What number do I call in an emergency?

Four numbers, not two

110 is the police — theft, robbery, a fight. 119 is the fire service, and also the number for building collapses and natural disasters. 120 is first aid, for anyone who needs to get to hospital.

The fourth is the one visitors do not expect. 122 is the traffic police, used to report a road accident and its location. Splitting road incidents onto their own line is not how most countries do it, and reaching for 110 out of habit sends you to the wrong desk.

Language is already handled

Not speaking Chinese is not a reason to hesitate. Shanghai's 110 operates in eight languages — English, Japanese, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Arabic and Korean — and both 119 and 120 are available in English.

Say which language you need at the start of the call rather than trying to get through the first sentences in Chinese.

Free, and there is a line below emergency

Nationwide emergency calls carry no charge, so a phone with no credit still reaches them. That matters more than it sounds when a local SIM has run dry.

For everything short of an emergency there is 12345, the public service hotline; Shanghai's runs in Chinese and 18 other languages. Lost property, a dispute with a shop, a question at midnight — that is the number, and using it leaves 110 for the people who need it.

Good to know

• 122 is a separate line for road accidents — not 110
• State the language you need at the start of the call
• 12345 is the non-emergency public service hotline

Sources: Beijing Municipal Government — Emergency numbers · Shanghai Municipal Government — What to do in an emergency · Updated Jul 2026