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Shanghai is a wonderful city to live in. It can be noisy, crazy, frustrating, beautiful, charming, exotic, but never boring.
If you’re moving to Shanghai, prepare to be surprised. Shanghai is a dynamic, vibrant, inspiring and cosmopolitan metropolis. Most expats reveal experiencing an overall feeling of ‘this is where things are happening’. At the same time Shanghai startles newcomers with this beauty and street-level charm, amid alarmingly rapid growth.
The charm lies in the city’s cultural and architectural vestiges that echo its unique colonial past, combined with its unrelenting drive into the future. Although an outsider will always be laowai (foreigner), the people of Shanghai are welcoming. Look forward to good friendships and respectable business relationships with the local people.
Shanghai has a way of luring people in and keeping them. Be prepared to hear from expats and Chinese alike that they came to Shanghai to work or study years ago and then they couldn’t bring themselves to leave.
Living and working in the city of Shanghai means amazing career opportunities, exciting language challenges and cultural immersion. You can enjoy food from all over Asia, mingle in a large and diverse expatriate community and be part of the fastest growing economy in the world. However, this also comes with frustrations. Shanghai is crowded, noisy and chaotic. People push on the Metro. The quality is often low. Adjusting to a new language, a new culture and a new government can be frustrating. Acclimating to a vastly different environment takes time, patience, flexibility and a good sense of humour.
Huacao, located to the West of Shanghai, within the Greater Hongqiao area and at the northern tip of Minhang District, has a vibrant international community where families thrive educationally and socially.
Within Huacao district and walking distance of the BISS there is a variety of retail outlets. The Fashion Park Mall is an open-air shopping mall centrally located on Yunle Lu and Jinfeng Lu. It caters for all with restaurants and bars where you can dine al fresco when the weather permits. There are ice cream parlours, cafés and bakeries, a supermarket and a cinema.
Zhu Di Park is a large green space within Huacao close to the Rose Lane Garden compound. During spring and summer, families can enjoy lazy weekends in the park, picnicking, flying kites with locals, joining in Tai Chi exercises and on warm evenings, watching or participating in the public dancing.
In addition to the shopping mall and park, there are local wet markets where fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, fish and eggs are on sale. There are a variety of supermarkets selling western foods and household goods as well as a selection of cafés and restaurants.
Most new staff are placed in an apartment in a compound near to the school. After one year you may wish to move further into town or find your own accommodation elsewhere. Families are usually placed in a compound with larger apartments, usually on several floors so plenty of space for everyone. Housing does vary but our HR staff do try to get everyone a good, modern apartment. Most people love their apartments and really make them home in a short time.
There is a huge range of food and restaurants in Shanghai and every type of cuisine and budget is catered for. You can eat cheaply at the street markets or go for a splurge at any of the up-market restaurants downtown. Sunday Champagne Brunches are an institution in Shanghai and more recently can be taken advantage of on a Saturday! There are several free comprehensive listing magazines in Shanghai.
A great number of recognisable brands and goods are to be found in Shanghai and you will have no problem finding what you need while out shopping. There is a variety of supermarkets that sell imported items. One of the largest is Carrefour - and there are a number of branches throughout the city. The best known one is in Gubei, and as well as having a pharmacy with English speaking staff, it also has a big range of household and electronic goods. There is another Carrefour and a Tesco in Qibao (though they are at different shopping malls). There is also a range of small supermarkets close to school which also offer a large range of imported goods.
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