Expats moving to Shanghai will experience a city driven by the manic obsession to become a leading international centre. For some time the metropolis has been trying to step out from behind the shadows of Hong Kong and Beijing, which have always seemed to garner more limelight.
 
Yet Shanghai is by no means a well-kept secret. It is the gatekeeper to China's vast economy and the country's leading financial centre, with more than 400,000 expats already in residence. Shanghai has shown a willingness to attract international business and an ability to adapt by implementing the changes required to support expansion.
 
Shanghai spent $45 billion for the 2010 World Expo (May to October), mostly improving the city's infrastructure. Thus, expats can expect an even more accentuated transition from historic city to modern metropolis.

For expats moving to Shanghai, this means the international companies continuing to open branches in the city will need skilled workers and employees who can commit to keeping a wide range of industries cutting edge.
 
For several decades the city has ballooned with urban sprawl creating many expat communities and suburbs in Shanghai more akin to western neighbourhoods than Chinese.
 
While this has provided security and comfort to an international population, life in Shanghai can become almost segregated. Parts of Shanghai have largely become international, and in some cases have struggled to retain even the smallest morsel of Chinese character.