I dragged my suitcase around the streets of Shanghai looking for small shops to buy butterfly pastries, which was too inconvenient. During the May Day holiday, the tourism market in Shanghai was booming, with tourists from various countries and cities shuttling through the streets and alleys of Shanghai, including some tourists dragging boxes and carrying packages for sightseeing and shopping.

The storage locker at Hongqiao Railway Station. Photo by Guan Tianrui

Tourists can search online to find a storage location

The reporter recently visited Hongqiao Airport. There were no obvious storage signs at the airport, and the reporter only found the luggage storage area through the consultation service desk. Near Exit 1 on the first floor of Terminal 2 airport, the reporter found the service desk of the luggage storage area, which is adjacent to the lost and found and business center. The staff said that the stored items must undergo security checks, including opening the box, registering with an ID card or passport before storage, and submitting a storage voucher or the name, ID number, and phone number of the consignor for luggage retrieval. The storage area has several rows of gray cabinets, with sizes including small, medium, and oversized items. Among them, small and medium items are charged according to different time periods. Small items are charged 15 yuan within 4 hours, 20 yuan within 4 to 10 hours, and 25 yuan within 10 to 24 hours. Large items are charged 50 yuan per 24 hours.

The reporter saw on the basement level of Hongqiao Railway Station that this is where high-speed rail passengers arrive, as well as the transfer hall for rail transit and airport. Passengers carrying large and small bags are constantly coming in a stream. There are a total of 9 self-service storage points set up on the basement level, all located on the north and south sides of the middle passage. Although the yellow appearance of the cabinets is prominent, there are no signs guiding passengers to go. This type of self-service storage cabinet comes in three sizes: large, medium, and small. There is no need to pay a deposit, just scan the QR code on the screen with WeChat and choose the appropriate cabinet to store it. The door can be opened multiple times during the process. Storage is charged according to the size of the container, with a small container fee of 4 yuan/hour and a 24-hour maximum of 40 yuan; Medium cabinet costs 5 yuan/hour, with a 24-hour maximum of 50 yuan; The price for a large cabinet is 6 yuan per hour, with a 24-hour maximum of 60 yuan. The reporter observed that medium and large lockers are more popular. Among the 9 self-service storage points, the utilization rate of medium and large lockers is more than half, and the utilization rate of medium lockers can reach over 80%, while the utilization rate of small lockers is relatively low.

The reporter also visited several shopping malls. Raffles City near People's Square has a storage point. Looking around the mall, you will find small directional signs that are parallel to subway, restroom, parking and other directional symbols, but not very obvious. Tourists usually need to inquire to know the specific location. The reporter arrived at the storage point on the third floor and saw a row of yellow storage cabinets, divided into three sizes: large, medium, and small. The fees were 1.5 yuan/hour, 2 yuan/hour, and 3 yuan/hour, respectively. No users were seen on site, indicating that the usage rate was not high. There are also gray lockers on the B1 floor of Jing'an Kerry Center, with a total of more than 20 lockers. The storage service here is free and the usage rate is relatively high. But the signs set up are not clear enough, and many tourists find them through social media.

The reporter found that some luggage storage areas have also been set up around the exits of some Shanghai subway stations. At the People's Square subway station, which has the highest pedestrian flow, there are storage areas near exits 1, 11, and 19. The fee is 20 yuan per day for suitcases and 10 yuan per day for backpacks. The operating hours are generally from 8am to 11pm. But the reporter found that most tourists who know there are storage points here found them through online search.

The identification should be clear and the information should be timely

Li Ming made some observations and found that the tourists dragging boxes on the streets were either those who had just arrived in Shanghai but had not yet checked into a hotel, those who had checked out and were about to leave Shanghai for leisure sightseeing, or those who were staying in Shanghai for a short period of time without accommodation. These tourists have a short travel time, ranging from one hour to half a day, and have nowhere to put their carry on luggage. They can only travel together to Shanghai

On the other hand, in some cities abroad, such as Japan, every train station and shopping mall is uniformly equipped with storage boxes, and the quantity is sufficient. Especially for short distance tourists, it is definitely a great experience. When taking the train to a destination, there is no need to rush to the hotel after getting off the train. First, store your luggage and immediately go on a light trip. Shopping is also easy, you can store the purchased items in your rented box each time, and then free up your hands to go shopping again. Li Ming believes that the reasonable placement of storage boxes in tourist hubs and commercial shopping areas is worth learning from in Shanghai.

In recent years, some shopping malls and enterprises in Shanghai have begun to have the awareness of storage services, but the number of storage points set up is not enough. Li Ming suggests actively guiding and advocating the construction of more storage points in commercial shopping areas and transportation hubs to provide a more convenient shopping environment for citizens and tourists.

From the perspective of convenience for travelers, storage points should be located in prominent positions, and guidance services should be strengthened. Li Ming said that even though many shopping malls have storage areas, the guidance signs are not clear enough and the locations are relatively concealed. Many tourists share information about storage services through social media, but online sharing is mixed, and sometimes users post expired or even incorrect information, leaving tourists empty. Li Ming suggests publishing publicly transparent hosting service information on public service platforms such as Shanghai.