippet of music from “Going Home” by saxophonist Kenny G is played at the terminal station. This piece of music is also played in some Chinese schools to mark the end of the day.

46. A number of oddly dressed people have been spotted by Chinese netizens on the Shanghai Metro. In recent years ‘Leopard Print Man,’ a robot, Superman, and an Egyptian mummy have all been spotted riding the subway.

Read the full article on CNNgo

Travelling from Pudong Airport to Hongqiao Airport by Shanghai Metro Line 2

UPDATE: Travelling from Pudong or Hongqiao to downtown Shanghai instead? Check out our new articles for Hongqiao Airport to downtown or Pudong Airport to downtown.

Shanghai’s Metro Line 2 now connects the city’s two main airports, Pudong and Hongqiao. But if you’re connecting between two flights, how long can you expect the journey to take?

We set off to find out! We started the clock at Pudong International Airport‘s arrivals gate.


Continue reading →

Shanghai Metro: later trains across the network

Good news, with the Shanghai World Expo opening to the public today, you can take advantage of later trains across the Shanghai Metro network. To find the first/last train times for any station, just click on the name of the station on our interactive map.

The significant changes are:

Most lines now finish operations between 10.30pm and 11.30pm. Note that Line 10 and the Line 2 extension to Pudong International Airport still finish at 4pm.

Line 13, the Expo Line, will run until midnight, and additional trains may be added after the official closing time on other lines to transport people away from the Expo Zone, see signs at stations for further information.

We’ll have an update for our iPhone app (now at version 2.1) with the new times shortly.

Explore Shanghai number one for China Travel apps!

We’re delighted that the Explore Shanghai metro map for iPhone is now the #1 selling travel app on the China App Store! Thank you to everyone who has bought the app and left us some great reviews:

This is a sweet app if you live in Shanghai, as the metro has grown so much a tool is needed. – onewil

One of my favorates! Super useful.
The time estimated is quite accurate.
I always check it before I go.
The best metroline map I ever use. – titan0801

Great little app to get around Shanghai. Is more updated than the metro maps at the stations! – ShanghaiGuy1010

及时回复和更新值得称赞 – 679953

这是我最大的上海地铁的应用程序已经使用过 – Shaw Freeman

Explore Shanghai is available now on the iTunes App Store priced at just $0.99. Download now!

Shanghai and Singapore iPhone apps updated to 2.0 – now in landscape!

The latest updates to our iPhone apps have just been approved by Apple. The Explore Singapore 2.0 update includes the new Singapore MRT Circle Line stations which opened last week, while the Explore Shanghai 2.0 update includes the latest extensions to Shanghai Metro Line 7 and Line 10.

Another new feature debuting with 2.0 is landscape mode. Since the iPhone screen is quite small, it can be hard to see the whole metro map at once. Now if you tilt your iPhone to the side, the app will automatically use landscape mode, and the status bar and tab bar will be automatically hidden, to give you the maximum space for the map!

Just tilt back to portrait if you want to access other features like search and “find my nearest station”. We’ll be updating our other city apps, for Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Beijing to support landscape mode in the next couple of weeks!

Explore Shanghai 2.0 and Explore Singapore 2.0 are free updates to existing users, and are available on the iTunes App Store priced at just $0.99:

Shanghai World Expo Line 13 preview

One of the easiest ways to get to the Shanghai World Expo site once it opens to the public on May 1st will be by metro. A dedicated line, Line 13, will run from Madang Road station, an interchange with Line 9. Here’s what you need to know:

  • You must have a valid Expo ticket to ride Line 13. Rides are free.
  • The Expo and Line 13 officially open on May 1st, but the line is open for ticket holders during the “soft”/trial opening until May 1st
  • The line will operate from 09:00 to 24:00, the same as the opening hours for the Expo park. Trains will run every 6 minutes.
  • At Madang Road, you’ll need to exit the Line 9  station and follow signs to the Expo entrance. Then you’ll undergo security checks and have your ticket checked before being allowed to board the train.
  • There are two stations within the Expo Zone on Line 13: Lupu Bridge on the Puxi side and Shibo Avenue on the Pudong side. At both stations you can walk straight into the Expo Park without needing further security checks
  • Line 13 has a pink livery on maps and in stations
  • You can also use Line 13 to hop between the Puxi and Pudong parts of the Expo Zone by travelling between Lupu Bridge and Shibo Avenue: this is free with an Expo ticket.
  • There are additional entrances to the Expo zone accessible on foot or by shuttle bus from these stations: West Gaoke Road (Line 6/7), Houtan (Line 7), Changqing Road (Line 7), Yaohua Road (Line 7/8), and South Xizang Road (Line 4/8). These stations are outside the Expo Zone though, so you will have to pass through security after leaving the metro station.
  • After the Expo ends, Line 13 will close until 2011, when it will reopen with additional stations.

We’ve updated our online Explore Shanghai metro map to add the new line, and an update to our iPhone app will be available in the next week.

Continue reading →

PDF maps for Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai!

We’re delighted to announce new PDF maps for all our ExploreMetro cities! Now you can print out and carry a handy A4 printout for Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Singapore, besides the Shanghai map we already offered.

To download the maps, just click on the “PDF map” tab on any of our city sites, or follow the download links below. The PDF maps are available in both English and Chinese versions. If you have any feedback or spot any mistakes on the map, do get in touch!

Direct links:

Houtan station opens 20 April

The Shanghai Metro company has announced that Houtan station on Line 7 will open tomorrow, 20 April. The station is very close to the Expo site and has been closed for construction since Line 7 opened earlier this year. Its located on the Pudong side of the river, between Changqing Road and Chuanchang Road.

We’ve updated our online Explore Shanghai metro map to add the new station, and an update to our iPhone app will be available in the next week.

Singapore Circle Line extended

The Singapore MRT Circle Line was extended today. Previously the line ran from Marymount to Bartley, the new extension loops through central Singapore all the way to a 3-way interchange at Dhoby Ghaut. There’s also a new interchange with the East West Line at Paya Lebar. Trains will run every 5 minutes, or up to every 3.5 minutes at peak times.

We’ve updated our exploresg.com online map with the latest stations. An update to our Explore Singapore iPhone app will follow soon!