DAILYLiving
Daily Life
Getting aroundMetro, DiDi, taxi ranks — an IDP will not hire the carThe metro is world-class. DiDi has an English mode most people never find — the food apps mostly do not. How to set up DiDi in English, when a rank taxi beats the app, why an IDP will not rent the car, and when a driver beats the metro — especially the villa last kilometre.All corridors- Flights & high-speed railTwo airports, four station names, passport on 12306Pudong vs Hongqiao changes your whole travel day. Book rail on 12306 with a passport — four station names, and a search for “Shanghai” does not include Hongqiao. The 30-minute air-rail line is a walkable hub, not a guarantee.All corridors
Shopping with characterStreets, Western sizes, dry-cleanAnyone can find a mall. Western shoe sizes, shoulder width, a tailor who alters rather than a full suit, dry-clean for wool, and the streets — Anfu, Yuyuan, Hongquan — not a mall directory.All corridors
Groceries & imported foodWhere the butter, cheese and turkey liveCity'super, Ole', Sam's Club, Metro — plus the small importers and butchers that beat them all on cheese, sourdough flour and Christmas turkey. Sorted by corridor, because schlepping groceries across town gets old fast.All corridors- Delivery & couriersChina's magic infrastructure, unlockedThirty-minute food, same-day couriers. A foreign card often fails; a mainland debit plus WeChat or Alipay is the stable path. The compound gate decides the rest — write the Chinese door number.All corridors
- SIM & eSIMData before the plane. A Chinese number after you land.A travel eSIM is data. A mainland SIM is a real-name +86 that can receive bank SMS. Buy the first before you fly; do the second at an official airport desk or a city carrier hall after police registration. Home88 may earn a referral fee on official pre-arrival eSIM partners. Carrier shop SIMs have no public affiliate.All corridors
- Payments & bankingCovered step-by-step in our arrival guideAll corridors
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