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What to look for on the radio in Shanghai China

Hi everyone-

I’m in Shanghai for a few weeks (and have access to a radio). I’m wondering if anyone has any insight on what I could/should try to catch on the radio while I’m here.

Thanks in advance!
 
I’m in Shanghai for a few weeks (and have access to a radio). I’m wondering if anyone has any insight on what I could/should try to catch on the radio while I’m here.
Are there any restrictions on tourists taking radio's into China? Otherwise, I'd not take one and buy one of the rather cool higher end ones that we get on Amazon for about 3 times what they cost in China. Be prepared for instructions to be totally in Chinese, but you can get an English manual online.

Have a great trip! I envy you on that one as several cities in China are on my bucket list.
 
Are there any restrictions on tourists taking radio's into China? Otherwise, I'd not take one and buy one of the rather cool higher end ones that we get on Amazon for about 3 times what they cost in China. Be prepared for instructions to be totally in Chinese, but you can get an English manual online.

Have a great trip! I envy you on that one as several cities in China are on my bucket list.
Hey David, I’m not sure what the rules are about bringing a radio into the country. I didn’t try it, just to be safe. Luckily, I have access to some other (local) radios while I am here, and I might even be able to buy one! Let me do some research to figure out where I could get one.

I’ve had some time to mess around with the radios that I DO have access to. Sadly, I can’t find anything on AM (which doesn’t seem right). I suspect that the AM band just wasn’t working on the radio I tried, and that there must be stations broadcasting on their medium wave band.

As for FM, I’ve found a few that are noteworthy (but I’m sure that there’s a lot more to discover). I’d be curious if anyone has a list of what I should look for. Here’s what I have so far:

87.9 - Hit FM (English CHR with Chinese speaking announcers).

101.7 - Unidentified Chinese CHR. Music and spoken word in Chinese.

103.7 - Unidentified Chinese classic hits. Music and spoken word in Chinese.

My partner is originally from Shanghai and speaks Mandarin. I suspect she could identify more, but these are the stations she personally listened to in Shanghai.
 
Some other details I’d like to mention (that some of you may find interesting).

1. I’m under the impression that 103.7 might be one of the most listened to radio stations in the city. I think I was a bit off with my previous assessment; actually, it seems more like an AC format as opposed to classic hits. Regardless, there appears to be a male and female host paired up throughout the day. If you listen long enough, you’ll hear some English songs thrown in as well (though some seem atypical for AC). I heard “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes (typical of AC), and then “Adore You” by Miley Cyrus later in the day. I don’t think any AC radio stations in North America gave that song any airplay, even when it was new. Regardless, this station seems to be very popular among middle aged adults, and you’re likely to hear it around town.

2. There seems to be a rule that all radio stations must time out exactly at the end of the hour. Each radio station airs a series of “beeps” around the 59:55 mark of each hour, with some sort of station identification airing precisely at the top of the hour. It seems like some of the hosts try to stall for time so they can time the hour just right.

There don’t appear to be any formal legal IDs. I listened to Hit-Fm for a decent amount of time while driving around over the past few days. The legal ID is just an identifier stating that you’re listening to Shanghai’s #1 radio station for hit music (as I mentioned before, all liners are in English).

3. I believe there is also Chinese CHR on 107.7 as well. This station appears to be similar to 101.7, but I don’t think English songs are ever featured (whereas you may hear an English song once in a while on 101.7).
 
Some other details I’d like to mention (that some of you may find interesting).

1. I’m under the impression that 103.7 might be one of the most listened to radio stations in the city. I think I was a bit off with my previous assessment; actually, it seems more like an AC format as opposed to classic hits. Regardless, there appears to be a male and female host paired up throughout the day. If you listen long enough, you’ll hear some English songs thrown in as well (though some seem atypical for AC). I heard “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes (typical of AC), and then “Adore You” by Miley Cyrus later in the day. I don’t think any AC radio stations in North America gave that song any airplay, even when it was new. Regardless, this station seems to be very popular among middle aged adults, and you’re likely to hear it around town.

2. There seems to be a rule that all radio stations must time out exactly at the end of the hour. Each radio station airs a series of “beeps” around the 59:55 mark of each hour, with some sort of station identification airing precisely at the top of the hour. It seems like some of the hosts try to stall for time so they can time the hour just right.

