地铁Everywhere
How to ride the metro in China
Cheap, clean, exact. But there is an airport-style X-ray at every station door, and the staff may ask you to sip your water bottle.
3–7 RMB a ridePrice
EverywhereCity
地铁In Chinese
Set this up at home first
Alipay
支付宝EssentialPay anywhere, ride any shared bike, buy metro tickets, hail a Didi, book attraction tickets. One app covers most of the trip.
- Do this at home
- Install, sign up with your home phone number, add a Visa/Mastercard/JCB, then finish passport verification. Takes about 15 minutes and must be done before you land.
- What it replaces
- Cash, a transport card, a taxi app, a bike app
Amap
高德地图MapsThe map that is actually right. Google Maps is offset by a few hundred metres in China and has no live transit. Amap has an English mode with walking, metro and bus directions.
- Do this at home
- Install and switch to English in the settings before you go, so you are not hunting through Chinese menus at the airport.
- What it replaces
- Google Maps
Step by step
- Bag on the belt, walk through the arch. If you carry a drink, sip it when they point at it. That proves it is water.
- In Alipay, tap Transport (出行), choose the city, and a ride QR appears. Hold it to the reader at the gate. Same code on the way out.
- No phone signal underground? Buy a single ticket at the machine with cash or by tapping your Alipay code on the screen.
- Stand right on escalators in Beijing. In Shanghai, no eating or drinking in the carriage, fines are real.
Where to go
Beijing Line 1 for Tiananmen, Line 2 around the old city. Shanghai Line 2 links both airports through People's Square and the Bund.
The one mistake
Arriving at 23:15. Most lines stop around 23:00 and taxis outside stations are the expensive kind.
Show this to staff
Related guides
Do you need a visa?
Check your passport against China's official lists.