With a population of more than 24 million and the number has almost certainly grown since. The city is situated on the estuary of the famed Yangtze River. Shanghai is the best city in China for dining and shopping. The country is most outward-looking, filled with many futuristic skyscrapers, unique traditional architectures, brand awareness and shopping savvy, competing with rival Asia cities such as Hong Kong and Singapore. It is rewarding to be able to travel to Shanghai but it does come with its share of challenges. After a week being in Shanghai, even though it is not long but it is enough to compile some basic yet important tips for you. If you are planning a vacation in Shanghai, I wish I had these tips before I got there. As China has their own unique way of doing things. I hope it somewhat prepare for your trip to this city.
One of the most important things to have, before traveling to China is, you need visas; without them you are not allowed to enter the country. So, before you travel to China, you need to arrange your visa, well in advance! You should also expect a pretty stringent entrance screening. Not only will Customs officials check your documents extra close, you will also be checked for radiation and automatic sensors, will check if you have a fever. The flight to Shanghai from Malaysia is around 5 hours, so be prepared to entertain yourself on the plane. Depending on the company you fly with, if with Malaysia Airline like I did, they will likely be offered either Malaysian meals or the country that we are going to, which in this case Chinese meals. Lucky for us Malaysians, Chinese food is literally our local food, no matter if you are Indian or Malay. In my case, they offered either our favourite Malaysia dish ‘nasi lemak’ or ‘chee cheong fun’, if you are not familiar with ‘chee cheong fun’, it is a steamed rice noodle roll served with some fish balls and seasoned soy sauce. Airline food weirds me and probably a lot of people experience the same, as it is always end with funny taste than it used to. But what to expect since the food is basically frozen food that has been prepared beforehand and reheated in on-board ovens and served. In the plane, I seated next to my sister. She ordered the ‘nasi lemak’ while I ordered the other option which was ‘chee cheong fun’ as I wanted to immerse into the shanghai vibe. The ‘nasi lemak’ tasted weird but surprisingly I was satisfied with the ‘chee cheong fun’ and finished the meal. Not as usual, I would never finish my inflight meal.
Beside visa, the other thing you need is to purchase this local SIM card called ‘CUniq’ if you still want to access the applications and sites we use to using in Malaysia. This SIM cards can be purchased in Malaysia and the price is quite affordable. Why this SIM card? That is because, when you visit China, keep in mind that their ‘Great Firewall’ which is the China censorship system, to regulate the Internet domestically. It blocks access to selected foreign websites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and many other more and to slow down cross-border internet traffic. Hence, other Chinese SIMs might have blocked these sites too. Without it, you will be paying roaming charges when texting, calling, or using data which will cost more. The other option beside SIM card is VPN (Virtual Private Network). It is an application that routes your traffic through an international server instead. You will need to purchase a VPN before you travel, if you want to past the firewall and not be frustrated, in order to keep up with your friends and family while you are away. Make sure purchase a VPN that cover China – as many free options do not. With this VPN, it can allow you to use free Wi-Fi in China without blocking any of the sites mentioned. The next thing you need is the ‘Wechat’ application, yes… I know, I know, there is a weird stigma around ‘Wechat’ here in Malaysia, where that application only used by weird immature kids but in China; ‘Wechat’ is a wonder. It hails taxis, orders food delivery, enables texting since ‘Whatsapp’ is banned too in China. But the most interesting and unique feature is that, it serves as a payment centres. In China people use mobile payment; even if you are buying a fish in a local market.
To pay, customers either scan a merchant’s QR (Quick Response) code, or let the seller scan their personal account codes. Nearly every place accepts ‘Wechat’ scans. Beggars in China are also, up-to-date with the cashless trend. They are seen having a printout of a QR code with them. The code either hanged on their length yard or stick on a tin cup they are using. I am amazed with the situation. For years, it seemed that QR codes would be limited to the corners of ads and billboards, a way to get to websites that nobody really used; until China gave them a new life. However, unfortunately, this cool system that they have only applies to people with account in China banks. Hence, for the most part, when you are traveling in China, you will need to pay with cash.
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