GT-Shenzhen, Local Transportation and Domestic Travel

  • In GT Shenzhen, the residence hall and teaching buildings are within walking distance. However, if you need local transportation, the following are available:
    • Taxi
    • Metro
    • Bus
    • Shared bicycles
    • Shared motorcycle
  • App for taxi. You can hail a taxi standing at the edge of the sidewalk or use DiDi.

    • DiDi is smartphone app that is similar to Uber, where taxis, private cars and designated drivers can be hired via smartphone. DiDi has launched an English interface. It exchange messages with drivers through a real-time translation function. Chinese addresses are automatically translated.

    Apple Pay, WeChat Pay, Ali Pay, and international credit card are highly suggested to secure payment.

  • Taxi fare in Shenzhen – information accurate as of July 2022:

    • During daytime hours of 6am-11pm, the base fare is 10 RMB for the first 2 kilometers (km). The cost is 2.7 RMB for each additional km between 2 km and 25 km. There is a 30% surcharge for the portion of the mileage between 25 km and 35 km, and 60% surcharge for the portion of the mileage that exceeds 35 km
    • During night hours of 11pm – 6am, there is a 30% surcharge for taxi rides. During night hours of 11:30pm – 6am, there is an surcharge of 15 RMB for rides from Shenzhen Airport, and 5 RMB for rides from Shenzhen North Station.
    • During the wait period (traffic light, traffic stall etc), 0.8 RMB is assessed for each minute of wait.
    • During the Chinese New Year holiday (Chinese New Year’s Eve 0:00 – the sixth day of Chinese New Year 11:59 pm), there is a surcharge of 10 RMB for taxi rides.
    • The above is for taxi fare within the city limits.
    • Surcharge also applies when large and heavy objects are carried onto the taxi.
  • Report taxi problems. Shenzhen taxis are tightly regulated. It is easy to report taxi fraud – keep your receipt which has the taxi number and the numbers to call to report problems.
  • Shenzhen Metro Twelve metro lines are operating in the city so that the accesses to the major spots like Hi-Tech Park, Window of the World, HuaQiangBei, and Sea World are quite easy.

GT-Shenzhen is near the following metro stations on Line #5:

    • Liuxiandong Station (1.5 km = 0.93 mile)
  • SZBus – There are over 900 bus lines running in this city presently. Regular bus lines, Express Lines, Intercity Lines, Night Lines, Peak Hour Lines and Holiday Bus Lines are the main categories.

For traveling within China, you can get useful information from below:

  • CTrip – The Chinese equivalent of Travelocity or Expedia. For traveling within China, you tend to get a better deal on Ctrip than on Travelocity or Expedia. Toll free from within China; 400-828-8966 (English). They can send reservation information to your cell phone. This company was co-founded by Georgia Tech alum Jianzhang Liang who is their current CEO (as of 2014).
  • Train schedule search – Train ticket booking
    CTrip and the official China railway website 12306 provide train ticket booking services. 12306 requires real-name authentication to register as a new passenger.