About All About Shanghai

What this site is

All About Shanghai is an English-language guide to living in Shanghai — not the tourism version, but the working-days version: visas and police registration, tax and banking, apartments and hospitals, and the small, genuinely useful things nobody tells you before you move.

It's inspired by sites like All About Berlin, which proved that practical, clearly-written, bureaucracy-focused guides become the most reliable resources for people in a new country — and that well-made tools (like a salary calculator) help far more people than another "top 10 attractions" list.

What we cover — and what we deliberately don't

• We cover: processes and paperwork, English-speaking services, niche practical topics (dog licenses, motorcycle plates, fishing spots), and the hidden official channels (hotlines, apps) that foreigners rarely discover.
• We don't cover: restaurant reviews, shopping guides, or tourist itineraries — the internet has plenty, and they age poorly. Our content is designed to stay accurate for years, not weeks.

How information is verified

• Every guide cites its official source where one exists — government hotlines (12345, 12367, 12333, 12366), exit-entry rules, tax regulations, and city policies.
• Every page shows its last-updated date. Chinese rules change, and we say so on the pages that matter most.
• Where we give prices or figures, they're clearly labeled as estimates with a "confirm current" note.
• We only describe legal, official paths — no grey-market workarounds.

Who's behind it

People who've been through the Shanghai paperwork themselves — and who keep a running list of the questions every new arrival asks. We're not affiliated with any government body or company mentioned on this site.

Corrections

Found something outdated or wrong? Tell us via the contact page — accuracy is the whole value of this site, and we update fast.