new to Shanghai

There's a moment in most expats' first month here — usually when the fees on foreign-card payments start adding up, or an ayi asks to be paid by transfer rather than cash — when opening a local bank account stops being optional and starts being obviously necessary. Here's exactly what that involves in 2026, with no surprises. The one rule that decides your timeline Chinese banks do not open...

You land at Pudong at 11pm, you need a map, a ride-hailing app, and a message home saying you made it — and this is exactly the moment an eSIM for China earns its keep. Here's the complete, current picture: how it works, what it actually gets you, the one mistake that catches almost everyone, and how it fits alongside getting a proper local number once you're settled. What an eSIM actually is, in...

Here is the single most important practical fact about life in Shanghai: the city runs on two apps, and until they're on your phone, you can't easily buy a coffee, catch a taxi, rent a share-bike, order lunch, or pay your landlord. The good news — and it is genuinely good news, because this used to be a nightmare — is that in 2026, setting up Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign Visa or Mastercard...