I've never been to Shanghai in the winter before. Is it really cold? What's the weather like? I've experienced a Beijing winter before and it was incredibly cold.

5 degrees damp and dreary

Constant rain?

Shanghai feels much colder than Beijing because maybe as you know that north of the Yangtze river China provides factory-produced heat, and south of it it doesn't. Shanghai is also a lot more humid, making it feel colder.

In my 19 years in Shanghai, I'd say it snows on average 1-2 times each winter. Floor heating makes things a lot better.

Sounds like I�ll need to bring gloves and a thick jacket. I was thinking of flying in from HKG.

I don't bundle up so much myself during Shanghai winters because it usually doesn't get super cold. I agree with travelinmanS that "damp and dreary" is an accurate descriptor.

Beijing winters are typically much more pleasant than Shanghai winters (lots of clear sky days), but temperatures can be seriously cold (i.e. "yes, yes, yes" to the thick jacket), especially when the Siberian winds are in full force.

YariGuy Our lack of a central heating grid doesn't affect me (and I suspect you, as well) so much. Sure, a lot of restaurants are cheap wrt electricity well into November, but there is no shortage of venues that value customer comfort. The only time I recall being personally burned by this policy was when I was living in a foreign students' dorm in Nanjing during college, and the building took away our aircon remotes because "we didn't need them, as Nanjing is in the south".

Yes, but Beijing is unbelievably cold during winter. I'm speaking from experience.

I already acknowledged this (having spent 3 complete winters there myself). If you play it strategically (e.g. rely more on cars than you would during other seasons and avoid long walks on N/S streets), it can still be quite enjoyable. Shanghai, by contrast, is more difficult to fix.

Beijing is not cold (except when it snows and is damp, which is not often).... -10�C to +10�C most of the time...

For cold - try Harbin.

It's cold enough in Beijing, IME.
Our big workshop barely gets to +10�C for about 6 weeks to two months in winter.
The wind is pretty brutal too.

But yeah, Harbin is worse!

Coming from Canada, Shanghai in winter is always a bit warmer than home, similar to Seoul, so never a shock.
Not like it was 40 odd years ago, when there was no heating in offices and factories, and it was such a relief to get
back to the hotel after 12 hours without heat all day.

40 years ago?
I still can't get our employees to turn on the heaters in the common areas. They just refuse.
(Same in the summer for A/C..)

I thought central heating is only common north of the Yangtze? Do Shanghai buildings typically have this?

No. Already discussed, starting in post 4. The thing is, access to the central heating grid isn't such a big deal anymore (modern buildings are more energy efficient, and extreme thrift is less common). Still, I don't think winter is a good time to visit anywhere between Nanjing and Xiamen.