Taxis are the preferred mode of transport for visitors in Shanghai. The metered Volkswagen cabs in primary colours are easy to identify and plentiful. The smaller, older cars are generally cheaper. All can be hailed on the street or booked by telephone. Self-driving in a rental car is not a good option in the teeming tangle of streets, and visitors are required to submit their driver's license in order to obtain a license, which will be given back on leaving the country. Many visitors opt to join the city's estimated seven million cyclists and rent bicycles from their hotels or one of the numerous hire shops in the city. To cover longer distances the Shanghai subway, costing just a few cents a ride, is the perfect solution, covering the downtown area. It is still being extended, ultimately to connect to the airports. Public buses are extremely cheap, but very uncomfortable and inconvenient, being hot, crowded, unreliable and preyed on by pickpockets.
HOTELS