As the biggest metropolis in China, Shanghai boasts a highly developed transportation system, radiating in all directions. Early in the 19th century, people in Shanghai already had various choices of different vehicles from rickshaws and bicycles to carriages and stagecoach. With the passage of time, rickshaws and carriages have ceased to exist and bicycles, used to be the most popular vehicles in Shanghai, have been replaced by private cars.

Nowadays, Shanghai holds two civil airports, two maglev train stations, three railway stations, several ferry terminals and numerous Metro and bus stations. 

It is the unique city in China that has two international airports : Shanghai Pudong International Airport and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, with a total annual handling capacity of more than 80 million people. The construction work of Shanghai Maglev Train was completed in 2004 by Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd. It only takes 7 minutes and 20 seconds to travel from the city center to Shanghai Pudong International Airport, saving a lot of time on the way. There are three big railway stations : Shanghai Railway Station, Shanghai South Railway Station and Shanghai West Railway Station. Everyday, thousands of trains pass through Shanghai, among which D trains or the “Harmony”, put into public operation in 2007, are quite popular because of its high standard of services. Shanghai is the biggest port city nationwide and the third worldwide. The throughput of Shanghai Port is as big as 400 ports of normal size in the world in all. 

 

Inside the city, people can take public buses, metros or ferries on the Huangpu River. Shanghai boasts the biggest municipal transportation network in the world and there are 8 metro lines (3 other lines are under construction), 1200 bus lines, and 3000 roads. Shanghai Metro enjoys the most rapid development throughout the world. By the end of 2007, the Metro network in Shanghai had reached a total length of 227km. The public bus system covers every residential area within the city and it is of great convenience with an ID bus card to take buses as far as everywhere. Apart form the above-mentioned vehicles, taxis in Shanghai also enjoys a good reputation for its first-class services.