Shanghai

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Dining, Accommodation, Entertainment, Nightlife, City Info, Also Know..., Cultural Do's and Don'ts, Insider Info, Background, Essentials, Useful Phrases, Getting Into Town,

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Essentials

Business contacts

Mobile phones Smiling City (Tel: 10010 extension 2, website: www.smilingcity. net/en/rental.php) offers mobile phone hire from [00a3]5 per day with a [00a3]100 deposit for non-members. Guanxi offers a text message service which provides addresses and directions in either English or Chinese to many bars and restaurants. Just text the number 885074 with the name of the place you need to find.

Car hire Avis (Tel: 6241 0215, website: www.avischina.com), Hertz (Tel: 8008 108883. website: www.hertz.net.cn), and AsiaLimo limousine rental (Tel: 5351 1818, website: www.asialimo.com) are reliable. Office rental Try Fullhome Real Estate (Tel: 5115 0666, email: info@fullhomechina.com), Ortus Premier (Tel: 6335 1992, website: www.ortus.biz), Metropolis in Pudong (Tel: 3214 0937, website: www.metropolis-sh.com, email: metprop@uninet.com.cn), or Regus (Tel: 2890 9860, website: www. regus.com/shanghai).

Secretarial services These can be obtained from Plaza Business Centre (Tel: 8529 8000/8525 2100, website: www. plaza-asia.com), and Manpower (Puxi Tel: 5385 8006, Pudong Tel: 5878 2618).

Local press

The expat population supports a number of free English-language magazines with up-to-date listings and interesting pieces on the local culture. The most easily found are the monthly That’s Shanghai, the fortnightly City Weekend (website: www.cityweekend.com.cn/en/shanghai), and the monthly Shanghai Talk. MetroZine and Quo (both monthly) are bilingual. The official English-language newspapers are Shanghai Daily and Shanghai Star.

Internet

Internet cafés tend to charge 30p-95p per hour, whereas hotel internet fees are generally three to six times higher. Shanghai East Laser Computer Bookstore, 2nd floor, 190 Hubei Road, near Fuzhou Road. Open Monday-Saturday 9am-8:30pm, Sunday 9am-6pm. 3C T, 238 Shaanxi South Road, off Huai Hai Road. Open Monday-Thursday 10am-midnight, Friday-Sunday 10am-2am. InfoHighway, 181 Ruijin Er Road. Open daily 9am-6pm.

Jing Xi Internet Bar, 549 Beijing West Road. Open daily 24 hours.

If you’re looking for wi-fi access, try: Arch Bar, 439 Wukang Lu, near Huai Hai Lu. Starbucks, where you pay as you go, but you must purchase a card. Find the nearest one on www.starbucks.com/retail/locator/. Other locations offering wi-fi are: Coffee Beanery, Suite 1806, 1266 Nanjing West Road (free).

Ruzzi Pizza, 530 Fuzhou Road, near Hubei Road; G/F, Hong Kong New World Plaza, 300 Huai Hai Middle Road, and 5/F, Grand Gateway Plaza, 1 Hongqiao Road (free). Valley Gourmet, 821 Nanjing West Road, near Shi Men Yi Road (free).

Sasha’s, 11 Dongping Road, near Hengshan.

Money

The local monetary unit is the Renminbi yuan (RMB), which is divided into 10 jiao, which is further divided into 10 fen. Notes come in denominations of five jiao and one to 100 yuan. American Express, Visa, MasterCard and Diners cards are accepted at hotels, upmarket restaurants and major stores. Banks are open Mondays-Fridays 9am-5pm and Saturdays 9am-12pm. Some foreign banks keep different hours.

Just about anything in China is open to bargaining, even if there’s already a price on it, and this includes services such as tour guiding. You should start at about 50% of the initial asking price. It’s always a good idea to eavesdrop on fellow shoppers, to get more of an idea of a suitable price.

Tipping etiquette

Tips are a completely foreign concept in China and are often refused by service staff, unless they’re familiar with foreign customs (e.g. hotel and international restaurant staff). In fact, if a tip is refused, offer it again just to make sure, then forget it as you could offend. While a tip is rarely expected by service and hospitality staff, really good service is rare in Shanghai, so a discreet reward for a job well done can only encourage more of the same. The average tip for a bellboy is 35p-70p.

Visa/vaccination

The three main visas that foreigners travel to China on are: F visa for business, which lasts three months, L visa for tourism and Z visa for long-term foreign residents, which lasts 12 months. Fines for overstaying on an expired visa are steep ([00a3]195-[00a3]325) and regularly enforced. It’s best to check with your Chinese embassy for specific details, as they often change. No vaccinations are required for entering China (yellow fever vaccinations are only required if you’re travelling via an affected area). The rural areas may pose a threat (with hepatitis A and B, typhoid, malaria, rabies, tetanus and tuberculosis), so if you’re travelling outside the main urban districts, be sure to check with a doctor on whether you require shots.

Public holidays

The People’s Republic of China has three main blocks of public holidays, each of which consists of three days. They can be confusing, as people keep working through the preceding weekend to make up for holidays that fall on the weekdays and the government usually doesn’t confirm the dates until a week or two beforehand. Be sure to check with your host or travel agent. There are also a number of holidays relevant only to special groups.

Three days in January/February — Chinese New Year or Spring Festival
4th March — Youth Day (14-20 years)
8th March — International Women’s Day
1st-3rd May — International Labour Day
1st June — Children’s Day (under 13)
1st August — Army Day (forces personnel)
1st- 3rd October — National Day

Weather and climate

Shanghai’s unpredictable weather is a study in extremes. Spring and autumn are the best times to be here, if you have a choice. From June to August, temperatures are consistently in the mid-to-late 30s C, often with 70-90% humidity. About 60% of Shanghai’s annual rainfall occurs during this time and the hottest months are July and August. Early autumn is often the windy season, with an occasional typhoon. In winter, evening temperatures can drop to –5°C and January is the coldest month. Snowfalls are not unusual so be sure to rug up.