Where we currently have a little 'tips of the day' section, specialising in philosophical ideas, the new 'tips' popup will have info a little more relevant about Shanghai.

The content will be things that are helpful when living in Shanghai, but info that you wouldn't specifically look for: how to hail a cab, the different types of DVDs, the difference between Donglu and Xilu, how to tell the difference between a police officer and a security guard, how to spot a fake bill... etc.

The list is endless.

I'm looking for little pieces of information that you think might help people out. Doesn't have to be anything major. Just a tip that might help out a Shanghai newbie.

For example:

When buying fruit in a supermarket, be sure to get it weighed before checking out. Approach a shop assistant standing next to a scale. She will weigh it, and seal the bag with a sticker that says the weight and price of the fruit.

Ta in advanceGot

be sure that you ask the repairman fixing things in your apt that you dont like for him to smoke inside the house while working...

another one is dont feel bad about pusing people in a crowded place, just push back (dont hit anyone) enough to open space for yout to do your thing in the midst of the multitudes.

always bargain.. no matter where you are always ask for a better price.

Get a mobile that can accept chinese characters.

Text the name of bar, eatery, hospital, hotel, etc to 885074.

You will then get address and phone number in English.

Reply to this text with a 'C' and you get the address in Chinese.

GlasgowCraig wrote:Get a mobile that can accept chinese characters.

Text the name of bar, eatery, hospital, hotel, etc to 885074.

You will then get address and phone number in English.

Reply to this text with a 'C' and you get the address in Chinese.

I didn't know that. Thanks! Any more replies greatly appreciated.

after eating crabs or shrimp (with bare hands), nicer restaurants will bring you a bowl of dark liquid, perhaps with a lemon in it. don't drink it. it is for washing your hands. when in doubt, wait for others to act first.

When hailing a cab after 11.00pm ask for a 20% discount.
If they don't give you one (a discount that is) get another cab and repeat the procedure.

Most cabbies will give you a 20% discount aftre 11.00pm albeit begrudgingly.

always ask for receipt after you finish the cab ride in case you left your property on the cab or the cab driver tries to rip you off. tell the driver you are going to call the cab company (wo yao da dian hua tou su ni) if you feel he ripped you off.

when bargain at xiangyang market, especially for the newbies, always remember to cut at least 2/3 of the price first, if the owner of the booth doesn't accept the price, go away and look around, there is always similar stuff in the market and someone else would like to make the deal, plus the go-way-and-look-around is always the trick to get the deal done.

It would useful if a "costs" thread was pinned somewhere.

Or an overall price page. hmm...

I agree.. It would be EXTREMELY HELPFUL if there was a posting which expats could look at (and add to) the prices we actually should be paying for goods at markets, fruitstands, shops etc.

..especially for the poor fools who spend 260 RMB for a "grade A" pair of adidas/aidads/adsiac/adscas sneakers at xianyang

In terms of getting around economically...the different taxi queues at Hongqiao airport and where to get Pudong airport busses, how the public transport card works (i.e. it is a real pain to get your deposit back!) and what you can use it for.

The names and descriptions of chinese street breakfast: different breakfast dumplings, buns, that egg burrito looking thing and the boiled rice dumpling wrapped in leaves. All these are actually edible and can be found for sale on the side of the road in the morning.

A list of medical institutions, their prices for standard procedures and whether or not they speak english.

Bring your valuable shanghai experience to share with the big community!!! ~~~~

Cheers!

Make sure you always have some tissues on you. You never know when you need it

I will enhance Ivo's post. Bring not only dry but wet tissues or desinfecting liquid (imported, pretty expensive here) as well since you can hardly find any soap in the toilets.

Well....my 2 cents...

-List of free wireless spots in Shanghai.
-Subway 1st and last ride time per station and line
-In addition to the price list mentioned above, there could be a column in this "price spreadsheet" called "where to get it".

Example:
deodorant / 20 rmb / blablabla supermarket / xxx supermarket / ....
hot pot restaurant / xxx rmb/person / <name of restaurants here>

If we were REALLY into business we would, just like Google, AUCTION the entries in this "spreadsheet" to whomever would be interested.
Ah, and whenever we have an address for anything, it should be hyperlinked with address/phone/map(?)

what about a spreadsheet for places that gave you the sh its? We can even call it a spreadshit.

that way, we will soon know which restaurants have the highest mean average of giving people the runs/diarhhoea/la du zi.

