Shanghai is China's most Westernized city, and the most comfortable one for expatriates without single most difficult aspect of living in Shanghai is the language: Mandarin Chinese is still, by far, the lingua franca, and without mastering the basics, an expatriate won't have access to all that the city has to offer.To get more shanghai life, you can visit shine news official website.

These days, you can buy just about everything in Shanghai, although imported goods often carry a hefty price tag. And what can't be bought can always be made.Homes for expatriates are modern and generously-proportioned, and range from city condominiums to suburban communities.

Shanghai is easy to get around, and taxis are inexpensive and easily available, and although taxi drivers don't speak English, expatriates quickly learn the names of common destinations -- or rely on `taxi cards,' cards with the names of destinations written in Chinese. The clean, modern subway system is equally easy to navigate.
The shopping in Shanghai is excellent, from street market bargains to designer duds, although larger sizes will have to stick up at home or have things tailor made -- not a bad option, considering Shanghai's tailors are considered to be Asia's finest. Shanghai's international schools offer children a good education, but the international school system here is still young. Only the Shanghai American School has a substantive high school and comprehensive facilities. Shanghai's crime rate is quite low, particularly for a metropolis of this scale and verve, and streets are generally safte day and night

-- although petty crime does occur in tourist areas like the Bund.Sports, travel and entertainment opportunities are growing:

Shanghai's basketball team produced NBA sensation Yao Ming, the Grand Theater gets musicals like Cats and Riverdance as well as prime local events, and travel to nearby destinations is comfortable and efficient.For all her capitalist form, this is still Communist China, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the media. The English language papers are under the auspices of the state and the Propaganda Bureau, and predictably, information is restricted .

This, too, is improving -- websites like the New York Times are no longer blocked, although during sensitive periods, it umay be blocked again, and certain articles will be blocked from time to time.

Shanghai is busily cleaning up her act in the pollution arena, but it is a process, and the city today fluctuates between polluted and less polluted -- not as bad as Bangkok, but not as good as Shanghai. Perhaps as a result of the challenges of trying to navigate Shanghai through both a linguistic and cultural barrier, Shanghai's expatriates are an unusually close-knit group, but one that is always willing to share their hard-won experience with newcomers. For new expatriates, the many clubs and associations make an excellent way to meet like-minded people who are all to happy to show you the ropes.

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