Tips on Living in China/Shanghai

This one is inspired from the first one which I had found to be very useful when I started. However the first one is a bit out dated now so I though of updating the content to the extent possible and will touch on some areas which were not as relevant in 2012 :).



Cell Phone:

The Indian mobile equipment should work in Shanghai. However the messages may not be readable if it is a feature phone as they may not support the Chinese character set. Smartphone would most likely support them but I am not sure (Moto E did).

However, you may be in for an initial shock as nothing related Google will work here: Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play Store etc. unless you have a VPN. So here are a few Apps that you should install before you land here (I am also giving the analogous App that you typically would be using in India or even globally):

India	China	Comments
WhatsApp	WeChat	Both are a must have. WeChat support voice calls and has slightly better call quality and has embedded translation capabilities. In fact wechat beats whatsapp hands down on pretty much all aspects. WhatsApp may be blocked at times as well.
	ExploreShanghaiMetro	Very Useful and Must Have: Provide all the information that you need for the Shanghai Metro network. Assuming that you do not know Chinese you would be relying on the metro very much.
	Pleco	Chinese dictionary and OCR software [Paid]
Youtube	Youku	Youtube is blocked unless you are on company or private VPN.
Gmail	QQ/Outlook.com	Gmail is blocked. QQ is the Chinese gmail although it’s very slow in accessing from outside China. You may want to setup auto-forward your Gmail emails to some other account till you get settled here.  Alternatively setup a Microsoft Outlook.com account.
Google Search	Bing/Baidu	Baidu is the Chinese Google Search.
Google maps	Baidu	I am not sure if an English version exists. Try your luck.
Twitter	Weibo	Chinese Twitter and Facebook equivalents. There may be others as well. Weibo features are somewhere between Twitter and Facebook.
Facebook	Renren	Chinese Facebook equivalent.

If you are an Apple product user you are in a better shape as Apple store is accessible. Windows store is also accessible but I heard that the apps on windows are very limited.

Food

If you are a strict vegetarian you will find it difficult here. Even for a Indian non-vegetarians it may not be that easy as in India if you eat Chicken you consider yourself a non-vegetarian.

Non-vegetarian here would typically be beef, pork and sea-food. These three are the most common although you will find Chicken as well.

Also if you are very particular you may have to check the oil that is used for e.g. with French fries. Oil derived from animal fat is very common here.

Also be careful if you are very particular about the veg and non-veg. Often all the ingredients will not be mentioned. For e.g. It may say Cabbage Dumplings and may have pork as the base with cabbage thrown in.

Known options for an Indian:

Chain	Comments
Sub-way	You can find the Veggie delight sub. That is the only vegetarian option. A small one costs 15 RMB. Large one 27 RMB.
McDonald's	No Vegetarian Burgers. I guess in morning they have the Egg option and other than that you have Chicken and Beef.
KFC	No Vegetarian option. Closest option is Chicken.
Pizza Hut	You have options of a couple of Vegetarian Pizza's but the taste is very different from India or even what you get in the US.
Domino's	Very limited Vegetarian Option. Two Veg Pizza’s were available. The Garlic bread is prepared very differently but you may like the taste. Oil I am not very sure.

Street Food:

There are at least few items that you may like with the street vendors and these are very cost effective and similar to what we get back home.

Jian bing guo zi (Chinese version of the Egg Dosa): Costs around 4 RMB. Instead of oil it is the egg that is used to roast the dosa. While this is a North China breakfast specifically from the Tianjin area you will find it in other cities as well. You can decide on the stuffing which could range from wafer to pork sausage. Ask them to add more of the chili sauce if you like it spicy.

Egg Paratha (Bread stuffed with poached Egg): You will find this in many street side yellow colored stall. The version without any meat goes for 3 RMB. They also give it with toppings of sausage or chicken. 

Grocery Stores

There are some Indian grocery stores in Pudong (it is a large area so do not get excited) however the other big departmental stores are Carrefour, CityShop, Metro, Auchan.

CityShop has a good website in English and will do home delivery also but they are a tad expensive.

