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Provided by: Pierre-Luc Auclair
Our travel guides are free to read and explore online. If you want to get your own copy, the full travel guide for this destination is available to you offline* to bring along anywhere or print for your trip.
*this will be downloaded as a PDF.Price
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Bus
The guide was updated:Buses are usually busy and the network can be complicated to negotiate for non-speakers of Chinese. The 911, which runs along Huaihai Road, can be useful.
Keep some loose change when travelling by bus, coins need to be placed in the slot at the entrance.
Useful Information
Digital Travel Guide Download
Our travel guides are free to read and explore online. If you want to get your own copy, the full travel guide for this destination is available to you offline* to bring along anywhere or print for your trip.
*this will be downloaded as a PDF.Price
€4,95
Most of Shanghai attractions are city sights, so the change of seasons has little impact. However, given the weather, it is recommended to visit in spring or autumn, for winter might get too cold and summer too hot for comfort. There is also the possibility of typhoons during summertime and even early autumn.
Try to avoid Chinese public holidays such as between October 1st and 7th, during which the city could be flooded by local tourists.
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Passport/Visa
For citizens of the following countries, a visa is not requested for short term stays:
- 90 days: Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino
- 60 days: Mauritius
- 30 days: Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Ecuador, Fiji, Grenada, Qatar, Serbia, Seychelles, Tonga, United Arab Emirates.
- 15 days: Brunei, Japan, Singapore.
Holders of passports issued by the following 49 countries do not require a visa for a 144-hour stay if they are transiting through Shanghai Airport. However, passengers need to provide a ticket showing their first destination, which should be outside China, nor could it be in the same country as the inbound flight.
- All European Union citizens, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Japan, Macedonia, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, New Zealand, Qatar, Russia, South Korea, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States.
- Passengers who enter China via Shanghai Airport under transition condition cannot leave the area of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
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Internet Access and VPN in China
Due to the Internet policy of China, certain websites and applications are not accessible from the mainland, which includes those very commonly used in the west (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google, Skype and more). Some travellers have been able to gain access to those via a VPN service (installed prior to arrival in China).
Make sure you comply with local laws and regulations when deciding on whether or not to employ a VPN, and which one to choose (if you do, only use those explicitly allowed by the Chinese government, and only use them for authorised purposes to avoid any trouble). There have been reports of foreigners in China getting their cell service cut off in response to unauthorised use of VPN being detected; restoring cell service required a trip to the local police station where contents of the device were investigated and certain apps removed.
Giving that Google is banned in China, Google Maps might not be the most accurate and reliable source of information. Some local apps such as Baidu Maps and AutoNavi tend to work better than Google Maps.
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Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Shanghai has two airports one of them is the international airport in Pudong, 35 km from the city centre.
From the Pudong Airport, the most enthralling way to travel is on the Maglev (the high-speed magnetic-rail train) to Longyang Road in Pudong. Purchasing a round-trip comes with a discount. There are an underground station and a taxi rank at Longyang Road for onward travel.
Metro Line 2 is available when departing or arriving at Pudong International Airport. Operating Time 6 am 10 pm and leaves every 8.5 minutes. Hotline: +86 21 6437 0000, www.service.shmetro.com/en
A taxi from Pudong Airport to the city centre takes up to an hour. Make sure you have your destination written in Chinese.
The airport has regular shuttle buses to many areas in the city and the major hotels have desks at the airport and will arrange the transfer.
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Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
Another airport called Hongqiao Airport, which handles domestic flights, lies 15 km from downtown.
Both Metro and buses run from this airport.
A taxi from Hongquiao Airport will take 30-45 minutes. Make sure you have your destination written in Chinese.
Hongqiao Airport has regular shuttle buses to many areas in the city. The major hotels have desks at the airport and will arrange the transfer.
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Metro
One of the best ways to travel is by the rapidly expanding Metro network, which is reliable, good value and easy to navigate (all directions are in English as well as Chinese).
You can buy your ticket at the ticket office at the Metro station or the automatic ticket selling machine.
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Bus
Buses are usually busy and the network can be complicated to negotiate for non-speakers of Chinese. The 911, which runs along Huaihai Road, can be useful.
Keep some loose change when travelling by bus, coins need to be placed in the slot at the entrance.
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Taxi
The traffic in Shanghai can be heavy, but taxis are easy to flag down. Be aware that most taxi drivers only speak Chinese and may not understand English. A great solution comes from a set-up called Guanxi: you text the English name of your destination to 885 074 and back it comes in Chinese characters. Just show your phone to your taxi driver.
You can also use taxi cab hailing service with WeChat or Alipay (like the Chinese version of Uber).
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Post
The main post office is at 276 Sichuan Bei Lu (between Tiantong Road and Beisuzhou Lu, but there are branches all over town. The Shanghai Centre branch (1376 Nanjing Xi Lu) and the branch at 212 Xinhua Lu have staff who speak some English. Post boxes are green.
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Pharmacy
Pharmacies are not hard to find in the city, just look for the green cross.
The Shanghai United Family Hospital and Clinics Pharmacy work 24/7, year-round. It is located at 1139 Xianxia Rd, Changning Qu, Shanghai (+86 21 2216 3900).
Parkway Community Pharmacy is an international standard professional pharmacy. Staff can speak English.
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Telephone
Country code: +86
Area code: (0)21
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Electricity
220 V / 50 Hz, three-pin plugs
Adapter needed
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