There don’t appear to be any formal legal IDs. I listened to Hit-Fm for a decent amount of time while driving around over the past few days. The legal ID is just an identifier stating that you’re listening to Shanghai’s #1 radio station for hit music (as I mentioned before, all liners are in English).

3. I believe there is also Chinese CHR on 107.7 as well. This station appears to be similar to 101.7, but I don’t think English songs are ever featured (whereas you may hear an English song once in a while on 101.7).
Late to the party here, but I can add a little bit about these stations. 87.9 Hit FM is operated as a domestic English-speaking station by CRI, the familiar Chinese international broadcaster. 107.7 is CNR-3 "Music Radio", a pop station from the Chinese national state broadcaster. Both of these operate in multiple Chinese cities. I'm not familiar with 103.7, but it seems to be listed as "Love Radio" and run by the local Shanghai city, as is 101.7.

There isn't any commercial radio in China. Stations are operated either by the Chinese state or by local media operations run by the local province or city governments. They carry commercials, but they aren't independent. Most cities have a few local stations, and their names are often quite descriptive - in Chinese, they are things like "News Radio", "Traffic Radio", "Story Radio" (a format of book readings and dramas) and so on.

Nobody in Europe or Asia does "legal IDs", most stations don't have call letters in any meaningful way. (Japanese stations do, and announce them once a day, but these are the exception.) Chris Kadlec has a great web page all about the different ways Chinese radio stations ID:


The radios you can buy are fun - it's not straight from China, but someone brought me a Chinese-made Tecsun radio from a Singapore electronics market as a gift, with Chinese labels on the buttons, it's a decent radio and a fun object due to its origins and labelling.
 
Here's the latest FM dial listing I've found (translated into English). Format details are not available, but some station names are self-explanatory. And yes, there are radio ratings in China, though the most recent I was able to find come from 2017, when 93.4 Shanghai News had a 31.6 share, followed by Dynamic 101 with an 18.7.

87.9HIT FM
88.2Jiaxing Music Radio
88.7Chongming People's Broadcasting Station
89.9899 Urban Radio
90.4Ningbo Old and Young Radio
90.9Dongguan News Channel
91.4China National Radio Economic Voice
92.0Ningbo News Broadcasting
92.2Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
93.0Zhejiang Traffic Voice
93.4Shanghai News Broadcasting
94.0Five Star Sports Radio
94.7Classical Music Radio
95.3Jiangsu News Broadcasting
95.5China Traffic Radio
95.9Fengxian Radio Station
96.2Baoshan Radio Station
97.2Shanghai Drama and Opera Broadcasting
97.4Voice of Zhejiang
97.7First Financial Radio
98.1KFM98.1
98.6Ningbo Music Radio
99.0China National Radio Voice of China
100.1Pudong Radio 100.1 Boiling Point Music
100.3Jiading Radio Station
100.9Songjiang Radio Station
101.7Dynamic 101
102.5CRI Global Information Broadcasting
102.7Minhang Radio Station
103.7Love Radio
104.1Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
104.5Zhejiang female anchor radio
105.1Jinshan Radio
105.7Shanghai Traffic Radio
106.5Pudong Radio 106.5 Voice of East Shanghai
106.7Qingpu Radio Station
107.2Shanghai Story Radio
107.7China National Radio Music
 
Here's the latest FM dial listing I've found (translated into English). Format details are not available, but some station names are self-explanatory. And yes, there are radio ratings in China, though the most recent I was able to find come from 2017, when 93.4 Shanghai News had a 31.6 share, followed by Dynamic 101 with an 18.7.

87.9HIT FM
88.2Jiaxing Music Radio
88.7Chongming People's Broadcasting Station
89.9899 Urban Radio
90.4Ningbo Old and Young Radio
90.9Dongguan News Channel
91.4China National Radio Economic Voice
92.0Ningbo News Broadcasting
92.2Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
93.0Zhejiang Traffic Voice
93.4Shanghai News Broadcasting
94.0Five Star Sports Radio
94.7Classical Music Radio
95.3Jiangsu News Broadcasting
95.5China Traffic Radio
95.9Fengxian Radio Station
96.2Baoshan Radio Station
97.2Shanghai Drama and Opera Broadcasting
97.4Voice of Zhejiang
97.7First Financial Radio
98.1KFM98.1
98.6Ningbo Music Radio
99.0China National Radio Voice of China
100.1Pudong Radio 100.1 Boiling Point Music
100.3Jiading Radio Station
100.9Songjiang Radio Station
101.7Dynamic 101
102.5CRI Global Information Broadcasting
102.7Minhang Radio Station
103.7Love Radio
104.1Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
104.5Zhejiang female anchor radio
105.1Jinshan Radio
105.7Shanghai Traffic Radio
106.5Pudong Radio 106.5 Voice of East Shanghai
106.7Qingpu Radio Station
107.2Shanghai Story Radio
107.7China National Radio Music
This is amazing!! I’ve been sitting on a video that I took of the radio dial in Shanghai, but never uploaded it because I didn’t know what I was listening to (and couldn’t figure out how to label the video).
 
