Shanghai Pudong Airport

Upon arrival at Shanghai Pudong airport we went the duty free shop to buy liquor and cigarettes. It was a disaster. Too crowded and too small for such a huge airport. Staff unfriendly with poor body language. Luggage came out slowly, and located at the furthest belt even though the rest were empty. Bad experience and food too expensive.

I don't understand why anyone would down vote an airport for not speaking English when the airport is in a country that doesn't speak English, but it is true that the signage is fairly poor. The first time I went through the airport I had the same problem others have had with international transfer and getting routed through domestic transfers and the 1,000,400 security checks involved. It was about 4 o'clock in the morning, and me and a bunch of other people got sent to the transfer gate, which turned out to be a locked glass door and no signs. Finally people learned by asking various other people that the transfer gate does not open until six. Staff were giving different people different answers. God help anyone with a transfer before that. So we all sat around in a cold white room using what Internet was available across the Great Firewall of China. The gates upstairs have reasonable food at good prices in a fairly comfortable waiting area. Downstairs gates are crowded and the food is god awful, expensive and very limited. Of four flights, only one used a jetway, the others involved long bus rides. It's a stark airport, chilly in color and atmosphere. China Eastern staff were nice, but when possible I will avoid routing through Shanghai in the future.

Pudong Airport now looks dated and luggage retrieval on arrival turned out taking longer than usual, and this is not helped by the fact that on exit there was a queue, where an officer standing at the way out made random selection of many passengers to have luggage scanned. There is a transportation system to town including various bus routes, the city metro, and of course the high speed train. The latter is the world's fastest, and if a ride on it means a taste of the world's high technology, the train stop in town is inconvenient, as it does not end in downtown areas but to an quite obscure location in Pudong, where you have to queue for a taxi (so this fantastic train ride is a white elephant to me that I have yet to use).

Shanghai Pudong is the worst airport I have ever been to. I was only there for about 3 hours and I couldn't take it anymore. Most staff I encountered were lazy and very unhelpful. Transiting here is a huge problem especially if you don't speak Chinese. Like many have said, staff didn't speak English and their signs were very vague. After gathering my bags, I followed the "transfer" sign. I went through security and people were just pushing each other and had no concept of queues. Looking lost, I had to ask where the gates are. Apparently, I was in line for domestic transfer and I had to go through another security check to leave the terminal. Same thing happened. People skipping lines. My international flights was in another terminal about 10-15 minutes away by walking. I had to go through security again and had to elaborate that I am about to miss my flight before they let me go through a faster lane. Being at this airport was a nightmare.

I don't see why people write negative reviews about this. Personally, I had a great experience apart from the WiFi. The airport is huge and very spacious. I had a great experience here. Everything was smooth, the seats are standard of any airport. It was very clean. My flight departed without any delays. Definitely no complaints.

Shanghai Pudong is a dark and dreadful place full of tension and helplessness. Cold, robotic airport workers greet you with a scowl, and there is little hope they will actually help you should you experience a problem (not to mention they won't understand you in the first place). I saw a worker yelling at poor passengers queued in an insanely long line waiting to approach the international transfer desk. Terrible neglect of elderly passengers requiring assistance. No wheelchairs available until a few passengers yelled back at airport workers. Those same passengers requiring assistance were also slowly herded from the plane to a waiting bus for transport to the terminal - all in a cold rain. There is no regard for passenger comfort . I hope other travelers will heed these words and avoid this airport.

Shanghai Pudong is a great airport - check in times and the time to get through security are good. The access to the airport is easy - the metro line is efficient and very cheap (like 1USD from downtown) and you could always take the world's fastest train for about 7USD. Standard food outlets cater for most needs and there are several traditional Chinese restaurants for the more adventurous. Most signs are available in English as well as Chinese (you don't see much Chinese in other countries) and are fairly clear. The staff of the airport speak very little English unless you go to the Information desks, another trick is to go to the check in desks of international airlines where they are usually very happy to help. The Duty free is some of the cheapest I have ever known and they have very good deals on spirits and tobacco for those who like those things. You may need to be open minded about the cultural differences in China but that's ubiquitous and not particular to this airport.

We had the worst experience at this airport. First, the hygiene of the bathrooms is not good. Found puddles on the bathroom floor which most likely ended up on my shoes. Our connecting flight was delayed by 5+ hours and then flight status was not updated throughout the airport so when we started walking around we saw two different times for our flight. Since our flight was delayed past "closing time" of their terminal, we could not spend our downtime eating or shopping, and we were told to find a hotel for the night because they were not sure when our flight would eventually leave. There are designated smoking areas which my husband was diligent to respect, and he found security guards smoking in the bathroom. We were told by some staff, who tried their very best to speak English with us but couldn't, to go to another terminal only to be told by the staff at that terminal to go back to our original terminal. The airport is not small and our connection was short, so we almost ran throughout the entire two terminals, getting more and more frustrated as we kept hearing more conflicting information. We also had to go through an a incredible amount of security checks at this airport for a connecting flight with the same airline.

Pudong is a lot bigger and considerably farther from the city center than Hongqiao. The Metro ride on Line 2 to Pudong was less pleasant than the ride on Line 10 to Hongqiao, not least because one has to transfer midway to another segment of the same line to continue to the airport and be packed into the train like sardines in a tin. (At least the fare was cheap.) Going through immigration at Pudong wasn't a problem, but the security checkpoint was a bottleneck. Fortunately, another checkpoint opened when I lined up and I quickly switched over to it. My gate was changed, but the new gate was fortunately right next door. My flight was delayed for half an hour, which was good compared to when I last flew out of Shanghai from Hongqiao (a three-hour delay). Aside from this, it may be better to arrive in and depart from Hongqiao than Pudong.

Worst experience in Shanghai Pudong - incredibly rude staff. No-one speaks English in this International airport. They make no attempt to help and just want your money in the shops. I wish I had paid the extra to now to bypass this airport. Will never go again. No WiFi available. Avoid.