Pudong Airport into the city, with luggage and jet lag

Taxi

The official taxi rank is the default with luggage. Central Puxi runs 60–90 minutes depending on traffic; the meter to People’s Square typically lands around ¥170–240 and the Bund side ¥180–250, plus ¥15–20 in highway tolls (approximate — flag-fall is ¥16, ¥3 per km, with a night surcharge after 11pm). The queue is legitimate and meters are honest; ignore anyone offering a car inside the terminal.

Ride-hailing (Didi) works from the airport and shows the price up front — but it needs a working payment setup first, which is exactly what you may not have on arrival. See the payments guide.

Maglev + Line 2

The Maglev covers Pudong Airport to Longyang Road in 8 minutes at up to 300 km/h — ¥50 single, ¥40 if you show that day’s boarding pass, running roughly 6:45 to 21:40. At Longyang Road it is a short walk to Line 2 for the rest of the trip. Fast, cheap, and a genuinely fun first photo of the speedometer — less fun with two large suitcases at rush hour.

Metro Line 2 all the way

Line 2 now runs through to the airport on a single train off-peak and at weekends — the old mid-route change at Guanglan Road only survives in weekday rush hours. It is the cheapest way in (around ¥8 to People’s Square) and the slowest: budget 60–75 minutes to central stops. Fine for light luggage and a daytime arrival; skip it jet-lagged at night.

Paying is no longer the hurdle it was: foreign contactless cards tap straight through the gates network-wide, and ticket machines take cash.

Airport Link Line — for the Hongqiao side

Heading to Gubei, the Hongqiao business district, or a trade fair at the NECC? The new Airport Link Line runs Pudong to the Hongqiao hub in about 40 minutes for ¥26 — it has its own full guide here.

Airport buses still run several city routes, including a late-night line after the trains stop — routes change often, so check the airport’s own signage rather than an old blog post.