Shanghai Underground: Metro Tickets, Lines and Station Guide 2026

The Lujiazui skyline, two stops from the Bund on Line 2. Image: Trip.com

Shanghai runs one of the world's largest metro systems, but visitors only need a handful of its lines. The figures below are for 2026 and follow the Shanghai Metro and Shanghai municipal government's own guidance.

The Shanghai Metro map looks intimidating because it is dense, not because it is complicated. Lines 1, 2, 8 and 10 cut through the centre; Line 4 is a loop around it; Line 2 runs from Hongqiao in the west to Pudong Airport in the east; Line 10 threads through the old city and the French Concession; Line 11 heads south-east to Disneyland. Every line has a number, a colour and a pair of terminus names, and every sign inside a station uses the same colour code.

Shanghai Metro map. Image: Trip.com

Line 4 is the only loop, and it is useful when you want to cross the city without dragging luggage through People's Square. It meets almost every radial line, including Lines 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. To cross the Huangpu between Puxi and Pudong, the handiest lines are 2 (People's Square to Lujiazui), 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14. Line 14 is the newest east-west crossing and stops at both Yuyuan Garden and Lujiazui.

Amap (Gaode) has the most accurate live transit directions and an English interface, while Apple Maps handles metro routing reasonably well. Google Maps is unreliable in mainland China, so download an offline map before you fly. The official Metro Daduhui app shows the full network, fares and train times, and doubles as a QR ticket. Station signs, line maps and announcements are bilingual, so you can always fall back on the wall map.

Nineteen metro services cover the city, but a visitor will usually touch only six or seven of them. The table below lists every line you are likely to see, with the stations that matter most for sightseeing and transport.

Line 2 is the single most useful line for visitors. It links Hongqiao Railway Station and Hongqiao Airport T2 in the west with Jing'an Temple, People's Square, East Nanjing Road for the Bund, Lujiazui, Century Park, Longyang Road for the Maglev and Pudong Airport in the east. Watch the destination board: some trains terminate at Guanglan Road, where you change to another Line 2 train for Pudong Airport.

Line 1 runs north-south through Shanghai Railway Station, People's Square, South Shaanxi Road and Xujiahui before ending at Shanghai South Railway Station. It is the quickest way between the main railway station and the centre. Line 8 adds People's Square, Laoximen and the China Art Museum, and is handy for the old town's southern edge.

Line 10 is the sightseeing line for the old city: Yuyuan Garden, Xintiandi, South Shaanxi Road, Shanghai Library and Hongqiao Railway Station are all on it. Line 14, opened in 2021, crosses the river between Jing'an Temple, Yuyuan Garden and Lujiazui, making it a useful shortcut when Line 2 is packed.

Jing'an Temple, one of the city's most important Buddhist temples, sits directly outside the station of the same name on Lines 2, 7 and 14.

Line 11 starts at Disney Resort and runs through Longhua, Xujiahui, Jiaotong University and on to North Jiading or Huaqiao. It is the direct route to Shanghai Disneyland, and the last stop is a five- to ten-minute walk from the park gates.

Line 17 leaves from Hongqiao Railway Station and runs west to Xicen, with a stop at Zhujiajiao. The station is about 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the old town's canals; local buses and taxis cover the rest of the gap if you are carrying bags.

Shanghai keeps its fares simple, but it sells them in more formats than most visitors expect. You can ride with a single ticket, a stored-value card, a contactless bank card or a QR code generated by an app. These are the 2026 options.

A ride costs ¥3 for up to 6 km, then ¥1 for every additional 10 km, calculated on the shortest route between your entry and exit stations. Buy a token from a ticket machine or a paper QR ticket from the service centre; the token is collected at the exit gate, while the paper ticket is scanned at both ends. Children under 1.3 m travel free with a paying adult. Fares are capped in practice by the network's size, so even a long cross-city trip rarely costs more than ¥10.

The ¥18 one-day pass gives unlimited metro rides for 24 hours from first entry, and the ¥45 three-day pass does the same for 72 hours. Both exclude the Maglev and the newer suburban lines, including the Airport Link. A ¥3 fare means you need about six rides to break even; a normal sightseeing day involves four to six, so the pass is more about convenience than savings unless you are hopping between districts. The three-day pass is the better deal for a short city break.

Eligible contactless UnionPay, Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards work directly at the fare gates under the Tap to Ride scheme. Make sure the card has enough credit and that small-value contactless payment without a PIN is enabled before you travel. Use a card with no foreign transaction fee and you will pay the fare with no ticket queue, no deposit and no app.

The official Metro Daduhui app generates a QR code that opens the gates, and the same service is available inside Alipay and WeChat. Alipay and WeChat can link international cards, which makes them a good backup if your bank card does not work at the gate. Metro Daduhui also offers an international-card option through its WeChat Pay channel. Set up the code before you enter the station; the gates are not the place to debug an app.

The Shanghai Public Transportation Card is a stored-value card with a ¥20 refundable deposit. It works on the metro, buses and ferries, and a virtual version can be added to a compatible phone or watch. Buy it at a station service centre, top it up at machines or convenience stores, and claim the deposit back at designated service points before you leave. It is the best choice if you are staying a week or more.

Fares are low by international standards, and most visitor journeys sit between ¥3 and ¥7. These are typical point-to-point fares; longer suburban trips cost a little more.

For a normal day of sightseeing, budget ¥5–¥10 per person for metro travel. If you are covering an airport and several districts in one day, ¥10–¥15 is a safe allowance, or buy the ¥18 day pass and stop counting.

