| Question | Answer |
| What kind of Visa do I need? | Depends on your purpose of visit:
Tourist: L Commerce: M Student: X Work: Z |
| What is Visa Free Entry? | Beijing Only: 72 hours
Shanghai and Region: 144 hours. Must depart same city of arrival. |
| What about Visa on arrival? | Sanya offers Visa on Arrival for 15 days. |
| What is a Residence Permit? | Where ever you stay in China, you must register with the local public security branch (within 24 hours of landing [note: some sources claim 48 hours, just do the earlier time frame]). If you go to a hotel, they do this automatically. If you stay somewhere else, you have to go and submit your passport. If you change or move, you will need to do this again. |
| What if I overstay my visa? | Don’t overstay your visa. If you do, get yourself to a public security branch as soon as possible and explain your situation. |
| I want to eat Street food! | There are plenty of choices for street food vendors. It is advisable to look for running water, hygiene issues and food safety, before consuming any street vendor food. |
| Is all street food bad? | Not at all, some vendors follow food safety laws and have permits for operation. Some tasty food can be found. |
| How to buy a train ticket? | Go to the station and purchase one. Some will talk about online options, ignore them. As a foreigner you need to show your passport at the ticket counter (the automatic machines don’t accept your passport size), before you can obtain a ticket. So you can line up at the railway station and buy your ticket or line up at the railway station and obtain your ticket from your online purchase. |
| House servants? | It is fairly common for wealthy chinese and foreigners alike to hire house servants, typically:
Ayi: House Management, Cooking and Childcare; and sometimes an ‘Au Pairs’: Childcare. |
| I am sick, what should I do? | Go to a hospital. There are plenty in Shanghai. |
| I am scared of Hospital in China! | Don’t be – some doctors are excellent, sometimes even better then in the west. Not always though, so listen to the doctor and see what they tell you and make informed choices. |
| I ran out of tea at the restaurant, what should I do? | Simply raise the lid and put it to the side of the pot opening, so part is inline and the other part is sticking up. This will indicate to the wait staff that you need a refill. |
| What is Minimum wage? | There are two minimum wages – one, hourly and the other is monthly. The rate varies in each region. Currently Shanghai it is 19/hour (~3.75cad) and 2,300/month (~455cad). |
| What is a standard work week? | According to Labour laws, a work week should not exceed 44 hours (or 8 hours per day). However most employers tend to push this to 12+ hours/day. Technically over 44 hours, the salary should be 1.5 times salary and work during holidays is 3 times salary. |
| What are taxes like? | Value added Tax on goods: 17%
Income Tax: 5-45% |
| Annual Leave? | Employed below 10 years: 5 days
Employed 10 years: 10 days Employed above 10 years: 15 days |
| Social insurance payment limits? | 460,000 (~91,093 cad) |
| Tax and social Treaties? | Check with your local government. |
| Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the People’s Republic of China: For the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income
http://www.fin.gc.ca/treaties-conventions/china_-eng.asp |
|
| Corporate Tax rates? | 10-25% |
| Foreign owned company? | Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE)
Representive Office (RO) Foreign Invested Partnership Enterprise (FIPE) Joint Venture (JV) |
| Police | 110 |
| Ambulance | 120 |
| Fire | 119 |
| Public Security Hotline | 021-63-57-6666 |
| Weather | 12121 |
| Consumer Rights | 12315 |
| Traffic Issues | 962000 |
| Labour and Social Security | 12333 |
| Postal Service | 11185 |
| EMS | 11183 |
| Electrical Power | 95598 |
| Water | 962450 |
| Gas | 962777 |
| China Mobile | 10086 (10086.cn) |
| China Unicom | 10010 (10010.com) |
| China Telecom | 10000 (189.cn) |
| Oriental Cable Network | 96877 (ocn.net.cn) |
| Railway Hotline | 12306 |
| PVG Airport | 38-484-500 |
| Hongqiao Airport | 62-688-918 |
| Jin Jiang Taxi | 96933 |
| Da Zhong Taxi | 96822 |
| Qiang Sheng Taxi | 62-580-000 |