We’re currently at Pudong International airport waiting for our flight to open. We took the train from Hangzhou and then caught a cab from Shanghainan station to Pudong Airport – about 30+kms away. For the record it cost us just 146 Yuan or about AU $24!
If we had even a basic knowledge of Mandarin, we would have attempted to catch the Mag-Lev train, which travels between the airport and the local Shanghai metro at up to speeds varying between 350-450kms/hr. We actually took the Mag-Lev into the city when we arrived on Monday.
The airport food is not cheap, it cost us 156 Yuan for both of us to eat dinner tonight (about $AU 26) which, I suppose, is somewhat cheap for airport dining. A meat pie in Sydney International airport was $7.90 or – to put it into perspective – 47 Yuan.
Meals back in Hangzhou ranged from 30-50 Yuan (Quai) per person on average. Our dinner last night (for three people with two beers, a Sprite and several plates of food) cost just 200 Yuan or about $AU 33.
Food can be relatively inexpensive, and many mass produced items are at well below Australian prices. However, luxury items and “premium” quality items still demand high prices just like back home. The cost of living is much lower though (which it really has to be, given the population) although with a good wage, one could live quite comfortably.
China refers to their money by a number of different names – Renminbi, RMB, Quai and the Yuan. Small change is called ‘Mao’. Strangely, notes feature Mao Zedong’s profile, but not the coins (by which they are called Mao!).
Anyhow, we are about a half hour away from boarding, so I will finish up now. We should be back in Australia by the time you (very likely) read this entry. Wish us a safe journey back!
R/T