Transport:

Sorted in Ease of Use Order:

Metro: Is by far the most convenient as they have all the details mentioned in English as well and the network is also very good and the fare very reasonable. Get the pre-paid metro card if you plan to stay for longer than a few weeks and will need to use the metro. The best thing about this card is that it is also accepted on the city's taxi, buses and even ferries. In fact there were plans to make the cards work across cities as well. You even get a discounted fare on using it across modes on the same trip. Worth emulating in any city aiming for a world class public transit system. Remember, while you can get the card on almost every metro station, you will not be able to return the card on every metro stations. Check with the Metro staff. They are very helpful.

Taxi: The taxi fare is also reasonable and you can use these provided you have the addresses printed in Chinese. Do not expect that the drivers to know any English. Some of the drivers carry a translator app but it is safer to carry the address in Chinese. The pre-paid card work on the taxi as well.

Bus: Everything is in Chinese so you may find using them a bit difficult unless someone has told you the number. But all buses do not have a number. The pre-paid card work on the bus as well.

Weather: 

July to August: is hot and humid (more comfortable than Chennai, India though) and and you can have heavy rains. The rains are unpredictable in Shanghai so it is advisable that you carry an umbrella or a rain coat. The cheapest umbrella should cost you around 15 RMB. The expensive ones could go upto 100 RMB. The hotels or service apartments provide one normally.

September to October: is the Autumn time and the weather is pleasant. Although there could be occasional showers.

November to December: is pretty cold with the chilly winds blowing most of the times. It also keep drizzling most of the time. Unlike most regions in India which has "Dry winter" Shanghai has a "Wet winter". The good part of that is you do not have to apply a lot of cold cream but chilly winds can make you a bit uncomfortable at times.

Legal Documents and Other Formalities:

1. TRRF: There are a number of documents that you need once you enter Shanghai, China. The first one is the TRRF (Temporary Residence Registration Form) and you should get it done within 24 hrs of your arrival. If you are going to a hotel/service apartment they will do it for you. You will need to give them your passport and they will keep it for a day.

Else you need to ensure that you get this document from the local police station.

2. Medical Checkup: If you are coming on a Work (Z), S1/S2( dependent) or a student Visa you need to undergo a medical checkup. This report is the basis on which you get your Residence permit and/or work permit.

If you have previously taken a Vaccine for Hepatitis it is advisable from my personal experience that you let the doctors know and ask them to check for Hepatitis during the first check-up itself. Else, your first report may show abnormal liver function and you may have to undergo a test again which will waste your precocious time and money.

3. Residence Permit: You need to go to No. 1500 Minsheng Road where the Public Security Bureau is located for this. Going by Metro would be most convenient and cost effective assuming you are staying near a metro station. Middle Yanggao Road station on Line 9 is one of the options. The bureau is at a walk-able distance from this station. The normal validity for the permit is 1 year however if your employer has a larger head count you may be eligible for 2 year permit as well. Check with your employer/agent on this. It will be helpful if you are trying to get dependents for whom you need to bear the permit cost as they automatically get a permit of the same duration as your permit.

Remittance to India:

The remittance process to India is not as smooth as from the US or some of the western countries as China still has strict capital controls. Here are few of the options:

Western Union: Agricultural Bank of China facilitates the Western Union money transfer. They charge around $20 per transfer. The normal limit is $500 per day. You need to carry your passport and fill up a form. If it the first time then you may have to complete some other forms as well. You can transfer higher amounts also but then you need carry the following as well:
- Tax Slip
- Chopped Pay Slip (Payslip stamped by the Company HR)
- Your work contract that you would have signed when you joined.

Indian Banks: Since only SBI and Canara Bank have 1 branch in Shanghai you may have to commute to a long distance. Then these banks do not open on the weekends so you may have to take a day off. Canara Bank does open on the first Saturday of every month.
They will require your passport and Tax Slip only. 
Canara Bank has a fee of $15 for amounts upto $2500. Beyond that you $1 every incremental $1000. However, with Canara Bank you need to carry cash to their branch.

Chinese Banks: You can visit the chinese banks as well and they will do it for you but what I have heard is that the remittance take almost 5-10 working days. However, since they are in close proximity you may not have to take a day off.

All these options have some trade-offs :).

Useful Websites:
1. Shanghai Expat