Ningbo's airport , with flights to many Chinese cities including Hong Kong, is 25km south of the city and connected to the CAAC office in the southeast of downtown via an airport bus (#10). Bus #10 connects the train station , in the southwest of the city, with both the CAAC office and the centre of the city, via the eastern part of town. Minibuses and bus #1 run from the train station through the town centre, north over Xinjiang Bridge and close to the ferry terminal and the North bus station across the street. Some buses from Hangzhou, Shaoxing or Wenzhou might arrive at the North bus station, but most long-distance bus services operate out of the recently enlarged South bus station , just next to the train station. The East bus station , across the Jiangsha Bridge at the corner of Shuguang Lu and Ningbo Lu (buses #514 and #604 run here from the ferry terminal and Dongmen Kou), operates suburban services to the temples and pagodas outside town.

The ferry terminal , for boats to and from Putuo Shan and Shanghai, is in the northern part of town, north of the Xinjiang Bridge, on Waima Lu (frequent minibuses and bus #1 to and from the train station via the town centre). If approaching by bus, get off north of Xinjiang Bridge, just after passing beneath an overpass, then walk for a couple of minutes northeast. The main ticket office here (daily 5.45am-6pm) sells tickets for the daily departures to Putuo Shan and Shanghai, and for some irregular summer services to Suzhou. For both principal destinations there are fast, comfortable boats, usually in the morning, and slow, crowded boats leaving all day long. The fast, early-morning trips involve an hour-long bus journey to Zhenhai Dock, where you board the boat. Slow boats depart from just behind the ticket office. The exact schedule changes seasonally.

Most of the city's facilities are in the town centre right at the Dongmen Kou junction, including the main post office and a branch of the Bank of China . The main Bank of China office (Mon-Fri 8-11.15am & 1.30-4.15pm) is on Jiefang Lu, just south of Liuting Lu; there's also a convenient branch across from the train station near the Jinlong Hotel. For visa extensions , enquire at the City Government headquarters east off Jiefang Bei Lu. The best travel service to help with tickets is located on the fifth floor of the Jinlong Hotel, right across from the train station (Room 507; daily 8am-5pm; tel 7329381).

Food in Ningbo is dominated by fish and fresh seafood , and neon-lit Food Street, between Kaiming and Jiefang streets, is one of the best places to look, as are the streets south of the ferry terminal. The restaurant in the Jinlong Hotel serves stupendous crab, and a decent Japanese restaurant at 70 Changchun Lu, north of the train station, offers reasonable lunchtime set menus.