The first two days in Shanghai, in priority order: what has to happen, what should, and what can wait. Tick things off as you go.
For Shanghai
How long you are staying
Must do
Within 24 hours of arriving at a private address, and again after every trip abroad. Hotels do it for you. Many cities now take it online; otherwise bring your passport and lease to the local station.
China Mobile, China Unicom or China Telecom, at the airport or a branch, against your passport. Almost every app and the bank verify against this number.
Make one small payment with each. If a foreign card is declined, try the other app or a different card; cash is legal tender but small vendors rarely have change.
Copy it in characters into your phone notes and Didi. Drivers, couriers and the police all work from the characters, not the pinyin.
Count 30 days from your entry stamp on a Z, X1 or S1 visa. Missing it means leaving the country and starting again.
In a flat, use the Shanghai police's self-service accommodation registration, in English, or the Suishenban app; most foreigners now do it this way. Keep the confirmation: the residence permit asks for it.
Your employer or university usually books it at a designated international travel healthcare centre. Bring passport photos and any vaccination records.
Should do
110 is the police, 120 an ambulance and 119 the fire service. Dispatchers work in Chinese, so keep a colleague's number and your address in characters to hand.
In Alipay (Transport, then Shanghai) or the Metro Daduhui app. Single fares start at ยฅ3; a 24-hour pass is ยฅ18 and a 72-hour pass ยฅ45 at the larger stations.
Pudong handles most long-haul flights and is about an hour from the centre; Hongqiao, in the west, handles domestic flights and the main high-speed rail station.
Pick the international department or clinic your insurance settles with directly, and save its address in Chinese.
The wuye office issues access cards and parking, takes repair requests and posts notices in the compound's WeChat group. Ask to be added.
Bring your passport, visa or residence permit, Chinese phone number and an employment letter. Linking a local card to Alipay and WeChat Pay lifts the foreign-card limits and fees.
Nice to do
Soy milk and youtiao, a jianbing or a bowl of wontons, for a few yuan from the stall with the longest queue.
Most embassies run a registration or alert service for nationals living abroad, worth two minutes in your first week.
Most neighbourhoods have one, for vegetables, tofu, noodles and breakfast stalls at a fraction of supermarket prices.
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