Getting There

Chinese carriers serving international destinations include Air China (www.airchina.com), China Eastern Airlines (www.chinaeastern.com), and China Southern Airlines (www.chinasouthern.com). On direct nonstop flights, flying with one of the above is often cheaper than flying with your country's airline. Chinese airlines frequently "code share" with foreign airlines as well, which means you may end up flying on a Chinese airline jet even if you've purchased a foreign airline ticket, or vice versa. International flights arrive in Shanghai at Pudong International Airport (airport code: PVG).

From North America -- Of the North American airlines, Air Canada (www.aircanada.ca), Northwest Airlines (www.nwa.com), American Airlines (www.aa.com), and United Airlines (www.ual.com) all fly to Shanghai.

Japan Airlines (www.jal.co.jp) and All Nippon Airways (www.ana.co.jp) fly to Shanghai via Tokyo. Korean Air (www.koreanair.com) and Asiana Airlines (us.flyasiana.com) fly via Seoul.

From the United Kingdom & Europe -- Shanghai is connected to the U.K. and Europe by Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.com), British Airways (www.com), Air France (www.airfrance.com), Austrian Airlines (www.austrianair.com), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (www.klm.com), Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.com), Aeroflot (www.aeroflot.com), Finnair Airlines (www.finnair.com), Scandinavian Airlines (www.scandinavian.net), and Turkish Airlines (www.turkishair.com).

From Australasia -- Qantas (www.qantas.com) flies nonstop to Shanghai from Sydney. Alternatively, it may be cheaper to fly one of the other Asian carriers via their home country, such as Singapore Airlines (www.singaporeair.com), Malaysian Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com.my), Garuda Indonesia (www.garuda-indonesia.com), Philippine Airlines (www.pal.com.ph), or Thai Airways (www.thaiairways.com). Other carriers serving Asia Pacific include Dragonair (www.dragonair.com), which flies from Hong Kong to Shanghai and is partly owned by Cathay Pacific; Air Macau (www.airmacau.com.mo), Royal Brunei Airlines (www.bruneiair.com), Royal Nepal Airlines (www.royalnepal.com), and Emirates (www.emirates.com). Alternatively, those flying from Hong Kong may find it cheaper, though not necessarily more convenient, to take a ferry to either Shenzhen or Zhuhai in Guangdong Province and connect to Shanghai via a Chinese airline such as China Eastern or Shanghai Airways (www.shanghai-air.com). The Chinese "no-frills" low-cost carrier China Spring Airlines (http://tour.china-sss.com) flies from Zhuhai to Shanghai, though the website is in Chinese only.

Arriving

All the international carriers arrive in Shanghai at Pudong International Airport (Pudong Jichang; tel. 021/3848-4500), located about 45km (28 miles) east of downtown Shanghai. Transportation on the new highway to hotels in Pudong and downtown Shanghai runs between 45 minutes and 1 1/2 hours depending on traffic. The stunningly high-tech airport, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, has departure halls (international and domestic) on the upper level and arrivals on the lower level.

Arrival procedures are straightforward. At press time, visitors were required to fill out a health declaration form. Depending on the severity of health issues like SARS or avian flu, you may be subjected to a health check (involving the reading of your temperature) as you approach immigration. Immigration forms are usually distributed in-flight but are also available just before you reach the immigration counters. Depending on your time of arrival, it should take 15 to 30 minutes to clear immigration. Have your passport and completed form(s) ready. Baggage claim is followed by Customs. Foreigners are no longer required to fill in Customs declaration forms and are seldom stopped.

There is a Citibank ATM just after immigration and several other ATMs outside Customs in the international arrival hall. Also here are hotel counters, bank counters for money exchange (directly across from the baggage area exits), a Tourist Information Center (TIC) counter, as well as a branch of China International Travel Service (CITS).

Shanghai also has an older airport Hongqiao International Airport (Hongqiao Jichang; tel. 021/6268-8899), located 19km (12 miles) west of the city center and now largely reserved for flights within China. Arrival procedures here are fairly routine, and it usually takes about 20 minutes to retrieve your luggage. There are two arrival halls, A and B, both somewhat chaotic, each with hotel counters, though the majority of the hotels are represented in Arrival Hall B. Also in the latter is a Tourist Service Center, open daily from 10am to 9:30pm (tel. 021/6268-8899 or 021/5115-1692), that provides maps and information, and can also help with hotel reservations. There is no money exchange here, but ATMs that accept foreign cards can be found in both halls.

Getting into Town from the Airport

Taxis -- The legitimate taxis are lined up in a long queue just outside the arrival halls of both airports (outside doors 3 and 16 at Pudong International Airport, and outside Terminal A at Hongqiao Airport). Never go with taxi touts who approach you in the arrival halls with "Take taxi?" which is about the extent of their English. At Pudong International Airport, taxis using the new highways and the Nanpu and Lupu bridges charge ¥160 ($20) and up for the 1-hour (or longer) trip to hotels in downtown Shanghai, and only slightly less for the nearer hotels in Pudong. From Hongqiao Airport, taxis should charge from ¥40 to ¥80 ($5-$10), depending on traffic and the location of your hotel, and require from 20 to 40 minutes to transport you. Taxis between the two airports will cost around ¥240 ($30) and take 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Most Shanghai taxi drivers are honest, but be sure the meter is on; if not, say "Da biao!" If that doesn't work, select another taxi. All legitimate taxi meters are equipped to print out a receipt, which you can ask for by saying, "Fa piao." It's a good idea to always get a receipt, which will have the phone number of the taxi company and numerical identification of the driver, should you ever need to recover any lost items. Flagfall for taxis is ¥11 ($1.35) for the first 3km (2 miles), then ¥2.1 (26¢) for every subsequent kilometer (2/3 miles).

