Guide to Registering for the Free Shanghai Transit Tour
A few days ago during transit in Shanghai on the flight back from Jeju - Ho Chi Minh, I also arranged to time it to try the free Shanghai sightseeing tour during the day at Pudong Airport. The trip went successfully so I share a bit of experience for those who want to take this tour at Pudong Airport (PVG).
Upon landing at the airport, most will be at Terminal T2 Pudong Shanghai, and this tour is on Floor 1, in the Information counter area at Terminal 1 (T1) so you need to go outside and get the 24H TRANSIT VISA too. I have previously written an article sharing how to get this free Chinese visa so check the previous article if needed.
There are 3 tours per day, maximum 10 people per tour and no pre-registration, according to the TRIP guide at the link: https://www.trip.com/hot/shanghaiexpress-halfdaylayovertour/ there are 3 tours with time slots 09:00 - 14:00, 10:00 - 16:00, 18:00 - 23:00 so you should time your arrival and departure flights appropriately for the tour you want!
When I arrived, I aimed for 2 tours: 09:00 - 14:00 (Yu Garden - The Bund Shanghai Waterfront) or 10:00 - 16:00 (Wukang Building - Nanjing Road Shopping Area - The Bund Shanghai Waterfront), but since it was my first time at Shanghai airport I wandered around lost 2-3 times and got tickets etc. so in the end I still made it to register for the 10:00 - 16:00 Tour
Experience registering for Free Shanghai Transit Tour
Arriving at T2 (PVG Shanghai) you should prepare in advance some photos of the Information Center between gates 6 and 7 on floor 1 (Note it's floor 1) at Terminal 1 to show to Customs when applying for 24H TRANSIT VISA if they ask
From T2, when exiting the door look at the English signs for directions To T1 ---> Follow the directions, it will take about 15 minutes then you will see an escalator up to T1, this is floor 2. You will look around for the escalator down to floor 1 (up is floor 3) and you will see the Tourist Information Center right at the foot of the escalator (^^) Remember to install the TRIP APP in advance to scan the code to register here (Since this is a program sponsored by TRIP, no need to register a TRIP account beforehand)
Go in and register to check if there are still slots, usually you need to arrive 60 minutes early to register for the Tour in time, limited to 10 people and no online pre-registration
They will encourage you to leave luggage at the luggage storage counter behind the escalator, I left 2 carry-on backpacks for 40 RMB (20 RMB/bag)
Then just go back and wait for departure time.
The tour is free, they have a bus to pick up and drop off to the sites, with English-speaking guide, the time I went I met Celine, she speaks very clear English and guided our group very well, I also had Wechat Pay set up in advance so very convenient
My tour was the 10:00 - 16:00 tour, first stop at Wukang apartment (Vũ Khang), historic old building of Shanghai, then to local market, I also bought strawberries here to eat, paid with Wechat Pay quick and easy (linked to Visa card), then the team stopped for lunch and sightseeing about 1 hour at Nanjing Road where there's the huge Popmart building and Huawei center. Celine also showed me the place to eat downstairs at Foodcourt under New World City Department Store (Order menu and pay by Wechat Pay QR)
Around 13:45 the whole team gathered to go to Shanghai Waterfront, walked around taking souvenir photos then back on bus to airport T1 around 15:30
Overall for me if you have a long transit in Shanghai, this is a worthwhile tour to experience instead of sitting waiting 8-10 hours at the airport. Reason is PVG airport is quite boring, even though there are many shops like LV or Dior etc. in the airport and many restaurants (Japanese Chinese...) but really if wandering around it's about 60 minutes to see all shopping spots, also no souvenirs to buy to bring home so if possible transit outside for fun!
Backup case when Shanghai Transit Tour is full
In case unlucky no tour available, I recommend you can look at booking metro tickets on Klook or TRIP to go into the city to play, you won't be able to go through the automatic face scan gate but can go to the support counter to enter the station! You can take Brown Line then Red Line to central Shanghai, average about 90 minutes, or if taking maglev train about 7 minutes to Longyang Road Station, however still need to take 1-2 more lines to reach central Shanghai. Since it seemed too complicated the first time admin chose to try the Free Shanghai Tour.
Additionally if you want to split from the tour, self-tour at any segment, you can tell the group and they are very happy to let you leave the tour and go back to airport by yourself!
Wish you success with the free tour like me!
