Taxt Fare In China
 

Help me with approximate fares for my upcoming China trip. How much from Beijing Airport to Hilton Beijing? Also, from Kowloon Shangri-La to airport in Hong Kong?

Don't know about Beijing, but from Kowloon Shangri-La to airport is about HKS$300 (US$40). Ask the hotel concierge if they can book a "20% off" or "30% off" taxi for you.

Or tell the driver you want go to the Airprot Express station. 7 out of 10 times, they'll offer to take you to the airport at a reduced fare. (~HK$200-220).

This is 2-year-old info, but I doubt that rates will have risen much in that time. We paid 90 yuan (about US$11) from the airport to our hotel, which was maybe 2 km further in towards the city centre than the Hilton. We took a cab from the airport rank (you'll find this easier if you have the hotel's name and address with you, written in Chinese characters).

For the return trip we hailed a cab in the street and paid Y60 (about $US7.50), which suggests that the firrst driver's meter may have been on amphetamines.

We found Chinese cabbies almost invariably efficient and good humoured. They don't expect to be tipped.

Always take a licenced, metered cab, and take the paper receipt when you leave the cab, just in case you leave something in it.

A very good rule we found was to ignore anyone touting for taxi or any other kind of business in China.

Thank you both for the info. Our tour company wants $54 to the Hilton, per person, and $45 to the airport in HK, again per person. We arrive Beijing at about 2PM on Sunday and have a 10:30AM Friday flight from HK. I think we will take a taxi and save a few bucks.

In Beijing airport, you arrive on the first floor and depart from the second. There are money changing facilities on both levels, make sure you get enough exchange to pay for your taxi fare.

The taxi is your best bet to get into the city and Neil's figures are about right. Do go as he has recommended to the taxi stands outside and find the taxi line. DON'T go with any tout who approaches you and offers to take you into the city.

There are shuttle buses which cost a few dollars a person, but these are difficult even for Chinese speakers to find. Everyone dashes out of the terminal and seems to know which bus to take - except lost people like me :).

Hong Kong is a marvel to navigate. You can buy an Octopus card at the airport and use it to get onto the airport express train which will zip you into town in about 30 minutes. I believe there is a free shuttle bus at the Kowloon station that will take you to the Shangri -La, but you can check on this further. The Octopus card can be used for some purchases as well. You can add money to the card and redeem whatever is unused when you leave Hong Kong.

Yes, one of the free shuttles go to the Kowloon Shangri-La, but that one runs only every 24 minutes (some run every 12).

I'm guessing you still have to pay the toll or has that been dropped? Seems that it was 16rmb last time I was in BJ.

Can anyone tell me the fare from the Shanghai international airport to the hilton in shangha

Most people take the maglev from Pudong Airport into Shanghai, then connect with one of the easy metro lines.

There are also inexpensive airport buses.

However, you best bet and probably cheapest is to ask the Hilton to send their own "limo" and pick you up. Should be either free or small fee.

Taking a taxi from Pudong could be expensive, but I don't know how much 'cause I wasn't the one paying.

last time I took a cab from a hotel on the Bund to PVG it was 180rmb.

This driver seemed to be one of the few in Shanghai that did not seem to try to take me on the cab fare.

The driver from Hongqiao demanded 200rmb (should have been around 30, and yes I waited in line at the taxi que for almost an hr to get a 'real' taxi) before he would open the trunk and release my luggage. The ballhops at the hotel would not help they just stood around and watched.

All in all every were I turned around in Shanghai I felt I was getting ripped off. Only city in China that I felt that way.

The taxi ride from HongQiao airport in Shanghai to the Bund is significantly more than RMB30 -- it is less than RMB200 too. My estimate is for about RMB 90-120.
From Pudong Airport you can take the Maglev for about RMB40-50 based on whether you can use your plane ticket to get a discount. Go to the LongYang station via the Maglev and then continue with a cab.

In Beijing, the cabs will run you between RMB100-to-RMB200 based on where you are going. The toll from Airport on the Expressway is RMB10....For more info on China and Beijing check out my blog at http://travel.chinafinds.com

Just want to reinforce that you MUST use the taxi queue or else you will definitely get ripped off. The Hilton is one of the closest hotels to the airort, so Y70-80-90 is about right. I my experience, the driver also wants you to cover the Y10 toll. (However, I think cab fares have gone up in the past year, so anything under Y100 would be in the ballpark.)

Years ago I used to get ripped off all the time in Beijing (or at least there were attempts which I foiled) but recently there seems to be more oversight especially with the Olympics coming up. Two things I do every time to prevent the driver from even fantasizing about trying to get me is to say, immediately on entering the cab, "Wo yao fa piao." That means I want a receipt. Just saying "fah pee-yaow" should do the trick. When you get to your destination, get out of the cab, have the bellman get your stuff out of the trunk, and only then deal with the fare after perusing the fa piao. I've had to literally run away (this was years ago) from drivers who were trying to bilk me for twice the fare, and if you and your bags are out of the cab it's much easier to get help than worry whether he's going to take off!

K

I was basing the 30rmb on what the hotel front desk told me the fare to Hongqiao should be. The other 2 times I have been through Hongqiao, friends from Suzhou meet me at the airport so I do not know what a true fare should be from personal experience.

Well, I guess it wasn't made clear which Shangahi airport -

Pudong, the international airport or

Hongqiao, the domestic airport

Shanghai Pudong airport to Hilton Shanghai on HuaShan Rd will probably be around 200rmb. We used to tell people 150-175 in 2005 but there was a 1rmb/km increase since then and I'm guessing you need to go around 45km. Hotel cars are usually super expensive. I recall Radisson charging like 400rmb in 2004. Call Hilton and they'll tell you the rate.

Stay away from the burgundy colored taxis when departing from any Shanghai airport or the Maglev station. When taking a taxi, make sure they turn on the meter and don't fall for the broken meter ploy.

$54 pp in Beijing, or $108 for two people, when a taxi fare will cost $6-$12! Sounds like the Hilton has decided to diversify - into organised crime.

$54!!! That's just criminal.

It won't cost you more than RMB100.

In HK, take a cab to the airport express, unless you have many bags.