Hotel Shuttles -- Many of Shanghai's hotels maintain service counters situated along the walls in the arrival halls in both airports, though at Pudong Airport, it's a bit of a mystery why, since none of the hotels offer shuttle bus service from there. Instead, the hotel's airport staff will help you find a taxi or arrange for a very expensive private car to take you to the hotel in the city. Alternatively, you can take an airport bus to selected hotels. In the older Hongqiao Airport, many of the hotels do offer free or inexpensive shuttle buses. (When you make advance hotel reservations, be sure to include a request for shuttle service from the airport, if it is offered.)

Airport Buses -- The most economical transfer from Pudong International Airport is via the official Airport Bus (tel. 021/6834-6912). There is a multitude of routes, with numbered buses (1, 2, 3, and so on) traveling between the airports and other transportation stops, while lettered buses (A, B, C, and so on) travel between Pudong Airport and different hotels. Airport Bus Line no. 1 goes from Pudong to Hongqiao Airport; Airport Bus Line no. 2 (Jichang Erxian) goes from Pudong (every 15-20 min. 7:20am-11pm) to the City Air-Terminal Building (Chengshi Hangzhan Lou) at Nanjing Xi Lu 1600 (just west of the Shanghai Center), with return buses departing for the airport every 15 to 20 minutes from 6am to 9pm; and bus no. 5 goes from Pudong to the Shanghai Railway Station (Shanghai Huoche Zhan). Prices range from ¥18 to ¥30 ($2.25-$4).

Bus A serves the City and the Jinjiang and Garden hotels; Bus B, the Hilton, Equatorial, and Shanghai hotels; Bus C, the Peace, Sofitel Hyland, Howard Johnson Hotel, and Broadway Mansions; Bus H, the Crowne Plaza, Regal International East Asia, and Hengshan hotels; and Bus "Pudong A" makes a loop of the Pudong hotels including the Shangri-La, Grand Hyatt, Novotel Atlantis, and Intercontinental. Hotel bus tickets are ¥30 ($3.60) and can be purchased on board the buses. These buses usually depart hourly between 6am and 8pm, although schedules can vary; they require about 1 hour to reach the far side (the west side) of downtown Shanghai; trips to hotels nearer the airport require slightly less time. Check at the Airport Bus counter in the arrival hall for the number and exact schedule of the bus that stops at your hotel or at the nearest hotel.

From Hongqiao Airport, several buses make the run into town. A CAAC shuttle, Minhang Zhuanxian (Airport Special Line), departs for the Chengshi Hangzhan Lou (City Air-Terminal Building) at Nanjing Xi Lu 1600 every 20 minutes from 6am to 8:30pm. Tickets cost ¥4 (50¢). Airport Bus Line no. 1 (Jichang Yixian) connects Hongqiao (buses depart every 20 min. 6am-9pm; ¥30/$3.60) with Pudong Airport (every 20 min. from 7:20am to last flight). Public bus no. 941 goes to the railway station, while bus no. 925 runs to People's Square (Renmin Guangchang).

Subway -- The good news is that the highly touted magnetic levitation (Maglev) train is now up and running with extended hours. The bad news is that unless you're staying in the eastern reaches of Pudong, it's not much faster or more convenient than a taxi or airport bus in getting you to your destination. Covering some 30km (19 miles) in 8 minutes, this ultra high-speed train (¥50/$6 regular ticket, ¥80/$10 same-day round-trip; ¥100/$13 one-way VIP ticket) connects Pudong International Airport to the Longyang Lu metro stop, the eastern terminus of Shanghai Metro Line 2, where you transfer to the subway. Depending on your hotel's location, you may have to change subways once more at Renmin Guangchang, and possibly even hail a taxi before you arrive at your hotel's door, all of which makes it highly inconvenient for travelers with any kind of luggage. Maglev trains run every 20 minutes between 7am and 9pm daily. There is currently no subway service to Hongqiao Airport, though plans have been in the works for several years now to connect it to Metro Line 2.

Mass Levitation

Shanghai's much-hyped mass transit showpiece, the magnetic levitation (Maglev) train, started running in late 2003, with trains connecting the 30km (19 miles) between Pudong International Airport and Pudong's Longyang Lu Station of Metro Line 2 in no more than 8 minutes. "While the wheel-track link -- which is run on mechanical technology -- works like a propeller-driven aircraft, the Maglev line -- motored by electrical technology -- is like a jet," crowed Xu Kuangdi, the former Shanghai mayor who got the project off the ground during his tenure. Traveling at up to 430kmph (266mph), Maglev (a Sino-German joint-venture) has cost Shanghai upwards of ¥8.9 billion ($1.07 billion), making this the most expensive subway spur in the world. Unfortunately, Maglev in its current form is not very practical for most travelers, so the government has taken to promoting this as a tourist attraction, Shanghai's latest must-ride (¥50/$6 one-way; ¥80/$10 same-day round-trip). Indeed, on any given day, you'll see more sightseeing tourists and students than airport-bound travelers. But having deemed this line a success, the Chinese government announced in 2006 that it would build a second Sino-German maglev train, this one running up to 450kmph (281mph) and connecting the 200km (110 miles) between Shanghai and Hangzhou, to be ready in time for the World Expo in 2010.