Drink with caution. A city-specific assessment for Shanghai.
Can you…
Can you drink the tap water in Shanghai?
Last reviewed September 2026 · China
Short answer: be a little careful with the tap water in Shanghai. At 52/100 it sits in the caution band — generally fine for showering, washing up and cooking, but for drinking most visitors to Shanghai filter it or buy sealed bottled water, and go easy on ice at smaller places.
Tap water for visitors to Shanghai
For a visitor to Shanghai, the routine is simple: drink sealed bottled water or water you've filtered or boiled, use the same for brushing your teeth if you'd rather be safe, and be choosy about ice — fine in reputable hotels and restaurants, riskier from street stalls. Cooking is lower-risk, since a rolling boil kills most bugs, so hot, freshly cooked food is a good bet.
A rolling boil for one minute makes the water in Shanghai microbiologically safe, and a travel filter certified for bacteria and viruses is a reusable alternative to buying bottle after bottle. The usual issue from untreated water is travellers' diarrhoea, so a little care with what you drink and the ice you add goes a long way. See CDC food & water precautions.
More depth in our guides on boiling water and drinking tap water while traveling.
How Shanghai compares to the rest of China
Shanghai is rated 52/100, against 42/100 for China as a whole — its water infrastructure tends to run ahead of the national average.
Shanghai tap water: quick answers
Can you drink tap water in Shanghai?+
Not without care. At 52/100, tap water in Shanghai is best filtered, boiled, or swapped for sealed bottled water before you drink it.
Is ice safe, and can you brush your teeth with tap water in Shanghai?+
In Shanghai, brushing your teeth with tap water is usually okay if you don't swallow, but be wary of ice from street vendors — stick to reputable venues or ice made from bottled water.
Do you need bottled water in Shanghai?+
For drinking, yes — bottled or filtered water is the safe choice in Shanghai. It's widely sold; just check the seal is intact before you buy.
Where this rating comes from
There’s no single official dataset for city-level tap water, so the Shanghai rating is drawn from China’s national water-safety assessment and conditions specific to the city alongside CDC traveler guidance. For the official monitoring behind it, see tap water in China or the methodology.