Living in Shanghai

12-14-2010 - Effective January 15th this resource page will move. Your current bookmark will generate a broken link. Yonderways.com is refocusing and growing to incorporate the domain owners' vision of a non-profit, self-sustainable, intergrative community for individuals suffering with severe brain disorders otherwise known as mental illness. The Yonderways community is a vision born from the couple's personal experiences. The Shanghai expat resource page will stay in place for as long as the couple remains in Shanghai as a goodwill gesture for individuals seeking hard to find expat resource information.

SHANGHAI ONLINE

eChinaCities.com - Great interactive website on all major Chinese cities (our link points to the Shanghai portal). Explore travel guide, resident guide, business guide, city events and highlights, jobs and an active classifieds section.
EnjoyShanghai.com - With a new turbo charged site relaunch, the site is fast becoming our favorite overall Shanghai resource. The directory offers many resources including a free online classifieds. Plus, purchase an Enjoy Membership and get savings, benefits, and privileges at hundreds of places throughout the city. We personally recommend the membership and feel it's a great value especially for newbies to the city.
Shanghai.gov.cn - official site in English from the Shanghai Government. Resources for expats, visitors, investors, students and comprenhensive facts about the Shanghai Municipality.
ShanghaiDaily.com - Daily online news publication offering metro, business, world news as well as features, sports and a separate "Live in Shanghai" portal featuring classifieds, city guide and more.
Shfamily.com - A growing site with a focus on Shanghai expat families. Subjects covered are school life, health, travel, culture, and more. There is also a new forum.
Cityweekend.com.cn - Very active website and printed publication in Shanghai. Events, blogs, classifieds and more.
ShanghaiExpat.com - Very active site, some helpful information from a handful of forum contributors, but be prepared to wade through alot of forum smack. A site redo is in the works.
Shanghiist.com - Active entertainment site.
SmartShanghai.com - Another nicely designed and active site focusing mostly on Shanghai entertainment. Check out their interactive "MAPS" section.
EnterShanghai.info - While this is ultimately a real estate website, the extensive resources for living and working in Shanghai make this a good Shanghai expat website.
ChinaSplash.com - Search for jobs in China.
Tickets Online Shanghai - Purchase tickets online for Shanghai events.
ThisShanghai.com - Online Classifieds
Emoo.net - Shanghai guide portals for visas, housing, jobs, travel and more.
Xianzia - See Chinese culture guide.

VISAS

China Visa Guide - article from eChinacities.com explaining the four classes of visas most frequently used.
Visa Applications - From Shanghai.gov.cn
For Americans: Chinese Embassy in Washinton, DC - visit http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/
For Americans: Links to Chinese Consulate-General Offices - visit http://gochina.about.com/od/tripplanning/a/Visa_Contact.htm

COST OF LIVING

Mercer's 2010 Cost of Living Survey Highlights - long a highly regarded resource for managing cost of living allowances for expatriates.
Ranking of World's Most Expensive Cities - Citymayors.com Economics report on 2010 most expensive cities rankings. Shanghai is ranked 25th while New York City ranks 27th
The Philosophy of Expatriate Pay - an informative article by Steven Coleman.
Embracing the options for expatriate pay - (June 2010) a well written article discussing expat remuneration options in Asia by Sonia Chan at Bnet.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Renting a house or Flat in Shanghai - Great article on renting accommodations from easyexpat.com.
Services for Expatriates - from the Shanghai.gov.cn website. Information atbout entry inspection, residence permits, accommodations and more.

HEALTH

Health Services in Shanghai - informative medical health services article at entershanghai.info with links to western style hospitals, drugstores, clinics, emergency medical information, health insurance information and more.

AYIS AND DRIVERS

Getting the Right Price in China: Ayis, Drivers, Visa and Housing - Very informative article including a linked how-to guide on finding an ayi in Shanghai. Linked article is by Susie Gordon @ eChinacities.com

Related Services:
My Spa Wash - Dry cleaning and personal laundry service with English speaking employees and free pickup and delivery services.

TRANSPORTATION

Shanghai Metro (Subway System) - Explore Shanghai - Metro map and resources in real time. Also, GREAT iphone app!
Shanghai Bus System - Shanghai Bus Routes in English by Micah Sittig
How to Ride the Bus in Shanghai - another great article from eChinacities.com.
Taking Taxis in Shanghai - Shanghai Taxis - Wangjianshuo's Blog has many insightful observations about life in Shanghai. He ranks taxi services by quality of service.
Taxi Interactive Map - Select this link to learn more about an electronic interactive map being installed in over 10,000 Shanghai taxis for the world expo.

