General Infortmation - Shanghai

City

Shanghai is called in Chinese "Hu" for short and "Shen" as a nickname. About 6,000 years ago, the western part of today's Shanghai dried up into land and its eastern part became a piece of land about 2,000 years ago. During the Spring-Autumn and Warring States Periods (770-221 BC), this area was once the feoff of Huang Xie, the Chun Shen Governor of the State of Chu. So, "Shen" comes from the title of the governor. During the Jin Dynasty (4th-5th centuries), fishermen living along the Songjiang River (today's Suzhou Creek) and the coast of the East China Sea created a fishing tool called "Hu". By combining the name of the fishing tool and the then term for estuary of big rivers, they coined a Chinese character "Hu" to name the place as it sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River, the longest river in China

Location

Shanghai is situated at 31 14' north latitude and 121 29' east longitude. Bordering on Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces on the west, Shanghai is washed by the East China Sea on the east and Hangzhou Bay on the south. North of the city, the Yangtze River pours into the East China Sea. It also assumes the central location along China's coastal line. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Shanghai has become an excellent sea and river port, boasting easy accesses to a vast hinterland

Climate

With a pleasant northern subtropical maritime monsoon climate, Shanghai enjoys four distinct seasons, generous sunshine and abundant rainfall. The average temperature in June is 24.2oC

Language

Shanghai dialect is a locally speaking language and Mandarin is widely spoken. Staff in the star-rated hotels can speak English.

Currency

Chinese Yuan (also known as Renminbi, rmb for short) is the official and legal currency in circulation (US$1~RMB¥6.7).

Money and Cost

All top-end hotels and some top-end restaurants add a 'service charge' of 10% or 15%. However tipping is not customary

Phone

Country dialing code: 86

City dialing code: 21

Mobile network: GSM900

Electricity

220V, 50Hz

Time Zone

UTC/GMT +8 hours