Atlas of China
Nanjing to Qingdao 南京 – 青岛
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 4½ hours against about 4 hours by flight, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. Fares run ¥260 against about ¥400. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainNanjing South 南京南 → Qingdao North 青岛北 | 4 h 12 minD2897, fastest | 4½ hours | ¥260standard class | 1106:16–18:19 |
| FlightNanjing Lukou (NKG) → Qingdao Jiaodong (TAO) | 1 h 15 minin the air | 4 hours | about ¥400varies by day | 117:15 |
By train
11 direct high-speed trains a day run from Nanjing South to Qingdao North, between 06:16 and 18:19. The fastest, D2897, takes 4 h 12 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥260. Coming back, 12 trains a day, the fastest 4 h 28 min (D3187, 05:59 to 20:30).
Qingdao: Qingdao North also has many high-speed trains.
By air
One nonstop flight a day from Nanjing Lukou (NKG) to Qingdao Jiaodong (TAO), 1 h 15 min in the air, at 17:15, with Shandong Airlines. One flies back. Door to door, with the airports at each end, count about 4 hours; fares vary by day and are typically about ¥400.
Stops on the way
Cities between the two with direct trains from Nanjing and on to Qingdao, so the trip can be broken there.
At the other end
Featured places around Qingdao.
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Qingdao Old Town & Seafront 青岛
Red roofs, German-era villas, sea breezes and the home of Tsingtao beer
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Mount Lao (Laoshan) 崂山
A granite Taoist mountain rising straight from the Yellow Sea, east of Qingdao
Around Nanjing: Purple Mountain & Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Fuzimiao and the Qinhuai River, City Wall of Nanjing.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Nanjing · About Qingdao · Where Nanjing reaches in a day · Where Qingdao reaches in a day · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.