…can be a bitch if you haven’t done it already. Here’s what I found in the course of my search. If you can’t read Chinese or cannot find someone who can, this isn’t going to be of much use to you. But here goes.
First, here’s a page that lists all the major PSB and police sub-stations in Shanghai, by district. When you want to know how to find the place consult either mapbar.com or Google CN’s business results from the main search engine or maps search engine.
Now if you want to get a temporary residence permit for the purposes of obtaining or renewing a visa, you have to find the one has jurisdiction over where you live and also handles “hu ji” or residence related issues. The problem here is that if you dial the main number, the police person might not know how to answer your visa related questions. That’s why it’s better to transfer or call directly someone involved in that area, they can give you a better answer.
If you live in Xuhui, for example, this page shows you the addresses and phone numbers, but ALSO what kind of stuff the station handles, eg criminal cases, residence issues, etc.
However, the phone number of the residence department of my local station was not listed, so I had to still call the general number and then have them transfer me.
And of course, they don’t process anything during lunch hours.
