SS Shanghai Sorted First-day help for foreign visitors

Shanghai guide

Shanghai First-Day Checklist

A simple first-day checklist for foreign visitors landing in Shanghai, covering payment, internet, maps, airport transfer, hotel address, and backup plans.

Last verified: 2026-07-08

Shanghai First-Day Checklist

Quick Take

Your first day in Shanghai does not need to be perfect. It just needs to be calm enough that you can get from the airport to your hotel, pay for food, find your way around, and sleep in the right place.

This checklist is for the unglamorous stuff that makes the trip work:

  • payment
  • mobile data
  • maps
  • airport transfer
  • hotel address
  • first meal
  • backup cash
  • phone battery

Do these before you fly, and Shanghai gets much easier.

Before You Fly

Payment

  • Install Alipay.
  • Add an international card.
  • Install WeChat and try to enable WeChat Pay.
  • Make sure your bank app works.
  • Tell your bank you are traveling if needed.
  • Bring one physical Visa or Mastercard.
  • Carry some RMB cash or plan where to get it.

Internet

  • Choose roaming or a travel eSIM.
  • Install the eSIM or carrier app.
  • Check whether your phone can receive SMS abroad.
  • Download offline translation data if your app supports it.

Maps and addresses

  • Install AMap Global.
  • Save your hotel name in Chinese.
  • Save your hotel address in Chinese.
  • Save your hotel phone number.
  • Screenshot your airport-to-hotel route.
  • Screenshot your hotel-to-nearest-metro route.

Documents

  • Passport.
  • Visa or visa-free transit documents if relevant.
  • Hotel booking.
  • Return or onward ticket.
  • Travel insurance details if you have it.
  • Passport photo or scan saved securely.

At the Airport

First 10 minutes

  • Turn on mobile data.
  • Check that AMap opens.
  • Check that Alipay and WeChat open.
  • Do not follow unofficial taxi offers.
  • Decide transport based on energy, luggage, and arrival time.

If you are tired

Take the direct route. Official taxi, app ride, or hotel transfer is fine.

This is not the moment to prove you can master Shanghai public transport. You can do that tomorrow.

If you use metro

  • Make sure it is still operating.
  • Check whether your hotel is near a station.
  • Expect long station walks.
  • Keep your luggage manageable.

If you use taxi or app ride

  • Show the hotel address in Chinese.
  • Use official taxi queues or official ride-hailing pickup areas.
  • Keep payment backup ready.
  • Be ready for the driver to call if using an app.

At Your Hotel

Before going out again:

  • Save the hotel address again.
  • Ask the front desk for a Chinese address card if possible.
  • Ask what the nearest metro station is.
  • Charge your phone.
  • Test one small payment nearby.
  • Mark the hotel on AMap.

First Payment Test

Do your first test somewhere easy:

  • convenience store
  • coffee chain
  • hotel desk
  • larger mall shop

Do not make your first test at a crowded restaurant, in a taxi, or at a tiny shop with a line behind you.

First Meal

Keep the first meal simple. You are not losing travel points by eating somewhere easy after a flight.

Good first-meal choices:

  • mall restaurant
  • hotel-adjacent restaurant
  • coffee chain plus snack
  • simple noodle or dumpling shop with pictures
  • convenience store if you are exhausted

Your first Shanghai food adventure can wait until your phone, payment, and brain are all working.

What To Carry on Day One

  • Phone
  • Power bank
  • Passport or passport copy, depending on your plan
  • Alipay
  • WeChat Pay if available
  • Physical card
  • 200-500 RMB cash
  • Hotel address in Chinese
  • Translation app
  • Tissues

If Something Fails

Payment fails

Try Alipay, WeChat Pay, another card, or cash. If you are stuck, move to a larger shop, hotel, mall, or station service desk.

Mobile data fails

Use airport or hotel Wi-Fi, open saved screenshots, and get to your hotel first.

Maps get confusing

Show your Chinese address screenshot to hotel staff, mall staff, or a metro service desk.

Taxi pickup gets confusing

Move to a clearer pickup point: hotel entrance, mall gate, metro exit, official airport pickup zone.

You are overwhelmed

Go to the hotel. The city will still be there after a shower.

Useful Chinese Phrases

Can I pay another way?
我可以用别的方式付款吗？

Can you help me find this address?
可以帮我找一下这个地址吗？

Please take me to this hotel.
请送我去这个酒店。

I do not speak Chinese. I am at the pickup point shown in the app.
我不会说中文。我在软件显示的上车点。

I do not have mobile data. Can you help me call a taxi to this hotel?
我没有手机网络。可以帮我叫车去这个酒店吗？

Related Guides

Sources and Verification Notes

This checklist summarizes the first 8 Shanghai Sorted practical guides. It should be updated whenever the payment, app, airport, or transport pages are updated.

Primary source families:

  • Shanghai Government English portal
  • China Government English portal
  • Alipay official traveler guidance
  • AMap Global app listings
  • Shanghai airport and transport information

Field Notes to Verify

  • Best airport pickup instructions for PVG and SHA.
  • Current English support at airport service desks.
  • Whether the first-payment test works reliably at common convenience stores.
  • Whether hotels are willing to provide Chinese address cards for foreign visitors.