国际学生在上海：校区分布、房租与真实预算

Costs in practice

Budget CNY 3,800–4,800 per month in a dormitory, or CNY 6,000+ if you rent privately. A room in a shared flat near a university typically costs CNY 2,800–4,500; a studio in Jing'an or Xuhui can reach CNY 7,000.

The saving grace is the campus canteen, where a full meal costs CNY 15–25, and the metro, which is cheap and fast enough that living further out is entirely practical. Many international students live in Yangpu (Fudan and Tongji) or Minhang (SJTU) and only travel to the centre at weekends.

Where the campuses are

Fudan and Tongji are both in Yangpu district, north-east of the centre — a former industrial area that has become a student-and-start-up quarter. SJTU's main Minhang campus is far to the south-west and feels like a self-contained city; its Xuhui campus is central and hosts the business school. East China Normal University splits between Putuo and Minhang, and Shanghai University's main campus is in Baoshan.

The practical consequence: check which campus your programme is actually taught on before you sign anything. Several universities teach first-year students at a suburban campus and move them later.

Language and daily life

Shanghai runs on Mandarin but you will hear Shanghainese among older residents and English in most service settings in the city centre. University international offices routinely provide bilingual support, and the city government publishes English-language guidance on visas, residence permits and internships.

Internship opportunities are the strongest in China: finance in Lujiazui and Jing'an, consulting and consumer goods in the central districts, semiconductor and biotech in Zhangjiang, and automotive in Jiading. Remember that working off campus requires a school approval letter and an internship remark added to your residence permit.

Weather and settling in

Summers are hot and humid with typhoon-season rain in August and September; winters are damp and cold at 2–10 °C, which feels colder than the temperature suggests because buildings are heated unevenly. Spring and autumn are excellent.

Get a Shanghai Public Transport Card or simply use the metro app, register your temporary residence at the police station within 24 hours, and set up WeChat Pay and Alipay early — almost nothing in Shanghai runs on cash.