Distance from Beijing to Shanghai
🇨🇳 Beijing, China → 🇨🇳 Shanghai, China
The dashed line joins the two city centres; the true shortest path on the globe is a great-circle arc, and real flight paths also bend around restricted airspace and follow airways.
China's flagship corridor
Between Beijing and Shanghai lie the North China Plain, Shandong and the Yangtze Delta province of Jiangsu, the most densely populated belt of the country. Air links between the two are among the busiest domestic routes in the world. Flights connect Beijing Capital (PEK) and Daxing (PKX) with Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) and Pudong (PVG). Hongqiao is closer to central Shanghai and sits next to the city's main high-speed rail station.
Plane or train?
For many travellers the train is the better option. The Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway opened in 2011 and runs 1,318 km from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao by way of Tianjin, Jinan and Nanjing. The fastest trains take a little over four hours, and most services take around four and a half to six. Because the stations are central and there is no airport check-in, the overall journey time is often similar to flying, and trains are less affected by weather.
Capital and commercial city
The two cities are often compared. Beijing has been the political centre of China for most of the last 700 years, while Shanghai grew from a treaty port opened in 1843 into the country's largest commercial city and a global financial centre. Long before the railways, the Grand Canal connected Beijing with Hangzhou, just south of Shanghai.
Beijing
Shanghai
Frequently asked questions
- How far is Shanghai from Beijing?
- 1,067 km (663 miles) in a straight line (great-circle distance). The distance is the same in both directions.
- How long is the flight from Beijing to Shanghai?
- A nonstop flight covers the distance in roughly 1h 50m. That estimate assumes an average 800 km/h plus 30 minutes for taxi, climb and descent; scheduled times vary with routing and winds.
- What direction is Shanghai from Beijing?
- Shanghai lies roughly southeast of Beijing; the initial great-circle bearing is 153°.
- What is the time difference between Beijing and Shanghai?
- Beijing and Shanghai share the same time zone (UTC+8). Neither city uses daylight saving time.
- Which airports serve this route?
- Beijing: Capital (PEK) and Daxing (PKX). Shanghai: Pudong (PVG) and Hongqiao (SHA).
- How long is the high-speed train from Beijing to Shanghai?
- The fastest trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway take a little over four hours. Most services take about four and a half to six hours, depending on the number of stops.
Other routes from Beijing and Shanghai
See the country profiles for China, or measure any other pair with the Asia distance calculator.