Tomorrow I’m leaving Shanghai, and I thought that I’d just share some things that might be helpful for those who come after me.
First of all, some cultural things that I noticed:
- People will stare at you, especially outside of the city; don’t get offended.
- People might stand much closer to you than you’re used to when they talk to you.
- Food is meant to be shared. Most restaurants are set up for couples or groups of eaters. The dishes are made to be shared. Hot pot is a great example, but even other restaurants have this mentality. The smaller restaurants (more like diners) will have plates of food for individuals.
- Sometimes, there are bones in the food. They belong there. Just eat around them.
- You should be flexible if you come to Jinshan World Foreign Language School; things happen last minute and you just go with the flow. I have been asked to monitor club meetings (film and drama club), and judge competitions on the day they happen. Be open and flexible and enjoy the experience.
If you stay in Jinshan district, there is significantly less English to go around than there is in downtown. Still, you won’t have a problem. The school will set you up with someone to show you around the mall and grocery store, how to get to the train station, and you’ll probably be going out to eat with other people most of the time (the school provides food during the school week, so don’t worry about that).
You will be able to do laundry pretty much whenever you want for free if you stay in the student dorms (and you can get someone to go with you to buy laundry detergent), but there you must hang-dry everything, so you’ll have to plan ahead a little bit. Bring some hangers to make this easier.
You should probably pack a roll of toilet paper to hold you over until you can get to the grocery store. Many public restrooms do not provide toilet paper. Also, you cannot flush the toilet paper; there is a bin next to the toilets that you should throw the paper away in (don’t worry; you get used to it).
Don’t forget a plug adaptor. The outlets at the school accept US (without ground) and AUS plugs. Most plug adaptors will work. I got a simple universal plug adaptor so I could charge my laptop, but my phone charger works in the plugs without an adaptor. Don’t forget to check your chargers to make sure they can take 220 V (most can).
Try to download your apps before you come here (you cannot access the Google Play Store after you arrive). This includes a VPN (although, my VPN never worked). The apps that I use most frequently are:
WeChat:
You can use WeChat to communicate in social groups. All of the teachers at the school communicate through this app, and you will undoubtedly be invited to several different group chats when you get here. You can also use WeChat to look at the train schedules, restaurant menus, and many other things. Many Chinese people use WeChat to pay for things, but it will not work for foreigners (at least, I could not get it to work).
Didi (like Uber)
Didi is one of the few apps that is in English and accepts a foreign (non-Chinese) bank card. You can set this up with you bank card and use it like Uber to get around Shanghai. Fairs are pretty cheap and I did not have any issues using it. Very convenient.
Baidu Maps and Maps.me
Baidu maps does not recognize most English names of places, so you will have to either learn the characters (and download the Chinese keyboard for your phone), or create a notes file with frequent destinations (the school, the train stations, restaurants, etc.) in Chinese so you can copy and paste them into the search bar. This app will tell you how to use public transportation, how long it will take, and how much it will cost. It will take some time to get used to the Chinese, but once you get used to it, it’s very easy to use. Maps.me is a service that lets you download local maps and use them offline, so you don’t need to use your data to get directions (walking and driving, no public transportation) to many destinations. The only thing is that it does not have everything. You can still use it, though, if you have an address. It was great for me for walking around the city.
Finally, my last piece of advice is: don’t let the language barrier deter you from coming to China. You can will be able to make it just fine with “Hello”, “Thank you”, and counting. Get a good translator and you’ll be fine. Pleco is good, and Google Translate works. Someone told me Baidu translate is good, but I haven’t tried it.
Things to do around Jinshan:
Running/Walking: If you’re a runner, Jinshan has some really nice running paths for runners. If you take a right after crossing the river behind the school, you can follow the sidewalk to the traffic light, cross the street, and there is a really nice walking park that I run through. There are plenty of other places to run in Jinshan. The school also has some outdoor tracks, a treadmill, and some indoor and outdoor basketball courts.
Wanda Plaza: This is a mall across the street from the school. It is pretty close to an American mall, so but there are some pretty cool shops in there. You can also see music performances at the mall some weekends. There is also a Watson (like CVS), a Starbucks, an IMAX movie theater, an arcade, a TON of restaurants and street food vendors, and a supermarket. Jinshan is also home to many dog-lovers, and they gather here almost every night and let the dogs play together.
This was my favorite restaurant right outside of Wanda, a Japanese Sushi spot 20 yuan for a bowl of Ramen, 50 yuan for a sushi roll.
I also had some great hot pot – you can find about half-a-dozen hot pot restaurants in Wanda. The frog is excellent!
The Fishing Village: The old fishing village is a small part of Jinshan near the water that has a fish market, several restaurants, and a small old-style shopping alleyway. It’s small, and you may not go there every night, but it’s worth seeing at least once.
Fengjing Ancient Town: This is a little far away from where you’ll be staying in Jinshan, but it’s a really cool place to go if you want to see an old Chinese water town. I also found a lot of souvenirs here.
Donglin Temple was also very impressive, but it is about a 1 hour bus ride to get there. If you’re really into that sort of thing, it’s worth it. I wish I could tell you how to get to the temple and ancient town, but it’s difficult to explain because the busses are not numbered. It might be best to go with someone who knows the way, or have someone pull it up on Baidu Maps when you get here.
Jinshan Wei Zhan (Jinshan Railway) 金山卫站: This is your ticket downtown. The train only goes to Shanghai South Station (30/60 minutes depending on the train you get; 10 Yuan one-way), so you cannot take the wrong train. When you’re in Shanghai South Station (上海南站), just look for signs for Jinshan Railway – that train will only go to Jinshan, so you cannot get on the wrong train if you go to the Jinshan Railway. The school gave me a public transportation card that I could put money on at the train station. It works on the trains and the metro line and made traveling downtown very convenient.
Downtown Shanghai has loads of things to do, so I’m not going to list them, there are plenty of places you can look online for fun stuff to do, but if you’re craving tacos, you MUST go to Tacolicious! (Take metro line 1 from Shanghai South Station to Hengshan Rd, and it’s about a 10 minute walk from the station – you wont regret it) (address: 1 Yueyang Rd (岳阳路), Near Dongping Rd (东平路) – You can also just type Tacolicious in English in Baidu Maps and it will come up – one of the few places you can look up in English).