13/8/25
Our first sunny day in Shanghai dawned on the day we were due to leave. Only one more attraction left to tick off our list, we packed our bags and headed to Longyang Road tube station.
Often touted as the first commercial maglev train in the world, the Shanghai maglev operated along a 30km track to Pudong airport. Birmingham airport in the UK actually had the first commercial maglev over a distance of just 600m. Not remotely interested in visiting the airport ourselves, we bought a return ticket. If only it went somewhere useful.
On the platform we first noticed that the track was composed of large pieces of innocent looking concrete, each individually number. They secretly housed a large amount of conducting wire. While waiting for our train, we briefly talked to some New Zealanders who were keen to tell us they’d been to Blaxhall in Suffolk, and not to miss the maglev museum downstairs. We didn’t know there was one.
Because the metro goes to the airport and it’s far cheaper, locals don’t use the maglev. So it was basically just a tourist ride. The carriages were large and spacious. Lazily, they only opened one door for the 40 odd people to board, so we walked up the train and had a whole carriage to ourselves. The beauty of a maglev is that levitation means there is no contact. Quiet and frictionless. The train smoothly accelerated up to its reduced top speed of a mere 300 km/h. Historically it went up to 431 km/h but they reduced it years ago. Going round corners was like a tame rollercoaster, but it was very exciting to maintain such a high speed as we banked. It took a mere 7 minutes each wait. Initially a demonstration the Beijing to Shanghai line was set to be a maglev but it was never realised.
Not allowed to remain on the train, we had to get off and loop back in, scanning our tickets in the process. Far busier on the way back, it appeared some people actually used it for escaping the airport. Regularly touted on signs around the maglev waiting areas was “deceleration glass”. Interestingly it was a term invented by the Chinese a long time ago to explain the feeling of western cars. It’s physically impossible to actually change the speed of the view. It was simply high quality laminated glass that minimised distortion.
Darting around beneath the maglev station, we eventually found the museum. We couldn’t say it was well signposted. It struck us immediately that not only was the literature a little out of date but the translations were often poor. A mix of extremely basic exhibits to the highly technical were included. Old demos and games were a little worse for wear. Maglev construction had moved on while the museum had remained the same. Information boards still provided fascinating explanations of the principles of maglev, how their brakes work and principles of cornering.
Straight back onto line 2 of the metro, we headed west to Hongqiao. 50 minutes later and we arrived in the mega transport hub. Hongqiao transportation hub was the largest railway station in Asia. Airport, high speed rail and several metro lines met there. Alongside a reserved maglev station waiting for new technology. No Cotti Coffee though. Furious stomping ensued to find a cheap coffee before boarding.
Mission coffee successful, we found a far more efficient route back. Multiple escalators took us to the second floor departure gates with just 20 minutes to go. It was all rather utilitarian and authoritarian. Drab design and a man with a riot shield standing at the bottom of the escalators.
Our train was already boarding so after filling up at the water station we eagerly alighted. A mere 8 hours to Hong Kong.
We immediately noticed the screens playing horrifying animations of train disasters. Lorries crashing onto tracks, derailing trains. The purpose wasn’t clear to us.
Hundreds of tunnels and bridges passed us by. It’s phenomenal how little one sees from the window. It was easy to imagine the difficulty of traversing the landscape and how fortunate we were to be able to zoom through it so effortlessly.
Unbelievably, the time evaporated. Snacks were mushy bananas, peanut butter, buckwheat we’d carried since Qiaojia and bread rolls from Aldi. Other passengers were far more savvy. QR codes on the hand rests could not only order food from the train, but at certain stops takeaway food could be brought aboard and the hostess’ would deliver it. Our only disappointment was the speed of the train, at 300km/h it was travelling as fast as the maglev.
Exiting China was effortless for us. A quick stamp and we headed to immigration. Chinese people can travel freely into the SAR, but need to register first. Far easier for us. A cool 6 months visa free, because we were British. West Kowloon station was a far more relaxed affair. Access to departures was actually allowed. Useful signposts were thin on the ground, and at 22:30pm it was very annoying. By good fortune we were accidentally delivered to an HSBC and obtained one thousand Hong Kong Dollars. About $10 to a ÂŁ1.
No doubt about it, Hong Kong was different to China. Laid back to the point we saw people who were as high as a kite in the park. It was 11pm so we wouldn’t be surprised at home. Maybe we are in a little corner of home. Water was going to be an issue. Extremely expensive by Chinese standards and illegal for hotels bottles to provide plastic containers.
King’s Hotel was accessed by a sliding door just off Temple Street. Even with a free upgrade, the room was small. Chinese people wrote horror stories of the hotels online: “No free slippers, tiny rooms…” It was actually perfectly comfortable, if a lot more money than we paid on the mainland. A typhoon level 1 warning sign was displayed next to the elevator.