Shanghai gals. A minute of your time please!

[MuffinTumMum]

Ok. Most probably moving up from HK this summer. We have places at biss puxi. So that's one stress out of the way. What I need to know from you guys is to do with residential areas. I absolutely do not want to offend anybody but whilst some of the compounds round this school were great, I just can't get my head around the surrounding area of Minhang. What are your thoughts? Is there a sizable population of the school that doesn't live in this area
? I totally understand why it's easy to live there. Ie walk to school, playdates, after school activities. But once outside those compound gates it's a bit scrubland.
I love the French concession but it's too far for kids to commute.
We will have a car/ driver.
Any pointers much appreciated. We did visit pudong and that was cool but couldn't get school places for August guaranteed.

Thank you!

I can't speak from personal experience but the impression I get from people who live out there is that their entire social life is from within the compound (and a very small number of expatty places just outside). We live in Hongqiao and I know there are people here who commute out but it kind of depends on the age of your kids - would they be old enough to deal with a long bus journey each way every day (it is a good 25-30 mins each way from Hongqiao which is the closest "expat area") and I'd say most kids around this area go to the more local International schools (YCIS (GB system) and SCIS (American system) In fact we looked at BISS (and loved it!) for our pre-schooler but decided that we'd have to wait til he was old enough to go on the bus cos I aint doing that 4 times a day!
It also depends where your/DH's work will be/how "expat" you want to be/budget etc!

I've only ever lived in Hongqiao and love it, but there are people who swear by minhang/qingpu area (ie near BISS/SAS) - have you tried asking on Shanghaimamas.org? You'll get way more answers on there.

Thank you Shangers, was hoping you would reply!
Yes have joined mamas, they are a friendly bunch who categorically told me I could not commute from the FC!!
Is the Yanlord Riverside development near you? Sorry, my head is a mess with all the different areas.
I don't want the kids to have to do that commute to start with. They are 9 and 7. So maybe its a case of living around the school for a year to get bearings and then seeing what we can manage.
Guess that its a case of getting on with it, just a very different way of life from HK. We don't have a car here and walk/taxi/ferry to wherever we want to go. Shanghai certainly makes HK look like a small village in comparison!
Thanks for the reply, appreciate it! x

ooh you made me feel all special! ;-) ah I know who you are now! (not in RL - that would be stalkerish!!)

Yeah I think FC would be awful for commuting. Yanlord is not far from us - its apartment living but I'd say it's the best of apartment living in this area (it's got lovely green grounds and a lot of families). commute (I think) would be a good 30 mins - which wouldn't be unusual for yanlord families I'd say but most kids there would be going to much closer schools (YCIS, SCIS, Livingstone America etc). Having said that, yanlord is more Gubei than Hongqiao so a bit less in the thicks of it than Hongqiao (which is even less city living than FC) - and Minhang really is in the sticks! I think you'd find it a bit of a shock after HK to be honest. I also find that people don't tend to change areas after they've been here for a year or so - most people find they don't want to leave the friends they've made etc.

I'd say Shanghai is going to be very different to HK! I was amazed when I visited a friend in HK that she could walk pretty much everywhere - the distances in Shanghai are much bigger and the traffic can be a little... ahem unpredictable to say the least!

In a nutshell - it might be better for the kids to be near school for the fact that their friends will probably be closer and they will have more space etc but I'd say there is a chance that you won't like it and that's kind of important too!

I'd seriously look at Hongqiao/Gubei area if I were you - the kids may not have many of their classmates around but they will have plenty of other kids to play with and if you have a car it won't be too much of a hardship to do the odd playdate out nearer school.

Are you going to get a chance for another look before you have to decide? There are several compounds in Hongqiao which offer the same sort of space as those in Minhang but more central. drop me a pm if I can help with any specifics - it's a difficult one!

oh one last thing - I haven't done it myself but I have heard that if you call the school they will happily talk to you about bus routes and where the greatest proportion of their kids live - it might give you an idea of where people commute from.

I live out in Minhang and I'm borrrrrrrrrred. We are desperate to move closer to the city. Yes it is better for the kids to be near friends but ANYTHING that you want to do is an hours drive into the city. Also tbh there don't seem to be that many activities for kids your DCs age unless it is through school. Most of the outside sports activities are either downtown or for older children or available via the Shanghai Racquet Club which is hideously expensive - do try to get membership included in your rental if you come out here. It was a real mistake that we didn't.

For parents as well all of the social things are down town - coffee mornings, book clubs, etc etc.

Few restaurants, nothing delivers, food shops aren't great (in comparison to Beijing anyway but also all the good butchers are downtown).

BUT... we chose our place for the fact that we get a huge house for not a lot of money so we're saving (we get a rental allowance and anything we don't spend we keep and as we find Shanghai so much more expensive than Beijing it's a real blessing) and the space is lovely. The pollution is less. I love having a good sized garden for DD to run around. My house is great. There is a nice park to run around near the house plus the play equipment in the compound, also we are near a good wet market. My ayi lives near us as does the driver. Re the driver it took the company a long time to find one who lived near us. Most drivers aren't willing to drive an hour to get to you or get home at the end of the day. Also on weekends, if you need your driver then it's better if they are close.

Is your company relocating you? If so are they doing it through one of the main moving companies like Santa Fe or the like? If so the moving company has moving co-ordinators who will talk you through areas, schools etc. I found ours a great help but should have listened to her - and everyone else - when they said this would be too far out.

Again, thank you ladies for your time and wisdom! We have now done a u turn and accepted school places in Pudong! We are flying up this weekend to sort out accommodation. I feel much happier about it. I can walk from any of the compounds near the school to supermarkets/ restaurants etc which will make life much easier to begin with. Had difficulties thinking about relying on a driver the whole time. We aim to arrive in August. Many mumsnetters up there? Any meet ups done?

Thanks again x

I think there are maybe 4 or so of us?

No meet ups to my knowledge. Join www.shanghaimamas.org as soon as you can. It's excellent for meet ups, local knowledge, book groups and other interest groups like knitting, photography etc.