My husband and I live in New York, one of the greatest places in the world. Yet, we bemoan the fact that while visiting other countries, we tend to feel like tourists from a small village.
We felt that way while driving on the most amazing highways and smaller roads in Switzerland, while visiting food halls in Tokyo and during this trip, while using Chinese transportation.
The transportation in China has been so impressive, it really left us speechless.
The best way to get to Shanghai from Pudong Airport is to take the Maglev train. There were plenty of signs (in English) to direct us to the train and the tickets were easily purchased at the station.
Maglev Levitation train in Shanghai is the first commercially operated high-speed magnetic levitation line in the world.
The train from Pudong Airport departs every 15-20 minutes, and the duration of the trip to Longyang station in Shanghai is about 10-12 minutes.
One thing that we noticed while in China, was that someone was always cleaning, sweeping or shining something. The train stations, the platforms, as well as the trains were spotless.
The top speed of the Maglev train is 431 km/h (268 mph)!! The top speed during our trip was 301 km/h. It was surreal to go so fast especially that we could sense the levitation/hovering feeling. It was so different from the motion of a regular train which rides on a track.
The Longyand Road station is the first and only stop in Shanghai. From there one could take a subway or a taxi to the hotel. Since, by that time, we have been traveling for over 17 hours, we opted for a taxi.
Taking a metro/subway in Shanghai is extremely easy. Tickets can be purchased right at the station and all the ticket machines have English as one of the languages one can choose from. I did not take any photos of the metro but it was clean, very easy to use and on time.
One thing to note while using transportation in China, there are metal detectors at every entrance. We have been very impressed by all the security measures and the fact that they seem to run very smoothly without lines or inconveniences.
Our first train ride in China was from the Shanghai Hangqiao Train Station to Hangzhou. One thing to note is the travel time to the train station in Shanghai. From Andaz hotel it took us about 30 minutes by taxi (around 5pm) and the return trip from the station to Andaz took an hour and 20 minutes with a lot of traffic (at 8:30am).
Now, the size of the station was mind blowing. The waiting hall alone was 10,000 square meters, that is over 107,000 square feet! The hall is in the center, the ticket windows are on the edges of the hall and the restaurants and shops are upstairs. There was a good variety of places to choose from, Starbucks, KFC, a dumpling & noodle places, some convenience shops, etc.
The platform at the train station was spotless, of course. Not a single piece of old gum, candy wrapper or a cigarette butt. Interesting....
I booked the train ticket while still in NY. I saw that the business class ticket was just a touch more expensive so I got that. Never in my dreams did I think that it would look like that. We settled into those comfy seats and fell asleep within minutes. I found Ctrip.com to be the best site for booking train or air travel in China.
Even got some juice and cookies.
The train station in Hangzhou was just as impressive.
We ate breakfast at the Hangzhou train station. This was one of the restaurants upstairs, we wanted something quick.
My husband ate the oatmeal type of a dish and I had to sides. I wanted to taste all the different things the locals were enjoying.
This was a very good fried dough type of a thing. It was soft inside and a bit sweet.
These were just regular hush puppies.
this was a delicious mushroom filled mini spring roll.
The station operates differently than in NY. The passengers wait in the waiting hall, they can check the platform number of their train on a huge board where the letters switch from Chinese to English. Each platform number, (they face each other across the hall) has an A or B next to it, that specifies the car. For example: cars 1-5 will use the A entrance and cars 6-9 will use the B entrance. The green light on the board right at the platform signals boarding time. The light will turn red when the train is close to leaving. Tickets are swiped while entering the gate.
This is the regular seat on a local train. It had plenty of legroom, it was clean and it even reclined a little bit.
There was a power outlet at every seat.
Most stations will have a ticket window for tourists. This was very helpful when I needed to change our tickets for an earlier train.
All in all, the transportation in and around Shanghai has been just wonderful. We were so impressed with the efficiency, punctuality, cleanliness and technology. The distances that the trains in China cover in relatively short periods of time put us to shame. It takes 5 1/2 hours to travel from Shanghai to Beijing (750 miles), while it takes 22 hours to travel from New York to Orlando, FL (1000 miles).
Maybe one day we will have bullet trains here, it would be wonderful.
Joanna
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