Almost every major sight is within a 5- to 15-minute walk of a station. Use this table to pick your stop before you leave the hotel.

East Nanjing Road station on Lines 2 and 10 is the classic approach to the Bund. Follow the signs for the Bund rather than the shopping street, and you will reach the waterfront in 10 to 15 minutes. The promenade is busiest between 18:00 and 21:00, when the Pudong skyline lights up, so arrive an hour earlier if you want space at the railing.

The Bund after dark. Image: Trip.com

Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street begins at the station and runs west towards People's Square. It is Shanghai's busiest shopping street, with department stores, snack shops and neon signs; walk it after dark, when the lights are on and the crowds thin after 21:00.

Yuyuan Garden station on Lines 10 and 14 puts you at the edge of the old city. Leave by Exit 1 and walk about five minutes to the garden entrance. The garden itself needs one to two hours; the surrounding bazaar and the City God Temple are free to wander and are best visited before 10:00, before the tour groups arrive.

Yu Garden's rockeries and moon gates. Image: Trip.com

Lujiazui station on Lines 2 and 14 is the stop for the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai Tower, the World Financial Center and the elevated walkways of the financial district. Use Exit 3 for the Oriental Pearl Tower; the Shanghai Tower entrance is a five- to ten-minute walk towards Silver City Road. Sunset is the best time to go up, but book a timed ticket in advance at weekends.

The Oriental Pearl Tower, the retro-futuristic spire with two glass spheres, is a five-minute walk north along the riverfront. Its 259-metre observation deck is lower than the Shanghai Tower's, but the view back towards the Bund is the classic Shanghai postcard.

For the leafy French Concession, get off at Jiaotong University on Lines 10 and 11 and walk about ten minutes to Wukang Road and the Wukang Mansion. Xintiandi has its own station on Lines 10 and 13, while Tianzifang is five minutes from Dapuqiao on Line 9. All three are compact, so pick one area per afternoon rather than trying to cover them in a single walk.

Xintiandi is the polished, pedestrianised contrast to the old lanes: restored shikumen houses, restaurants and boutiques around a small lake. It is a good evening stop after a walk through the French Concession.

Line 11 runs directly to Disney Resort station, five to ten minutes from the park gates, and the train is decorated with Disney characters. For Zhujiajiao, take Line 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station; the station is 15 to 20 minutes on foot from the canals, or a short taxi ride. Both trips are easy day trips from the centre, but start early: Disney needs a full day and Zhujiajiao is best before the afternoon crowds.

Mickey and Minnie at Shanghai Disneyland. Image: Trip.com

Zhujiajiao is a canal town of stone bridges, Qing-dynasty houses and boat rides about an hour from Hongqiao. Go early, take a boat before the tour groups arrive, and try the local zongzi and smoked river fish.

Shanghai has two airports on opposite sides of the city and two main railway stations, all connected to the metro. The right choice depends on your luggage, your arrival time and whether you are heading downtown or to the other airport.

Line 2 stops at Pudong Airport Terminal 1 and 2 and takes 60 to 70 minutes to People's Square for ¥7. The last train leaves the airport around 22:30, so a late landing means a taxi, a DiDi or the airport night bus, which runs from about 23:00 to 05:30. If you are connecting to Hongqiao, do not take Line 2 all the way; the Airport Link is less than half the time.

Terminal 1 is on Line 10, while Terminal 2 is on Lines 2 and 10. Hongqiao Railway Station is one stop from Terminal 2 on either line, about six or seven minutes, so a flight-to-train connection is straightforward. Allow 30 minutes for security and platform changes at the railway station, more at holiday weekends.

The Airport Link (Shiyu Airport Line) runs between Hongqiao Airport T2 and Pudong Airport T1&T2 in about 40 minutes for ¥26, with trains every 15 minutes. It is a suburban railway with its own fare system, so metro passes and the 120-minute transfer discount do not apply. It also stops at Shanghai International Resort, which makes it a useful option for Disneyland, and at Zhongchun Road for Line 9.

Shanghai Railway Station is on Lines 1, 3 and 4, two stops from People's Square on Line 1. Hongqiao Railway Station is on Lines 2, 10 and 17, next to Hongqiao Airport T2. Both stations are large, so follow the signs to the correct square and allow extra time if you are changing between metro and a high-speed train.

Once you have a ticket, the system is easy to use. The only real differences from a European or American metro are the security check at the entrance and the sheer scale of the interchanges.

Inside a Shanghai Metro carriage. Image: Trip.com

Every station has a security check before the fare gates, and large bags go through an X-ray machine. Allow an extra five minutes at big interchanges. Lifts and escalators are common but not universal, and older stations may have long stairs; travellers with heavy luggage or wheelchairs should check the station facilities in the Metro Daduhui app. Staff at the service centre can arrange assistance if you ask.

Peak hours run from about 07:00 to 09:30 and 17:00 to 19:30 on weekdays, when Lines 1, 2, 8 and 9 become extremely crowded. Let passengers off before you board, stand on the right of the escalator, and keep your bag in front of you in crowds. The metro is generally safe, with staffed stations and security screening, but pickpocketing can happen at the busiest interchanges, so keep phones and wallets secure.

The Shanghai Metro does not run overnight. Most lines finish between 22:30 and 23:30, and the last train can leave a station earlier than the timetable suggests, so check the app for your exact station. After that, use the official taxi rank or DiDi rather than an unlicensed driver. From Pudong Airport, the night bus runs until about 05:30 and is much cheaper than a taxi.

Planning the rest of your trip? These guides cover the city beyond the ticket gates.