TECHNOLOGY

VPN - Virtual Private Network - Witopia - China Firewall Security Settings have gotten much stricter. In order to access social websites, banking websites and other websites in your home country, you are advised (we feel it is a must-have) to subscribe to a personal VPN. We use Witopia, but there are other good and growing services. Search "VPN" and learn about the importance of encrypting your wireless connection and/or having a home-country IP address.

VOIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol - Skype - Call ordinary phones anywhere in the world from your computer. We use skype daily and believe it to be the single best expat technology!

MANDARIN TRANSLATION RESOURCES

Google Translate - Translate text, webpages and documents using this application. Extremely helpful in conjunction with google maps, Chinese Real Estate sites, and Taobao (China's version of Ebay).
Google Translated Search - Another useful application when searching resources. The application will translate your English queries to Chinese, search Chinese resources and return the results in English. Confusing? Select the link and search something.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS

British International School
Concordia International
Dulwich College (all grade levels)
Livingston American School
Shanghai American School
Shanghai Community International School
Shanghai Singapore International School
Yu Chong International School

SHOPPING

Grocery Delivery
City Shop - "We guarantee to provide products with the best quality."
The Pines Market Place - "Stay at home and let us deliver the world to you."
Smart Direct - Marks and Spencer Online Shop - "Supermaket shopping made easy."
Elders - "Australian meat and wine delivered to your door."
Kooka Pies - Chilled prepared aussie meat pies.
Mountain City Coffee Roasters - Fresh Roasted Coffee Delivered to Shanghai. We admit it - we're coffee snobs. To date, we've found absolutely NO fresh quality roasted beans in Shanghai, and believe us, we've tried. That's not to say there aren't roasters, but for price and consistency, no one beats Mountain City Roasters from Candler, NC. The owner is very familiar with shipping to Shanghai, and even adding shipping charges, his quality beans are cheaper than most locally so-so roasted options. We HIGHLY recommend this source if you are a coffee lover.

Restaurant Delivery
Sherpas - "Now delivering 193 of China's best restaurants to you."
Mealbay - "Your reliable friend in Shanghai."

Wine and Beer Delivery
ASC Wines
Just Drinks
Torres
Ruby Red Wines
Vino Venue
Shanghai 9


ORGANIZATIONS AND CLUBS

CommunityCenter.cn - A great online presence and community presence. Website tagline reads, "Making friends, helping people, building community...among internationals throughout Shanghai."

PERSONAL BLOGS

Shanghai Expat Wife's Life
Shanghais and Lows
ShanghaiDailyPhoto.com
AromasYSabores
ShanghaiScrap.com
ShanghaiTechWriter.com
Wangjiansho's Blog
Style Shanghai

Yonderways.com and other personal blogs can be found at:

Seems there are loads of folks blogging in Shanghai - see many, many more by visiting the links below:
The Expat Directory
Blogs in Expat Women Directory

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FOREIGN CONSULATES

Australia
Belgium
Canada
Czech Republic
France
Germany
Holland
Israel
Japan
Philippine
United Kingdom
United States

Visit http://www.china-embassy.info/foreign-embassies/shanghai/index.htm to see a complete listing of all foreign embassies in Shanghai.

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CONDUCTING BUSINESS

Living the Shanghai Life - Article from economist.com on the subject of business etiquette in Shanghai.


CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

American Chamber of Commerce
Australian Chamber Shanghai
British Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai
Canada China Business Council
European Union Chamber of Commerce China
France - Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Francaise en Chine
Germany - Delegations of Industry & Commerce
Greece - Hellinic Chinese Chamber
Italy - Camera di Commercio Italiana in Cina
Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Netherlands Chamber of Commerce
Swedish Chamber
Swiss Chamber Shanghai
Spain - Camara Oficial de Comercio de Espana en China

For a complete list of Chambers in China visit MadeInChina.com - "Connecting Buyers with China Suppliers"

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STUDYING IN SHANGHAI

ATTENTION! Looking for students/teachers past and present to help with this section - please contact us if you're interested in helping others find good study abroad resources.

East China Normal University
Fudan University
Medical Center of Fudan University
Shanghai International Studies
Tongji University
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
Xi'an Jiaotong University

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GENERAL EXPAT RESOURCES

Easy Expat - Shanghai - See overview, accommodations, work, moving, schools, medical facilities, shopping, etc.
ExpatWomen.com - Women helping women living overseas.
ExpatExpert.com - I highly recommend Robin Pascoe's books, especially if you are a first-time expat spouse traveling with or without kids. Visit her site, read her blog and join her facebook group.
Expat-Blog.com - Easily create and share your expat experiences through this beta site.

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MISCELLANEOUS RESOURCES

US Travel Registration - Travel registration is a free service provided by the U.S. Government to U.S. citizens who are traveling to, or living in, a foreign country. Registration allows you to record information about your upcoming trip abroad that the Department of State can use to assist you in case of an emergency. Americans residing abroad can also get routine information from the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate.


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