Before you land
Essentials
The unglamorous logistics that decide whether a trip works: how to pay, how to get online, how to use the metro, and how not to get ripped off.
Paying for Things in Shanghai
Almost nobody in Shanghai uses cash. Here is how to get a foreign card working before you land, and what to do when it does not.
Phones, eSIM & the Internet
What works, what does not, and why you should sort all of it out before you board rather than after you land.
The Metro, Plainly
Twenty lines, 500+ stations, signs and announcements in English, and one thing that trips up every first-time visitor: security.
Taxis & Ride-Hailing
How to get a car without overpaying, and the one rule that prevents almost every problem.
Both Airports, and Getting In
Hongqiao is thirty minutes from the centre. Pudong is a longer ride, a maglev, or both. Which you land at changes your whole first day.
Transit Without a Visa
The 240-hour exemption explained in plain terms — and the three things that decide whether it applies to you.
Toilets, Water, Power & Other Practicalities
The small logistics that decide whether a day goes well: where the toilets are, whether to drink the tap water, and how to charge your phone.
Safety & the Few Scams Worth Knowing
Shanghai is one of the safer big cities in the world. There are still three or four things that catch visitors out.
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