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Part Two: Shanghai PVG May No Longer Suck

After passing through for one reason or another, I’m often compelled to express my disappointment with the sheer inanity of mainland China’s international airports. For all the overwrought grandeur of their exterior architecture, they’ve repeatedly let me down with senseless interior design, poor construction quality, and the lack of confidence-inspiring, waiting-passenger-amusing, branded amenities like…I dunno, Starbucks. Reassuringly, I’m not the only one who feels this way.

Let’s take Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport (PVG) for example. I mean, Shanghai has been a pretty happenin’, cosmopolitan city for awhile now, right? PVG itself is pretty darn new too, having only opened less than 9 years ago in late 1999. So…what’s with the wrist-slitting interior lighting? Why do the grimy, smelly Terminal 1 restrooms remind me of mental asylums? And just why the hell are they located in the basement level anyway?

In contrast, you have the mega-mall that is the Hong Kong International Airport (HKG), where it is more about shopping Bvlgari, Cartier, Prada, Fendi, Gucci, Coach, etc. etc. etc. than about flying anywhere. Seriously, does anyone really need to buy a 6.4 carat Tiffany & Co. diamond engagement ring right before their flight?

In contrast, there’s also the spit, polish, shine, and arigato gozaimasu of Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT)…where the most retarded questions you could possibly ask are cheerfully answered, with the utmost respect for your ancestors, by the cutest Japanese airport personnel.

Both airports are fantastic examples of what an international airport hub for a major international city should look like. Up until now, Shanghai’s PVG Terminal 1 just didn’t cut it. It might look nifty from afar but for anyone who has travelled, it was an embarassment for a major Chinese metropolis like Shanghai.

However, the new Terminal 2 at PVG opened earlier this year and lucky for me, my Air China ticket to America meant I would finally get a chance to check it out. Accordingly, I didn’t have high expectations and frankly, I didn’t have any expectations whatsoever. I’m pretty jaded. Therefore, and fortunately for PVG, I was completely surprised to find something so utterly remarkable that I not only called my friends to share my sudden delight, I’m also writing about it.

Like Terminal 1, there’s plenty of cold steel, concrete columns, and marble expanses in Terminal 2. Unlike Terminal 1, however, there was an abundance of natural lighting, warm wood surfaces to break up the bleak white and grey, and (see above) a huge zen-like indoor waterfall. HoMedics, anyone? The latter was honestly revolutionary enough that everyone walking by took out their cameras to take pictures of this most incredibly inspired airport design feature…in of all China. Oh, and the restrooms not only had comfy baby-changing rooms with seating for weary mothers and weary fathers, I daresay there was even a pleasant scent about them. Lastly, the ultimate coup de grace for any modern traveller: free wi-fi internet and plenty of easily accessible electrical outlets for our laptops and gadgets.

Shanghai’s international airport is finally half-way respectable.

Of course, its not as good as HKG…yet, but it definitely has potential…so long as no one screws it up. As with so many things in post-Mao mainland China, the bar was simply set so low that basically any half-decent improvement results in–and deserves–ecstatic praise. This was a half-decent improvement and we should give them credit where its due. Now, it still has a lot really random, low-quality retail and dining (like Hope Star Coffee & Cate), but there were some known brands and even an Ajisen Ramen. Now the KFC by the Maglev Station won’t have a monopoly on my dining patronage.

Bravo for Shanghai PVG. Next up: Beijing Capital International Airport.

UPDATE:The wifi is frustratingly unreliable, consistently hanging every so often and resulting in serious disruptions to any effort at productivity. In better news, there are a lot more respectable dining and shopping than I previously noticed and mentioned (though still not more than HKG). They have a Burger King.

If you’re coming to Shanghai, you’ll most likely be arriving through Pudong International Airport (PVG). Located 30 km east of downtown, it took over most international flights from the older Hongqiao Airport (SHA) when it first opened in 1999. It is big, it is modern, and the architecture is, uh, big and modern.

