Somewhere around your second month in Shanghai, a colleague will mention their ayi. Then you’ll notice everyone has one — the single guy in the Jing’an loft, the family in the Pudong villa, your most frugal teacher friend. And you’ll ask the question every newcomer asks: should I get an ayi, and how does this actually work?
Short answers: probably yes, and much more easily than you think. Here’s the complete guide — costs, finding a good one, and the unwritten rules that make the relationship work.
What exactly is an ayi?
Ayi (阿姨, āyí) literally means “auntie” — it’s the polite, warm term for a housekeeper, cleaner, nanny or domestic helper, and it’s what you’ll call her (it is almost always her). Domestic help in China carries none of the class awkwardness some Westerners bring to it; it’s an ordinary, respected service used by local families as much as expat ones.
The role scales to your life:
- Cleaning ayi — once or twice weekly: cleaning, laundry, ironing, dishes, beds. The standard setup for singles and couples.
- Part-time housekeeper — several visits a week, adding cooking, groceries, dog-walking, receiving deliveries, dealing with the plumber in Chinese (this last service alone justifies the whole arrangement).
- Full-time or live-in ayi — the family option: childcare, school runs, daily cooking, full household management, typically six days a week.
- Yuesao (月嫂) — a specialised newborn/postpartum carer for the first month(s) of a baby’s life; a separate, more expensive profession of its own.
What it costs in 2026
- Part-time cleaning: roughly ¥40–60 per hour in central Shanghai. English-speaking or expat-experienced ayis run higher, up to ¥80/hour.
- A typical arrangement — twice a week, three hours a visit — lands around ¥1,000–1,500/month. For a clean home, done laundry, and ironed shirts, this is the best money you’ll spend in Shanghai.
- Full-time (live-out): ¥8,000–12,000/month depending on experience, cooking skills, childcare and language.
- One-time cleans via apps: around ¥50/hour with two-hour minimums — good for move-in/move-out days and party aftermaths.
- Yuesao: experienced ones command ¥14,000+ for the month — book well before the due date.
Payment is almost universally by WeChat transfer, weekly or monthly as agreed.
Where to find a good one
Referral, referral, referral. The best ayis circulate through recommendation — when a family leaves Shanghai, their ayi’s schedule opens, and word moves through compound WeChat groups within hours. Ask neighbours, colleagues, and your compound’s group. An ayi who has worked for one family for five years is a better bet than any stranger’s five-star profile.
Agencies — the established expat-oriented agencies (Ayi MatchMakers is the best-known in the foreign community) vet, train and match ayis, including English-speakers and Western-cooking specialists. Expect a fee around one month of the ayi’s salary for the first year. Worth it for full-time and childcare roles where vetting matters most.
Apps and mini-programs — WeChat cleaning services book by the hour with standardised rates. Convenient for one-offs; for a regular ayi, humans beat algorithms.
Your compound itself — many compounds have ayis who already work several apartments in the building. Ask the management office (物业). Someone who’s five floors away and trusted by three neighbours is a strong candidate.
The interview and trial
Even for a cleaning ayi, do a paid trial session or two. For childcare roles, interview properly: experience, references from previous (ideally expat) families, and comfort with your specific needs — pets, dietary rules, kids’ routines. A short trial period (试用期) of a week or two is normal and expected; it protects both sides.
Be explicit about tasks from day one. Cultural cleaning standards genuinely differ — “clean” is a specification, not an instinct — and a ten-minute walkthrough of exactly how you like things done saves months of low-grade frustration. Ayis vastly prefer clear instructions to silent disappointment.
The etiquette nobody explains
This is where expat-ayi relationships succeed or sour:
The 13th month. Around Chinese New Year, a bonus of one month’s pay (or proportional to time worked that year) is customary and expected. Budget for it; it’s not optional in spirit.
Holidays. Ayis take Chinese New Year week off — paid, by convention among decent employers — plus national holidays. Most expats also pay normally when they travel and the ayi can’t work; she held the slot for you.
Raises. A modest annual raise, or a raise when duties expand, keeps a good ayi. Good ayis have waiting lists; the ¥5/hour you save by never raising her rate is the most expensive money in Shanghai.
Keys and trust. Most regular ayis hold keys and work while you’re out — normal practice. Build to it: first sessions while you’re home, then go. Serious problems are rare, but the standard advice stands: keep genuinely irreplaceable valuables put away, for everyone’s comfort.
Communication. WeChat voice messages are the lingua franca of ayi coordination. If you don’t share a language, translation apps genuinely suffice for household logistics — thousands of households run this way. A little politeness is repaid many times over; she’s your team, not staff to be managed coldly.
The honest pros and cons
Pro: your evenings and weekends return to you; shirts appear ironed; the house works. For families, a good ayi becomes something close to extended family — many expat kids grow up bilingual because of her.
Con: it’s a human relationship with a person in your home, which means occasional friction — schedule changes, differing standards, the odd misunderstanding. The fix is nearly always the same: clearer communication, earlier.
Our take, having watched hundreds of tenants settle into Shanghai: the ayi is the single highest-return quality-of-life decision after choosing the right apartment. Most people wait too long to hire one and regret the delay, not the decision.
New to Shanghai and setting up your household? Our tenants get the neighbourhood knowledge with the keys — including which compound WeChat group to join for exactly this kind of thing. Browse our listings in Old Xuhui, Jing’an and Changning, or message us on WeChat.
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