Essential Tips for Studying Abroad in Shanghai: Phones, VPNs, and More

Photos taken by Avellina Colacurcio (Wellesley College), Student Correspondent for CET Shanghai, Summer 2026

Spending my summer in Shanghai was a great experience. As we wrap up the program, I look forward to returning to my home in the States, but I know I will deeply miss everyone I have met here. After spending two months here, I feel like I have learned, to an extent, what you need to know and have to make your way around China. Therefore, here are some things I would bring to Shanghai, in order to make the best of your experience:

Figure out how you’re going to use your phone before you go

Chinese-made phones have a very different interface than American phones. Thanks to the Great Firewall, when using your American phone on WiFi or your Chinese phone, you won’t be able to access any major American applications, like Google and Instagram.

Additionally, you can’t pay for anything without data or Wifi, and people don’t use physical credit cards here. In China, I got really unlucky with my phone situation.  Since there was a problem with my sim-card, essentially none of my apps work. After buying a popular brand of phone, Huawei, I joked to my parents that having a Chinese phone is essentially useless.

Get a Chinese Phone Number

Despite this, you NEED a Chinese phone number to access everything that Chinese locals use on the regular, like Meituan and Taobao. The phone number usually comes in the form of a physical Sim, which only works on the IPhone 13 and earlier. What ended up working for me was getting my mom to extend my AT&T data plan so I could use it abroad, and then occasionally taking my Chinese phone with me when I needed to do some things like laundry or return clothes on Pinduoduo. This way, I had a reliable form of communication and payment, something that I couldn’t totally trust my Chinese phone to provide.

You need a VPN or Cellular Hotspot (or both!)

You also will likely need to get a VPN, but if I am being completely honest, I only use my VPN to bypass the Great Firewall half of the time. The other half of the time I just use my American phone hotspot. I wish someone would’ve told me before I came to China that a cellular hotspot also bypasses the Chinese digital restrictions, and that I should prepare for that extra strain on my data plan because it’s much more convenient than my VPN, which only works sometimes. You probably still need both though, just to be safe.

Surprisingly, you don’t need to know that much Chinese

There’s at least one class here in Shanghai who is learning Chinese for the first time. I think that’s really impressive, even more so that they are picking it up so quickly. Therefore, I don’t think you really need to have an extensive background in Mandarin to come to Shanghai, although it is pretty helpful if you want to learn a couple of basic phrases for ordering food and asking for help.

Get used to digital services, like Wechat and Alipay

China mostly only uses phone services to pay or order necessities. Before you come to China make sure you download everything you need on your phone, including payment services. You can’t make it five feet out of the airport without having them ready to use!

To summarize, there’s a lot of things that you need to bring in order to study abroad in China, but with thoughtful preparation and research, it can be a really easy transition into living in Shanghai! 再见！

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