Taxis in China are reasonably cheap compared to the West, on average you will be paying USD 1.50 for the first three kilometers and then between 30 - 50 cents per kilometer for trips up to 50 Kilometers.

City Buses for short distances up to around 5 kilometers run around 25 cents per trip. Long distance buses prices vary depending on destination anywhere from USD $8 up to USD 100. Airport shuttle buses are usually cheap but sparse at some airports, prices range from USD $2 - USD $10 depending on distance and level of the bus..

Airport Transfers

 Arranged airport transfers with Private vehicle with English speaking guide run at anywhere between USD 30 to USD 80 depending on the distance from the Airport to downtown and how many in the group. Unless you are overburdened with luggage, carrying Children or a complete newbie then I suggest using a taxi or shuttle bus, which is qie a bit cheaper.

Typical Taxi in China

China Airport Shuttle Bus

For some unknown reason China's domestic airports are always a minimum of 15 km of town and in some cases 40 km plus. Ball park figures from Beijing's Capital airport to downtown is about USD $20 whilst Pudong in Shanghai is probably USD $30. For some of the smaller Cities such as Dalian the fare from Airport to Downtown can be as low as USD $8

For trips from your hotel or downtown to the Airport many taxis will not want to turn their meter on, especially early mornings or late evenings. To counter this make sure you always have plenty of time so you can hop into another taxi or failing this just ask your hotel reception to organize the taxi and insist that the meter is turned on.   Having said all this sometimes I give in and just let the Taxi driver charge an extra USD $3, a happy taxi driver won't drive you round the block for spite and will get you to the Airport in a timely manner.  Generally I have found Chinese taxi drivers more courteous and professional to those I have encountered in other Asian and South East Asian Countries.

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