Getting from Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport to the city

Three cities, one airport

• Jieyang Chaoshan serves Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang. None of them has its own airport and the site was chosen between them.
• That means the first question on arrival is which city you are going to, and the answer changes both the fare and the timetable.

The five coach lines

• Shantou east line, 20 yuan. From the airport it runs from the first flight arrival until an hour after the last. From Shantou, 05:00 to 21:00.
• Shantou west line, 20 yuan. Same at the airport end; from the city 05:30 to 21:30.
• Shantou Chenghai line, 22 yuan, with fixed departures from Chenghai at 05:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00 and 18:00.
• Chaozhou line, 12 yuan, running from the Chaozhou long distance bus station from 06:00 until the last flight lands.
• Jieyang line, 14 yuan, from the Huangqi long distance bus station on the same pattern.
• Shantou is the furthest of the three, roughly 80 minutes; Chaozhou is about an hour.

Which one to plan around

• The two Shantou lines run to the last flight in both directions. If your flight is late, that is the reliable service.
• The Chenghai line runs on five fixed times a day, so it needs planning rather than turning up.
• Chaozhou and Jieyang both start at 06:00 from their city ends, which covers a morning departure.

Taxis

• Taxis wait at the airport.
• Beyond 20 km a 30 per cent empty return surcharge is added to the kilometres over that, which is standard practice in Guangdong for a rural airport and worth expecting rather than arguing about.
• Chaoshan high speed railway station is not at the airport. It is a separate station some kilometres away, so getting to a train means a road journey.