How about a decent virtual map of Shanghai that is in English (meaning up to date & also able to find smaller streets!)

when you espablish a price with someone for something make sure the guy anderstand have him repaet couple times and if it is for repair or somthing major have him sign a paper so you should be safe if after he does not agree too bad you got the signed paper if he start bla bla bla
nanar 747

Oh yes Fidel I feel with you - even your signature, to which I would say
with love time passes - with time love passes

Never ride the maroon-colored taxicabs..........The Green 96822 Taxicabs (Dazhong Taxi) are the best.

I just found out that the transportation cards that you can buy in the subway stations can be used in taxis. The cabs all have RFID readers in them, and a radio system (probably CDMA or something) that allows them to verify the card from the cab. Beats fishing for cash every cab ride. The cards are called yi4 ka3 tong1, and they're sold at "some" metro stations (or maybe "all", but my friend says "some").

..those maroon cabs are horrible! they are the dirtiest, the drivers all seem a bit off, and they look like they're trying to rip me off by taking the long way everywhere!

here's what i would have like to have known as a newbie in shanghai: which convenience store allows me to pay my bills (electricity, water and gas), and which ones allow me to top up my transportation card; checking the weather by calling 12121 (has english and chinese), calling 114 (chinese speaking though) to get the address or telephone number of a company or place etc; that renewing visas for those who stay near Gubei, can go to the Gubei branch instead of the Ming Sheng lu in Pudong and that you can get the visa/passport delivered to your home (no need to go down to collect it personally, just pay a small fee); knowing what the taxi driver means when he says 'xiao2 guai3' (right turn), 'da4 guai3' (left turn); how to spot a fake fa piao.

pchia1 wrote:here's what i would have like to have known as a newbie in shanghai: which convenience store allows me to pay my bills (electricity, water and gas), and which ones allow me to top up my transportation card; checking the weather by calling 12121 (has english and chinese), calling 114 (chinese speaking though) to get the address or telephone number of a company or place etc; that renewing visas for those who stay near Gubei, can go to the Gubei branch instead of the Ming Sheng lu in Pudong and that you can get the visa/passport delivered to your home (no need to go down to collect it personally, just pay a small fee); knowing what the taxi driver means when he says 'xiao2 guai3' (right turn), 'da4 guai3' (left turn); how to spot a fake fa piao.

How do you spot a fake fa piao?

It's a bit hard to describe how to do this without a picture and/or live demo, but here are a couple of tips on how to spot a fake bill (currency).

I've been told that for the new (issued in 2005) 100 RMB bills, the "best" way is to rub your finger along the far right side (where there are a bunch of short horizontal lines) and make sure the surface is rough/ribbed. Note that the pre-2005 versions don't have this feature though. The 2005 100 RMB bills have several new added security features.

For both old and new versions of the bills, you should also hold the bill up to the light and look for a clear watermark image of Mao on the left side. The lines on the right side of Mao's collar and hair are also slightly "raised/ribbed" but with older bills, they tend to get worn down and hard to feel.

I have learned these tips the hard way - having unknowingly accepted (or my staff accepted?) fake bills from customers in my business. I have since gone out and bought a fake money detector machine for the business!

There are a few other ways too, but I'm to tired to try to figure out how to describe them in words (looking at the color-changing "100" in the lower left corner - very hard to see sometimes, I think; looking for the tiny "100 RMB"'s printed on the thin stripe, etc.). Maybe someone else can take a stab at it?

rub it against a white wall, if any red comes off it's fake. Also, if you snap the bill, it should have a sharp, plastic sound to it, fake ones are just like snapping paper, try it and you'll easily hear the difference.

Amazing how people end up with fake 100rmb banknotes. I hear stupid foreigners complaining about it all the time. How and why do you get those? Basically they only place you can get them is at the bank - and those are not fake! Its the largest denomination in China, so no way to you get change with 100rmb bills. Or do some of you get paid cash?! Ah ah. Repeat after me: "English teachers".

