{"id":2506,"date":"2020-07-13T12:29:28","date_gmt":"2020-07-13T04:29:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/Americans-In-Shanghai"},"modified":"2024-11-25T23:45:33","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T15:45:33","slug":"americans-in-shanghai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/americans-in-shanghai\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans In Shanghai"},"content":{"rendered":"

Truth be told, China isn’t as developed as the United States, and if you’re from a city like New York or San Francisco, you’ll definitely need to adjust to the Chinese way of life<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In China<\/a>, at least in Shanghai, I rarely take cash out with me. Why should I carry cash? Since I pay for almost everything through my phone using WeChat or Alipay, the Chinese have been using this technology for years!<\/p>\n

\"Americans<\/p>\n

While transport<\/a>ation isn’t as amazing as in Japan, it’s still top-notch. You can get anywhere in Shanghai for less than $1 by subway, and keep in mind that Shanghai is huge. Shanghai’s super-sized area is 2,448 square meters, compared to 302,6 square meters in New York. Now, imagine taking the subway in Shanghai to anywhere for less than $5.<\/p>\n

If you’re from the city, the transition shouldn’t be as dramatic as you’d expect. Public transportation is pretty good, including buses and subways. Don’t forget that bike-sharing is huge here.<\/p>\n

Americans in Shanghai<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“In Shanghai, I work as a teacher in an international<\/a> school. Since I’m a certified teacher from a native English speaking country, it’s pretty easy to get a teaching<\/a> job here.”<\/p>\n

On first impressions of Shanghai<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shanghai is definitely unlike anywhere I’ve ever been, even in Asia. It was very modern, crowded and full of life. I didn’t expect to see so many foreign<\/a> faces on the streets, or so many Western-style shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n

On making friends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since I was a teacher at an international school, I was immediately able to meet many other expats and locals, and I found a Photography group, joined a gym and started going on day trips with some local companies. I’m lucky that many of my friends are still in Shanghai.<\/p>\n

On meeting other Americans in Shanghai<\/strong><\/p>\n

To meet other Americans, I suggest you join the Facebook expat group and put as much of yourself as possible into the Identity on display. Shanghai’s expat community is incredible – you’re bound to meet some super interesting expats.<\/p>\n

About Transportation<\/strong><\/p>\n

The public transportation system in Shanghai is great. I use the metro a lot because it’s convenient and cheap. We also have a great bike share system here.<\/p>\n

When the weather is nice, walking is my favorite<\/a> way to get around. There are always new shops or galleries popping up and it’s easier to notice them when you’re on foot.<\/p>\n

About Transportation in Shanghai<\/strong><\/p>\n

Traffic is pretty bad, especially during rush hour. It doesn’t help that driving in this city is kind of crazy.<\/p>\n

On the cost of living<\/a> in Shanghai<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shanghai is great because it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want it to be. Rent can be expensive in a nice neighborhood, but it’s cheaper than places like NYC.<\/p>\n

\"Americans<\/p>\n

About learning Mandarin<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can get by in Shanghai without knowing Chinese. Most western bars and restaurants have English-speaking staff, and all street signs and subways are in English as well. However, I would recommend learning some Mandarin to have a more authentic conversation with the locals. A simple “xie xie” [thank you] can go a long way.<\/p>\n

Shanghai is always changing, there’s always a new neighborhood to explore, there’s an exciting event going on in the city, or bars and restaurants opening up – it’s hard to get bored living in Shanghai.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Truth be told, China isn’t as developed as the United States, and if you’re from a city like New York or San Francisco, you’ll definitely need to adjust to the …","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,21,33],"tags":[3153,60,1421,353,1972,306,1713,1891,29,34,701,1782],"class_list":["post-2506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-china-jobs","category-hot-jobs","category-part-time-job","tag-americans-in-shanghai","tag-china","tag-cost-of-living","tag-e-china-cities","tag-foreign","tag-hiredchina","tag-in-china","tag-international","tag-jobs","tag-jobs-in-china","tag-teaching","tag-transport"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23240,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2506\/revisions\/23240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiredchina.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}