Jump to content

Travel to Shanghai, China


wringle
 Share

Recommended Posts

Here just give a profile of Shanghai, hope it can help...

Airport

Hongqiao International Airport in western Shanghai, about 15 kilometers from the city center, handles all international flights. By taxi, the trip from the airport will take you about 30 min. to an hour.

The new Shanghai Pudong International Airport is about 1 hour taxi away from the downtown Puxi area.

 

Visas

Consult the Chinese embassy or consulate in your home country to arrange for a visa. A tourist visa is valid for 90 days but can be extended for 30 days. For business visa extensions, you'll need to bring your passport and registration of

temporary residency from your hotel, plus a letter from the business that invited you, to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) Division for Aliens at No.1500 Minsheng Road, Pudong District, (tel: 28951900) on weekdays from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 5 p.m..

 

Currency

The RMB (Renminbi) is the official currency. The basic unit of RMB is the yuan ( also known as "kuai," divided into 10 jiao, which is again divided into 10 fen. Yuan notes come in 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, and 100. Now RMB value is seeing a rising trend against US dollar. In the second half of 2007, RMB's exchange rate is about 7.5 RMB/USD.

 

Credit Cards

Most major credit cards -- including American Express, Diner's Club, Federal Card, JCB, MasterCard and Visa -- are accepted at hotels and certain restaurants and shops.

 

Tipping

Tipping is generally not expected in mainland China. However in some high-class hotels & restaurants, tipping is expected by servants.

 

Useful Numbers

Police: 110

Fire Department: 119

Visa Card Hotline: 10-800-110-2911

MasterCard Hotline: 10-800-11-0-7309 (only in certain provinces)

 

Time Zone

GMT + 8 hours, same as Singapore. The whole of China, including Hong Kong, is set to Beijing time.

 

Climate

Shanghai summers are hot and humid with temperature reaching 40 degrees Celsius. The rainy season begins in June. Fall is mostly mild. In winter (January to February) temperatures can reach below freezing. Spring begins again in March.

Clothing

Shanghai was once famous for its stylishness, but has been overtaken by a more laid-back fashion sense over recent years. Recently, however, young executives are trying to recapture the bygone era, what with more disposable income and the arrival of brand-name fashion products.

 

Metro

The Shanghai subway is one of the youngest in the world and is among the most rapidly expanding. After the first line opened in 1995 as a north-south axis from the downtown railway station to the southern suburb, other metro lines No. 2, No.3, No, 4 , etc. followed quickly several years later. Shanghai will have 11 Metro lines in 2010, totaling 400 kilometers, in which five lines, No. 4, 6, 7, 8 and 13, will have stops in the 5.28-square-kilometer World Expo site.

 

Geography

China is the fourth largest country after Russia, Canada and the United States. It is located in Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay, Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam.

Land area: 9,326,410 sq. km.

Shanghai occupies 6,200 sq. km. and lies in central-eastern China, facing the East China Sea.

 

Population

China: 1.28 billion

Shanghai: 13.4 million

 

Language

The official language in China is Mandarin but distinct dialects are spoken throughout the country. Shanghainese speak Mandarin or Shanghaihua, however most tourist hotels have staff who are fluent in foreign languages.

 

Accommodation

If you wanna learn some Chinese culture and mandarin, be unique and special, try homestay-homestayglobal!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators

Thanks for the info. Could have used that when I was in Shanghai a few years ago. Wonderful city. I got a tour from Tianyi Zhu (who some of you may know from the CGA comps). Looks like I might be headed back to that end of the world soon..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

The Chinese Embassy is the building next to my daughter's school, I always pass there, my wife asked the other day why is it in such a public place, aren't they worried about security? So I told her everybody here loves China. I even wouldn't mind swapping citizenship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Chinese Embassy is the building next to my daughter's school, I always pass there, my wife asked the other day why is it in such a public place, aren't they worried about security? So I told her everybody here loves China. I even wouldn't mind swapping citizenship.

Hi,Ihab

 

nice to see u here.Chinese people are friendly and hospitable.:)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...
  • 9 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...