I’m in Shanghai for a few weeks (and have access
Here's the latest FM dial listing I've found (translated into English). Format details are not available, but some station names are self-explanatory. And yes, there are radio ratings in China, though the most recent I was able to find come from 2017, when 93.4 Shanghai News had a 31.6 share, followed by Dynamic 101 with an 18.7.

87.9HIT FM
88.2Jiaxing Music Radio
88.7Chongming People's Broadcasting Station
89.9899 Urban Radio
90.4Ningbo Old and Young Radio
90.9Dongguan News Channel
91.4China National Radio Economic Voice
92.0Ningbo News Broadcasting
92.2Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
93.0Zhejiang Traffic Voice
93.4Shanghai News Broadcasting
94.0Five Star Sports Radio
94.7Classical Music Radio
95.3Jiangsu News Broadcasting
95.5China Traffic Radio
95.9Fengxian Radio Station
96.2Baoshan Radio Station
97.2Shanghai Drama and Opera Broadcasting
97.4Voice of Zhejiang
97.7First Financial Radio
98.1KFM98.1
98.6Ningbo Music Radio
99.0China National Radio Voice of China
100.1Pudong Radio 100.1 Boiling Point Music
100.3Jiading Radio Station
100.9Songjiang Radio Station
101.7Dynamic 101
102.5CRI Global Information Broadcasting
102.7Minhang Radio Station
103.7Love Radio
104.1Jiaxing Traffic Broadcasting
104.5Zhejiang female anchor radio
105.1Jinshan Radio
105.7Shanghai Traffic Radio
106.5Pudong Radio 106.5 Voice of East Shanghai
106.7Qingpu Radio Station
107.2Shanghai Story Radio
107.7China National Radio Music
Note the separation of stations by as little as 200 kHz (in other words, next adjacent channel). I wonder if this is for the whole province, rather than the one city.

As for me, I am attracted to "Boiling Point Music".
 
Note the separation of stations by as little as 200 kHz (in other words, next adjacent channel). I wonder if this is for the whole province, rather than the one city.

As for me, I am attracted to "Boiling Point Music".
It’s hard to say, since Shanghai is its own province. Maybe these are radio stations located outside of the city (without transmission equipment on the oriental pearl tv tower).
 
Note the separation of stations by as little as 200 kHz (in other words, next adjacent channel). I wonder if this is for the whole province, rather than the one city.
This is for the municipality in general. 17 of the stations listed transmit from the 1500 ft Oriental Pearl Tower, and those are separated by as little as 0.6 MHz. The others are suburban, many of which include their locale in their name (eg. Fengxian Radio Station in Fengxian District.)

1718024656083.png
 
Are there any restrictions on tourists taking radio's into China? Otherwise, I'd not take one and buy one of the rather cool higher end ones that we get on Amazon for about 3 times what they cost in China. Be prepared for instructions to be totally in Chinese, but you can get an English manual online.

Have a great trip! I envy you on that one as several cities in China are on my bucket list.
As a native (mainland) Chinese often using self-brought Sony sets, I am very, very certain that current local regulations does not restrict foreign broadcast radio receivers transported into the region. Many local hobbyists (including some I know residing also in Beijing; others Manchuria region, Canton, et al) even self-import overseas models for comparison!
 
The '80s Hot Hits format, updated?

So where does one tune in China for lively political discussion?
Some large metropolitan stations especially in the first half of 2010s often had programming blocks commentating ongoing and new local policies, usually with local officials and (sometimes) scholars as panelists. A significant chunk of such programming have disappeared over the last few years indeed due to rising political tensions domestic and abroad.
 
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