Metro, buses and the QR that replaces a ticket

Every city in this guide has a metro, all of them are signposted in English, and none of them expect you to buy a paper ticket any more.

Three ways through the gate

• The transit QR in your wallet: search 乘车码 in Alipay or WeChat, pick your city once, hold the phone against the reader. This is the one to use.
• The city's own app — Metro大都会 in Shanghai, 亿通行 in Beijing — which adds the route planner and, in some cities, a small discount.
• A physical transit card 交通卡, bought and topped up at a station window. Worth it if you would rather not have your phone out, and it works on buses too.

The security check

Every entrance has one, and it is quick if you know what happens. Bags go on the belt. Occasionally you are asked to sip from your own drinks bottle — that is the liquid test, and it is normal. Lighters and small knives are taken. Give yourself an extra three minutes at a big interchange in rush hour.

Hours and rhythm

• Most lines run roughly from half past five in the morning until half past ten at night. Some run later on Friday and Saturday; some outer sections stop earlier.
• The last train time is on a board at the platform end and in the app. Check it before a late dinner — this is the single most common way to end an evening in a taxi.
• Rush hour is genuinely crowded: seven to nine in the morning and five to seven in the evening. On the busiest lines it is standing room only and worth avoiding with luggage.
• Fares run from three to about ten yuan by distance. Buses are usually two.

Between cities

High-speed rail is booked in the 12306 app or through a travel site, against your passport number. You then collect nothing: the passport is the ticket at the gate. Arrive twenty minutes early, use the ticket-check window marked for foreign passports if the automatic gate refuses your document, and note that stations are enormous — the walk from the entrance to the platform can be ten minutes.