Shanghai: Lodging and Expo Homestay

Shanghai – China’s largest and most prosperous city exudes an atmosphere of self-confidence and vitality to rival that of Manhattan in New York City, or the City in London.

The Shanghai World Expo 2010 will attract numerous tourists to Shanghai. So iLearn has compiled some traveler guide during the expo season to fully utilise your wonderful stay in Shanghai. In this article, we introduce your lodging options in Shanghai.

Hotel

With the Shanghai World Expo taking place soon, many hotels have offer special packages for your stay during this period.

You may make your hotel booking through the numerous hotels in Shanghai. Below are a list of a few hotels you can consider.

International Hotel Chains in Shanghai:

Other Hotels:

There are also several local Budget Hotel Chains in Shanghai:

Motel 168 (168连锁旅店)
Jinjiang Inn (锦江之星)
Hanting Hotels (汉庭快捷酒店)
Homeinns Hotel (如家快捷酒店)

Making your Hotel Booking

You can make your booking directly with the desired hotel or through

Expotia.com the Shanghai World Expo Official Hotel Reservation website.

There are also several local Travel and Lodging Agents in China, with 3 popular ones being

where you can consider using to book flights and hotels. They are relatively reputable.

Expo Homestay

In conjunction with the Shanghai Expo, more & more local Shanghai people are taking part in the “expo home-stay” where visitors or tourists are able to live in the Shanghai residents’ homes, to get a feel of a Shanghainese lifestyle.

The host will also provide with culture exchanges, catering, accommodation, tourist information and other services to you, so that all foreign visitors can experience the lives of shanghai residents

“Expo home-living” is a vivid interpretation of the theme of the expo “Better city, better life”. It makes the expo experience out of the park, into the city. It not only to demonstrate the charm of urban development, but also reflects the beautiful lives of the public; not only provides a new way to experience the Shanghai World Expo for foreign visitors, but also opens another window for Shanghai residents to see the world.

At the moment, 500 families have been selected by the organizers of the 2010 World Expo to be the first batch of applicants to participate in the home-stay program. Whilst you may want to search online for classified ads on home stay opportunities, the details of the official Expo home stay program and how to sign up is not available yet. We will update this page when the news of the program is finalized.

Update: 18th May 2010

There are two types of Homestay programmes: Expo City Homestay (世博人家) ShiBo RenJia or Expo Farmhouse Homestay (世博农家) ShiBo NongJia.

Expo City Homestay (世博人家) ShiBo RenJia

ShiBo RenJia is a homestay programme for visitors to experience the city life in Shanghai. The hospitable Shanghai city folks will welcome you with pride and joy and share their Chinese traditions and cultures with you.

Expo Farmhouse Homestay (世博农家) ShiBo NongJia

ShiBo NongJia is a homestay programme that brings visitors to the more suburban areas of Shanghai, to experience a totally different lifestyle from the bustling city. You will experience life in the smaller villages, where you can try your hands at their suburban activities like farming or fishing. Experience the joys of simple living and the warmth of the welcoming town folks.

Cost

The homestay cost approximately 150-200 rmb per day.

Expo Homestay Application

It seems that at the moment, only group applications are entertained. If interested you may download the contact list here which is posted from expo 2010 official website (http://www.expo2010.cn/a/20100429/000155.htm)

We have done a simple (English) translation of this contact list for your convenience. You may view it at:

Expo Homestay Contact List – 1st batch (pdf file)

Learn Some Mandarin

旅店	lǚ diàn	Hotel	n.
预订	yù dìng	Booking / Making a reservation	v.
寄宿家庭	jì sù jiā tíng	Homestay	n.
世博	shì bó	Expo	n.

Shanghai: Lodging and Expo Homestay