Getting around Chinese cities

The metro is almost always the right answer

Chinese metros are clean, cheap, signposted in English and run late. In Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Chengdu you can reach nearly every place a visitor wants to go without ever getting into a car. A single ride costs the equivalent of a few cents to a dollar, depending on distance.

Every trip begins with a security check. Bags go through an X-ray machine and you walk through a metal detector, much as at an airport but far quicker. It adds twenty seconds, and you will do it dozens of times, so treat it as routine rather than an obstacle.

Tickets come from a machine or, more often now, from a QR code in Alipay or WeChat Pay scanned at the gate. You tap in and tap out, and the fare is deducted automatically. One QR code set up before you travel is worth more than a pocketful of coins.

• Buy a single-ride token at the machine, or set up the metro QR code in Alipay or WeChat.
• Pass your bag through the security scanner at the entrance and walk through the metal detector.
• Scan or tap at the gate, ride, then scan or tap out at your destination.
• Follow the English signs: every station, line and exit is numbered and named in pinyin.

Ride-hailing: Didi is the app you want

Didi is the Chinese equivalent of Uber and it works in English. You set the pickup and the destination on a map, a price is quoted before you accept, and the car arrives with a plate number to match. No cash, no haggling, and no explaining an address in a language you do not speak.

It is usually cheaper than a taxi, especially on short trips, and it removes the biggest friction for a visitor: the conversation. That makes it the default for anything the metro does not reach, such as a restaurant down a side street or an early airport run.

Link a card or pay through Alipay in the app so you never handle cash. The route is tracked on the map, which is reassuring in a city where the street signs mean nothing to you.

Taxis: still useful, with a few rules

Official taxis are plentiful and metered, and the drivers are professional. The problem is purely language: very few speak English, and the fare is worked out on a meter you may not recognise.

The reliable trick is to have your destination written in Chinese characters on your phone, large enough to read, and simply hand it over. A screenshot of the hotel's Chinese name and address, taken from your booking, solves most taxi journeys.

Avoid the unlicensed cars that approach you at stations and airports offering a ride. Use the official rank or, better, order through Didi so that the price and the driver are both recorded.

• Use the official taxi rank, never a driver who walks up to you inside the terminal.
• Show the destination in Chinese characters on your phone.
• Check that the meter is running from the start and pay what it shows.
• Keep the receipt, or note the plate, in case you leave something behind.

Shared bikes for the last kilometre

Brightly coloured shared bikes are everywhere, and they fill the gap between the metro exit and your destination. You unlock one by scanning its QR code in Alipay or WeChat, ride, and leave it in a marked bay.

They are ideal for a flat city and a short hop, and less appealing in heavy traffic or summer heat. No helmet is provided, so ride carefully and stay off the ring roads, where bicycles are not allowed.

Understanding the rush hour

Chinese cities have two peaks, and they are intense. Roughly 07:30 to 09:30 and 17:30 to 19:30 are when the metro is packed and the roads slow to a crawl. If you can shift a journey by an hour in either direction, do it.

The metro at peak is crowded but orderly: people queue at the doors, and trains are frequent enough that missing one costs seconds. A car at the same hour can turn a twenty-minute trip into an hour.

When you cannot read the signs

Station names, exits and road signs appear in Chinese characters and in pinyin, the romanised spelling, so you can match the letters even if the characters mean nothing to you. Learn the pinyin of your hotel and of your next three destinations and you can navigate almost anywhere.

Exit numbers matter: a large station may have a dozen, and the right one saves a long walk. Your map app will name the exit letter, and inside the station the signs will lead you to it.

How we take the friction out of it

On a tailor-made trip you rarely have to solve any of this alone. ChinaTour.es, the English-language site of the JoyoTour group, pairs every itinerary with an English-speaking guide and a private car and driver for transfers, so the metro becomes something you choose for fun rather than something you depend on.

JoyoTour has been designing trips since 1999 and keeps one designer with you from the first message to the last day, which means the person who arranged your airport pickup also answers when a train is delayed. Our ground team handles tickets, timings and the small logistics that quietly eat into a short trip.

For travellers who would rather use the metro and Didi on their own, we are happy to brief you on exactly how, and then leave you to it.

A short routine before you leave the hotel

On your first morning, do these four things and the rest of the trip almost runs itself.

• Screenshot your hotel's name and address in Chinese characters.
• Set up the metro QR code and Didi with a working payment method.
• Save your guide's number and our emergency number in your contacts.
• Check the first and last train times for the lines you plan to use.