Young highly educated ladies from Shanghai Call Center take about 350 phone calls from expats every day and answer questions as detail as they can. Photo provided for Shanghai Star

Running around

15 college majors with the highest unemployment rates

How to contact

The Shanghai Call Center

Telephone: 021-962288 (24-hour hotline)

WeChat: TouchShanghai

Settling down

In recent decades, more foreigners have chosen to build their lives in Shanghai, making long term plans to live in the city with their family.

Since 2012, Shanghai has topped the list of the most attractive city in China for foreigners. The latest figure for the number of foreign professionals living in the city is 88,000.

The occupations of those foreigners have become more diverse. Previously, most foreigners were senior management in foreign companies, but today there are growing numbers of ordinary employees who apply for working visas by themselves.

Foreigners are becoming more attuned to local life, taking crowded subways to work, meeting up with friends at local restaurants and shopping in traditional markets.

Finding your way

Most of the foreigners arriving in the city face similar problems like language barriers, narrowed social circle and lack of knowledge of local traditions. Many foreigners request help from certain websites and organizations. Here are three other useful information providers that offer daily assistance for expats.

Community Center Shanghai (CCS)

CCS responds to the ever-changing needs of the community by providing relevant programming that equips individuals and families to maximize their potential while in China.

A variety of courses and activities are available in the center including cooking classes, language lessons, fitness, dancing events and art tours.

Address: 3rd Floor, Tower A, 1146 Biyun Road, Pudong district (Pudong Headquarter)

Telephone: 021-3382-1770

Website: communitycenter.cn

Office hours: 9 am to 5 pm

Enjoy Shanghai

A good aid to help navigate the city, Enjoy Shanghai is a constantly updated collection of information, description and comment. The website is more like a guide to Shanghai for foreigners to enjoy life in the city. The event page will help users to plan their week and the personals to plan weekends, search for a job or read about an art opening. In a few clicks, users can discover a new restaurant, get directions and then tell friends where they are headed.

Website: enjoyshanghai.com

Shanghai Expat

The Shanghai Expat forums are more than a wealth of information for expats in Shanghai. It is a place to turn when encountering a strange or uncomfortable situation, a way to meet people, and a venue to discuss news, sports and everything in the city. Registered users are able to write online posts whatever they find funny, interesting or need help with.

Website: shanghaiexpat.com