Safety and getting help
Part of Before you go, a sourced pre-trip guide for a first visit to Shanghai. Checked 2026-10-03; rules change, so each step links to its source. Data version 5e1254c0b277.
110 · 120 · 119 — Police, ambulance and fire numbers.
In short
- Call 110 for police; 119 for fire; 120 for an ambulance.
- Carry the original passport, not a copy.
- Decline strangers who invite you to tea or a massage.
- Learn about QR-code phishing before you pay.
- Email intlservices@shanghai.gov.cn for service questions.
Police 110, fire 119, ambulance 120
1. Call the right number: fire 119, police 110, medical emergency 120, government service 12345.
2. Also: train tickets 12306, tax 12366, customs 12360, property 962121.
3. Call 110 for crime, theft, robbery or a personal crisis you cannot resolve.
4. Give the time, location and your personal information.
5. Shanghai's 110 hotline has eight foreign languages: English, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Arabic and Korean.
6. Call 119 for fire or another critical incident.
7. Give the street, alley and house number or a landmark, and say whether anyone is trapped.
8. The emergency page says 119 and 120 are available in English.
9. Call 120 for an ambulance (Shanghai Emergency Medical Center).
10. The service is in Chinese; operators can connect a third-party translator, with possible delay.
11. You can usually choose a hospital once in the ambulance.
12. In critical cases you go to the nearest suitable hospital, about 3–5 km.
13. For immigration questions, call 12367 in Chinese, English, French, Russian, Japanese or Korean.
14. English is a direct voice response; French, Russian, Japanese and Korean open a three-way call with an interpreter.
15. The app and mini-program are 24/7 in Chinese and English.
16. Email 12367@nia.gov.cn or call Shanghai +86-21-12367.
- Live calls to 110, 119 and 120 were not placed, so a webpage language list is not a test of a live dispatcher. The ambulance fee sketch on the 120 page (30 yuan base, 7 yuan/km after the first three km) is that page's 21 August 2025 wording, not a 3 October 2026 price promise.
- The hotline table is the Shanghai government table (updated 2 June 2026).
- The 12367 page was updated 17 August 2026.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, Shanghai Municipal People's Government, National Immigration Administration via english.shanghai.gov.cn
12345 is 24h in 18 foreign languages
1. Call 12345 for 24-hour service in Chinese or 18 foreign languages.
2. These include English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Persian and Russian.
3. Expect the handling targets, not a result guarantee.
4. Respond within 24 hours, minor issues within five days, complex matters within 15 days.
5. The page has no 'press 7' instruction.
- The language list is on english.shanghai.gov.cn.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal People's Government
ISS email intlservices@shanghai.gov.cn
1. Use Meet in Shanghai (meet-in-shanghai.net), the official Shanghai China travel website of the municipal culture and tourism administration.
2. Visit an International Services Shanghai one-stop centre at PVG T1/T2 international arrivals or SHA T1.
3. It covers payment, tourism, communication, transport, maps, SIMs and transport cards.
4. Email intlservices@shanghai.gov.cn, printed in the footer of multiple english.shanghai.gov.cn pages.
- The one-stop centre page is dated 19 March 2026.
Sources: Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism, Shanghai Municipal People's Government
Official list: 23 public + 26 foreign-funded
1. Use the city directory 'Shanghai's medical institutions' to find public hospitals and foreign-funded medical institutions with addresses.
2. Public examples: Huashan Hospital (8F Building 1, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Jing'an).
3. Also Zhongshan Hospital (180 Fenglin Road, Xuhui), Ruijin Hospital (several campuses) and Renji Hospital (Pudong).
4. Foreign-funded examples: Parkway Shanghai Hospital (1172 Jile Road, Minhang).
5. Shanghai United Family Hospital Pudong (1598 New Jinqiao Road) and Changning (699 Pingtang Road).
6. Shanghai Jiahui International Hospital (689 Guiping Road, Xuhui) and Raffles Hospital Shanghai (200 Yuanzhao Road, Pudong).
7. Shanghai East International Medical Center (551 South Pudong Road).
8. Treat the directory as a facilities list, not a list of international outpatient departments only.
9. It is not a 24-hour pharmacy directory and not a paid-clinic recommendation.
10. Ambulance remains 120.
- The directory's source is the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health (updated 13 August 2026).
Sources: Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health via english.shanghai.gov.cn
Carry passport; skip tea-tasting invites
1. Carry the original passport; FCDO says copies are not accepted.
2. Serious crime against foreign nationals is relatively rare, but watch your belongings at tourist sites.
3. Decline strangers who invite you to tea or a massage and then demand a large fee, with threats or card fraud.
4. FCDO tells readers to learn about QR-code phishing because QR payments are widespread.
5. Avoid demonstrations: national-security laws have broad scope. FCDO links unmarked taxis to assault and robbery reports.
Sources: UK FCDO
Traveller tips
- Which number to call for help. The city hotline table splits police, fire and ambulance. The emergency how-to page says 110 has eight foreign languages including English, and that 119 and 120 are available in English. The 120 medical page (updated 21 August 2025) describes a Chinese dispatcher plus an optional third-party translator, with delay. Use 12345 as the 24-hour multilingual non-emergency line and 12367 for immigration; the ISS email is for service questions, not a heart attack. (Shanghai Municipal People's Government; Shanghai Municipal People's Government; Shanghai Municipal People's Government)
- Confirm hospital hours on its own page. The 13 August 2026 english.shanghai.gov.cn list is the municipal Health Commission directory this round. Jiahui, United Family, Parkway, Raffles and Huashan appear there with street addresses. The list does not publish 24-hour international ER hours or a 24-hour pharmacy subset. (Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health)
- A 645-yuan fare from the official rank. A traveller on Reddit (March 2026) used the official PVG taxi stand and was charged 645 yuan to Hongqiao Railway Station, against a DiDi quote of 200–250 yuan. FCDO says keep the receipt and the taxi number. One author's fare, not a fare table. (Am0rph, 2026-03-31; UK FCDO, 2026-08-27)
- Ignore taxi offers after baggage claim. A traveller on Reddit (December 2025) says the official taxi area is huge and staffed, and that people who approach you are the ones to ignore. Use only the official rank. What this author stated about the rank, not a fare table. (loganrb, 2025-12-23)
- Learn about QR-code phishing. FCDO recommends that travellers familiarise themselves with the risks of QR-code phishing, because QR payments are common. That is the print-page wording this hub keeps. FCDO's general phishing warning, not a claim that every scan is fraudulent. (UK FCDO, 2026-08-27)
- ISS desks are the day-one fallback. The 19 March 2026 city page lists one-stop centres in PVG T1/T2 and SHA T1 that handle payment apps, SIMs, maps and transport cards. (Shanghai Municipal People's Government, 2026-03-19)
- Ambulance fees: secondary detail. The 120 medical page (updated 21 August 2025) prints a 30-yuan base fare, 7 yuan/km after the first three km, plus waiting and pre-hospital care items, typically under 300 yuan unless the distance is long. That is the 2025 page wording, not a live 2026 tariff check. (Shanghai Municipal People's Government)