It is also remarkably unremarkable.

You really do not want to hang out there.

Yes, you’d think such a cosmopolitan first-tier city like Shanghai would have an impressively cosmopolitan airport like Hong Kong’s, filled with name-brand shopping and palatable dining options for the legions of travelers passing through each day, but as far as major international airports go, Shanghai’s PVG sucks (so does Beijing, but that’s a story the Imagethief tells best). Get past immigration, head for the exits, and make your way to downtown Shanghai, where it is far more interesting.

If you’re foreign to Shanghai, and no one was sent to pick you up, there are three common methods for getting from the airport into the city center, which is where you’re most likely headed. Each of these options are detailed below, with pros, cons, instructions, and some useful tips.

Method 1: Taxi

Why: Convenience. Unless there is a long line of people waiting to get taxis, this is your option for door to door service, and especially useful if you have a ton of luggage. The major drawback will be the cost, and the risk of dishonest drivers intentionally taking a less-than-direct route from the airport to your stated destination. Unfortunately, this risk gets higher the more foreign you appear and the less familiar you are with Shanghai’s roads/geography.

Typical rates during the day to the Puxi side of downtown Shanghai will be around 150-170 RMB. To the Pudong side, around 100-130 RMB. As long as you’re certain your destination is in the city center, you should get worried if the fare hits 200. A vein on your forehead should pop if you see 300. (more…)

Shanghai Pudong Airport Terminal (T2) was open to operation on Mar. 26 2008. This is a cover story in all the major newspaper and TV news. Shanghai Morning Post (Mar. 26 2008 issue) has great information about how to get around Terminal 2 and here are the summary:

1. From Shanghai city to T2

- By Taxi or Self-driving: You are supposed to be driving on A20 express way (A20 outer ring road) to Pudong Iinternational Airport and the take A1 to the terminals. There will be sign saying “Terminal 2″ (left lane) and “Terminal 1″(right lane) at an intersection. Pay attention to “arrival” or “departure” sign.

• T1: departure level only connect to T2 departure level
• T1: arrival level doesn’t connect to T2, you need to take a U turn at Hangtianwang Rd.
• T2: both departure and arrival levels connect to T1

- By Airport Maglev: The Maglev railway lays in the middle of the two terminals. It is about 10 minutes walk between T1 and T2. So you want to confirm the direction before you walk, especially when you have huge luggage with you.

- By Airport Shuttle Bus: The shuttle bus will stop at T1 first and then T2. It is said that you can check the terminal information of the flights on the airport shuttle bus TV so that you will know where to get off.

2. Travel between T1 and T2

- Yellow Shuttle Bus: There are free shuttle buses (a kind of yellow color 13-seat van) that travel between two terminals from 6am to 9pm, departing at 10 minutes interval. There are two bus stations in T1: Domestic Gate 1, International Gate 8, and 2 in T2: Iinternational Gate 23, Domestic 27 (all are gates on departure level). The shuttle bus is a good option if you have large luggage.

- On Foot: The distance between T1 and T2 is about 500 meters . There are three hallways for visitors to walk between T1 and T2. Usually it will take you less than 10 minutes if you have light luggage.

This is a hallway connecting T1 & T2, image took from T2.

3. T2 to Shanghai Downtown

- By Taxi: On ground level

- By Airport Shuttle Bus: It is about 5-10 minutes walk between shuttle bus station and taxi station, which is not very convenient if you want to take shuttle bus when you find out taxi line is too long. The shuttle bus will stop at T1 first and then T2. So there will be a chance that you can’t get onto the shuttle bus on T2 on peak hours.

- Maglev：Maglev is connected to Metro Line 2 at Longyang Rd. Station. Fee for single ride has dropped to RMB 50 from RMB 75; a discounted price is RMB 40 if you have the airticket of the flight on the same day.

Images?