Transportation guide to China

Transportation guide to China

2025-06-15 01:00
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After entering the country, you can choose to reach the city and hotels by various ways such as online car-hailing, subway, shared bicycle, and high-speed rail.

How to get to the city (hotel) after entering the country

From the airport or other port of entry to the city (hotel), you can choose from the subway, taxi, ride-hailing and airport shuttle.

By taxi, subway or limousine, there are clearly signs at the port of entry, so you can follow the prompts or ask the staff at the front desk.

Airport Signage

Ride-hailing

Overseas ride-hailing apps such as Uber cannot be used in China, so it is recommended to download DiDichuxing and Shouqiyueche ride-hailing apps, which provide English versions and support overseas mobile phone number registration; You can also search for DiDichuxing and Shouqiyueche mini programs in Alipay or WeChat to take a taxi.

Didi Chuxing and Shouqi ride-hailing APP

Metro

You can purchase a prepaid transportation card, and at present, Beijing and Shanghai have launched BEIJING PASS AND SHANGHAI PASS transportation cards.

BEIJING PASS TRANSPORTATION CARD

BEIJING PASS

  • Card purchase and recharge: There are 15 service stations in Beijing, including self-service card vending machines at the overseas guest payment service center on the 3rd floor of the T3 terminal of the Capital Airport. The card fee is 20 yuan, and you can purchase and recharge the card with cash, WeChat/Alipay scanning code.
  • **Card Refund **: The balance in the card will be refunded from the original purchase channel, and the card fee will not be refunded.

Beijing Capital Airport Terminal 3 - Overseas Guest Payment Service Center All-in-one Card Ticket Machine

Click to view BEIJING PASS introduction and service points: https://www.bmac.com.cn

SHANGHAI PASS

SHANGHAI PASS

  • Card purchase and recharge: There are 25 service points in Shanghai, including the“Expatriate Integrated Service Center at the international arrival gate of Pudong Airport T2 Terminal”which has a card service counter with a card fee of 20 yuan, and supports bank card swiping, cash, WeChat/Alipay scan code payment.
  • **Card Refund **: The balance in the card will be refunded from the original purchase channel, and the card fee will not be refunded.

Shanghai Pudong Airport Terminal 2 - All-in-one Card Counter of Expatriate Integrated Service Center

Click to view SHANGHAI PASS introduction and service points: https://m.sctcd.com

You can also download the SilkPass App, register with your passport or Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Pass and apply for an e-card online, recharge with Alipay/WeChat, etc., and swipe the card through the NFC function of your mobile phone to take the bus.

SilkPass APP

You can also use Alipay or WeChat to take the subway.

  • Alipay boarding code: Click“Travel”→ select“Metro on the home page”→ After verifying the identity information, get the QR code and swipe the code to enter the station.
  • WeChat Boarding Code: Search for the“Boarding Code”→ select the city→ select“Metro”→ to get the QR code for the ride, and swipe the code to enter the station.

You can also use cash to purchase tickets at subway platform service points or self-service ticket vending machines, and support cash, WeChat/Alipay scan code payment, and cash payment needs to be prepared.

Commonly used means of transportation in urban areas

If the distance is farther, it is recommended to take a taxi, subway or bus, and if the distance is closer, you can choose to share a bicycle.

Special reminder

Most city taxi drivers will take orders online, it is recommended to use a taxi app to request a taxi online, or you can ask the hotel front desk to help you call a taxi.

Bike sharing

Common shared bicycles in China are: Haro, Meituan, you can search for“Haluoqixing”,“Meituan Qixing”mini program in Alipay, WeChat (WeChat) to scan the code to use the car.

Haro, Meituan bike sharing

Related reading: [Shared Bicycle Scan Code Riding Strategy] (link not given, need to be completed)

Transportation between cities

There is an option between the two cities for high-speed rail or airplanes.

High-speed rail

You can also download the Railway 12306 App, support overseas mobile phone number registration, purchase tickets after passport real-name verification, support bank card online payment, Alipay/WeChat payment, etc.

Railway 12306 APP

High-speed rail tickets are generally released 15 days in advance, and you may not be able to buy a suitable train for on-site ticket purchase near the departure date, so it is recommended to book online in advance.

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