Location

Shanghai is positioned on the Yangtze River Delta, one of the richest regions of China, in the middle of China’s coastline on the East China Sea. It has borders with Jiangsu Province to the north and west and with Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou Bay to the south.

Population

Shanghai’s population has exploded from its humble beginnings with less than 100,000 people to today’s colossal figure of over 20 million. The China Daily recently reported that Shanghai's population of permanent residents and long term legal residents had grown to 17.78 million, with a further migrant or “floating” population of more than 3 million. The average population density in the city now stands at over 2,000 people per square kilometre.

While the number of people moving into Shanghai continues to grow rapidly, Shanghai was the first area in China to report a negative natural population growth rate. The city has registered a negative natural growth rate for 11 consecutive years since 1993. In 2003, the city's natural population growth rate was -0.33%, with the birth rate reaching 0.43% and a mortality rate of 0.76%.

Climate

With a pleasant northern subtropical climate, Shanghai enjoys four distinct seasons, generous sunshine and abundant rainfall every year. Its spring and autumn are relatively short compared with the summer and winter. The average annual temperature is 17.8 degrees Celsius and the city enjoys over 1,686 hours of sunshine and receives an annual rainfall of 1,427.9 millimetres. However, about 60% of the precipitation comes during the May-September rainy season, which is divided into three periods - the Spring Rain, the Plum Rain and the Autumn Rain.

The best time to visit is in Spring and Autumn.

Spring – crisp but comfortable; between 4°C/40°F and 13°C/55°F. 

Summer – hot and humid; between 23°C/73°F and 28°C/83°F

Autumn – sunny but cool and dry; average 20°C/68°F 

Winter – cold and rainy; sometimes lows of 0°C/30°F. 

Travel and Safety

For visitors, taxis are the normal way to get around the city, they are relatively inexpensive and tipping is not expected. However, as most taxi drivers do not speak English make sure you have the address of your destination written in Chinese. It is sometime useful to telephone your destination and let the taxi driver speak to someone at your intended destination.

For the more adventurous visitors, it is worth trying out the subway system which is being extended rapidly to cover the most important areas in the city. It is clean, efficient and very cheap.

Shanghai is generally a very safe city and crimes against foreigners are rare. However, as in all cities, you should beware of pickpockets in markets and crowded shopping areas.