I’m still a little surprised to see someone ask this question. It’s already 2024 and there are still friends who think China has serious health and safety issues?
Is safe to eat in Shanghai?
You should know that from January to June 2024, there will be about 14 million foreigners coming to Shanghai. If food safety in Shanghai was as serious as the problematic hosts think, those 14 million foreigners would have blown up on the internet long ago.
So don’t worry about food safety. At best, some foods are too spicy (e.g. hot pot) and some foods you don’t normally eat (e.g. pig’s feet, chicken claws), which are in line with different cultures and habits, and I simply suggest you try them out and savor them. Otherwise the fun of traveling is a lot less.
Shanghai has a lot of local regional specialties. Unless your stomach is already calling for food from your home town, I suggest that you don’t eat western food (e.g. steak) or western fast food (e.g. burgers) in Shanghai, maybe the flavor next door to your house is better.
Shanghai’s local specialties include: xiao long bao, pan-fried buns, rice cake with pork ribs, crab meat noodles, and so on.
How to find safe and tasty food?
So, introduce a few easy ways to forage for food:
1. If you can use the app Massive Dianping, similar to Yelp, you can look up the food you are interested in;
2. just wander around on the street and see restaurants where locals (not Chinese tourists from other parts of China) are guests, you can feel free to brave it.
