Medical Emergencies in Shanghai: 120, ERs and English Help

This is the guide I hope you bookmark and never need. But emergencies do not wait for you to learn the system, and the middle of a crisis is a terrible time to discover that the ambulance dispatcher speaks only Chinese. Ten minutes of reading now buys you real calm later. What number do I call for an ambulance in Shanghai? Dial 120 for an ambulance, anywhere in mainland China. Police is 110 and fire is 119. The 120 operators work in Chinese; they can bring a translator onto the line, but that takes time, so the fastest options are having a Chinese speaker call for you, or reading out your address from a saved note in characters. Give three things: where you are, who you are, and what happened. Save your home and office addresses in Chinese on your phone's lock screen or notes app today. It is the single highest-value preparation on this page. How much does an ambulance cost? Far less than you might fear. The fee structure is a 30 RMB base charge plus 7 RMB per kilometer after the first three, a 60 RMB pre-hospital care charge, and an 80 RMB hourly waiting fee if it applies. In practice the total usually stays under 300 RMB. Once you are aboard, you can usually tell the crew which…