I have received 2 fake 100's from the bank teller machines. Gaurenteed. It's easy to spot a fake when you 30 real ones to compare it against.

Well you did ask

I got this from a chinese colleague at work

Shoes
Leather shoes (designer casual/dress) 200RMB
Shoes (Diesel (leather, …) 100RMB
3 pairs of puma's & 1 pair of Adidas 240 RMB
Puma's for 70 RMB
Different sneakers - 50-75 rmb
Women's Puma runners: 50 RMB
Adidas Gazelles- 80 RMB
Bags (Suggest stall no. 26 for the 'good quality fakes')
Swiss Army laptop/working bag (leather) - 60/80 rmb,
Louis Vuitton bag 60RMB
small chinese bags (buy a least a dozen) 3.5 rmb
Trolley: 120 RMB
Prada Bag - 90 RMB
Swiss Army Carryon Bag - 180 RMB
A-quality leather Gucci/Prada/Chanel/whatever purses: 50-180
Large Northface travel bag - RMB100
North Face backpack: 40 RMB
North Face backpack (65litres) for 110RMB
North Face luggage Lighters 10RMB-20RMB
Watches
2 (automatic/leather; autom/metal)- try 82a 75 RMB/150 RMB
Omega watch 60RMB
TAG Heuer watches 150 RMB
Mao Watch 10-20RMB
Pens&Wallets
Mont blanc pens - 10 RMB.
Prada wallet: 30RMB
2 Burberry wallets for ladies 50RMB
Fake wallets 20-25 RMB
Other Accessories
Rayban aviator sunglasses 25RMB
Levi's Belt: 25RMB (45 RMB for good)
Sunglasses go indeed for 15-20; Ray Ban 35 rmb
"oakley" sunglasses 15 RMB
Pashmina (if you buy a lot) 9/7.5 rmb
tissue holder (buy a least a dozen) 3-4 rmb
wine holder - 5 rmb
Umbrella haha - 5 rmb
"Tiffany" Rings depending on kind, tops 60 RMB
Hugo Boss (etc) men's ties: 10-15rmb
chinese robe for adults – (fake silk) 50 rmb
PS2 games 15 rmb pp
Services/ Housing equipment
French manicure 10-15 RMB
table runner/ table cloth / 10/65
placemat set incl chopsticks 20rmb

T-Shirts
RL Shirts - 25rmb
Timberland long sleeve men's shirt: 40rmb
Polo ladies v-neck 'wool' material short sleeve: 2 for 50
Gap ladies sleeveless t-shirt: 20 rmb
Polo men's short sleeve honeycomb t-shirt: 30 rmb
Nike ladies fleece: 50 rmb
Polo men's shirt for shortsleeve.. 30rmb
Polo, short sleeve (in bulk) 27rmb
Nike "dri-fit" long sleeve, short/no sleeve RMB 25 each.
4 Lacoste shirts – rmb180
Sweatshirt
Hilfiger with Zipper 80-100
Cashmere Polo 80-100
Kapuzenpullover 80
Bodywear
Men's socks, thicker ones with logo - 3 pr for 10rmb
Socks Thinner short 2-3 RMB
Calvin Klein briefs (mens) /boxers 6-12 rmb
Underwear (5 pair) 40 RMB
Adidas warm-ups (top and bottom) for 95RMB
BTW, these black logo socks: for 20 pairs, 50 RMB
Jackets
Northface Windblocker fleece jacket - 70rmb
spyder northface ski jacket with detachable hood - 160 -180rmb
Anapurna long Jacket with hood (no fur lining) - 85rmb
Anapurna Ski Jacket 160 RMB
Northface skiing jacket 100 rmb
Fendi windbreaker: 60 RMB
Cotton Adidas tracksuit (top and bottom): 95 rmb
Longsleeve Nike zip-up: 50 RMB
Mango sweater- 60 RMB
Sports equipment
Wilson tennis rackets – ppc 150 rmb
Set of golf clubs (bag incl) – 320 rmb
Columbia outdoor pants 90 RMB
Snowboard Trousers 100RMB
Other clothing
Ladies E S P I R I T Pants - 60rmb
"extra nice" black jeans (2 pair)50 rmb
Diesel Jeans - each 120 RMB
Scarves 8-10 RMB