Shanghai - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
If you only shop at the expat places you'll spend a lot of money. Better to find those local or quasi local markets where the locals shop. The Chinese are very picky about their fruits and vegetables. They need to be cleaned well but my family ate them for three years and we were fine. Everything is available. - Nov 2020
Everything is available in Shanghai, but at higher cost. - Apr 2017
Super cheap on the local market. Don't expect organic or clean food. Super expensive for imports and produce labeled organic. - Oct 2016
It varies widely. Dishwasher soap is EXPENSIVE. Only rich people have dishwashers. Groceries: meat is generally expensive. You can sometimes stock up on pork or chicken when it goes on sale. Vegetables are not too pricey if you buy directly at the wet market (farmer's type market). There is the wholesale market that makes some other items more affordable too (tortillas, cheese, etc.). Or you can buy it all at CityShop which is $$$$. - Dec 2014
Cheap, cheap, cheap. If you want to subsist entirely on Western imports, you may find your bank account dwindling pretty quickly, but produce is very inexpensive (especially if you go to specialized produce markets), most products, even import brands, don't cost too much more than in the U.S. (sometimes they're cheaper) and are widely available in most grocery stores and convenience stores. - Aug 2014
Western groceries and brands are all available but can be ridiculously expensive. We buy a lot of stuff from Amazon and have it shipped. - Aug 2011
There are plenty of local markets, and a growing number of markets that sell international foods too. All sorts of options at various prices are available. Restaurants are quite inexpensive, so you'll probably eat out more than you expect. - Dec 2010
Everything is available. All supermarkets have an imported section. Prices might be a bit higher. - Jul 2010
Pretty good. There are several good Western grocery chains, including Carrefour and City Shop, where you can get anything you need. US/EUR brands can be quite expensive however, so packing stuff in is a good idea. Local brands are cheap and plentiful in just about anything you can imagine, if you are willing to risk quality/safety issues. - Feb 2009
Everything. Although, one may have to pay more for imported goods. There are major Western super-stores here though: CarreFour, Wal-Mart, Tesco, Metro etc. - Jun 2008
