Shanghai Municipality · China
A fishing town in the nineteenth century, the most cosmopolitan city in Asia by the 1930s, and now a skyline that did not exist before 1990 facing a colonial waterfront that has barely changed since.
Photo: King of Hearts · CC BY-SA 4.0
Shanghai was a fishing and weaving town of no particular significance until foreign powers forced it open as a treaty port in 1842. Within a century it had become the most cosmopolitan city in Asia, a genuine international metropolis of foreign concessions, jazz clubs, gangsters and the tallest buildings on the continent — a period locals still refer to simply as Shanghai's 'golden age'. Then came decades of quiet isolation under the early People's Republic, before the Pudong district across the river was designated a special economic zone in 1990 and transformed, in barely a generation, from farmland into one of the most recognisable skylines on earth.
That history left the city with two faces that face each other across the Huangpu River. The Bund is the old face: a kilometre of grand 1920s banking houses in a dozen European styles, built when Shanghai's financial district rivalled London's. Pudong is the new one: the Oriental Pearl Tower, the bottle-opener-shaped Shanghai World Financial Center and the Shanghai Tower, China's tallest building, none of which existed when many residents were born.
Between the two, and easy to overlook if you only chase the skyline, is a city that still rewards slow walking — the French Concession's plane-tree-lined streets, Yu Garden's Ming-dynasty rockeries hidden behind the old town's tourist stalls, and a food culture, all soup dumplings, scallion pancakes and sweet-savoury Shanghainese cooking, that is completely distinct from the rest of China.
Why visit
Shanghai's case is that no other Chinese city shows the country's last two centuries — colonial treaty port, wartime crucible, communist austerity, capitalist boom — this vividly in one river view.
Nowhere else puts a century-old colonial waterfront and a skyline built almost entirely since 1990 directly opposite each other across a single river.
The French Concession's tree-lined streets, low-rise architecture and cafe culture make for pleasant, unhurried walking rare in a city this size.
Xiaolongbao, sheng jian bao and a sweeter, more delicate cooking style set Shanghainese food apart from every other regional cuisine in this guide.
More English is spoken here than almost anywhere else in mainland China, which makes it an easier first stop for a nervous first-time visitor.
Suzhou's gardens and Hangzhou's West Lake are both under ninety minutes away by bullet train, adding classical China to Shanghai's modern one.
Main attractions
Shanghai rewards pairing its two faces deliberately — one day mostly old Shanghai, one day mostly new — rather than trying to see everything at once.
A kilometre of early-twentieth-century banking houses in Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance and Art Deco styles, built when Shanghai's financial district rivalled the world's great cities, now floodlit nightly facing Pudong's towers across the water.
Tip Walk it twice — by day for the buildings' detail, and again at dusk when both banks light up simultaneously.
The Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the 632-metre Shanghai Tower — China's tallest building — clustered together and viewable from multiple observation decks or, more cheaply, from the Bund itself.
Tip The Shanghai Tower's observation deck is the highest and least crowded of the three main options, if pricier.
A Ming-dynasty classical garden hidden behind the old town's bazaar, its rockeries, ponds and pavilions a genuine escape from the surrounding tourist shopping street, dating to 1559 and one of the few surviving pieces of pre-treaty-port Shanghai.
Tip Arrive at opening to see it before the tour groups. The surrounding bazaar is worth a wander for snacks either way.
Tree-lined streets of 1920s villas and lane houses, now filled with independent boutiques, cafes and restaurants — the most pleasant part of Shanghai simply to walk without a destination in mind.
Tip Wukang Road and Anfu Road have the best concentration of interesting small shops and cafes.
One of China's best museums, with bronze, ceramic, calligraphy and jade collections spanning millennia, free to enter and a world-class rainy-day option.
Tip Free but often queued — arrive at opening or go on a weekday afternoon.
A well-preserved canal town on Shanghai's outskirts, with stone bridges, waterside teahouses and a slower pace than the city centre — the closest easy day trip to the water towns that made this region famous.
Tip About an hour from central Shanghai by bus or taxi. Go on a weekday to avoid the worst of the crowds.
A former textile mill complex converted into galleries and studios, Shanghai's answer to Beijing's 798, smaller and less polished but with an active working-artist community.
Tip Free to wander. Many galleries close on Mondays, so check before making a special trip.
Things to do
Shanghai rewards both structured sightseeing and simply walking a neighbourhood — leave room in the itinerary for the second.
The single best few minutes in Shanghai: both banks of the Huangpu light up almost simultaneously as the sky darkens, colonial facades on one side, futuristic towers on the other.
Tip Arrive thirty minutes before official sunset to get a good spot on the promenade before it fills.
A boat trip along the river gives the reverse view — the Bund from the water — and passes directly beneath Pudong's towers, best done as dusk turns to night.
Tip Shorter, cheaper evening cruises run frequently from piers near the Bund; no need to book the longer daytime options.
No fixed itinerary works as well here as simply picking a direction and walking — plane-tree canopies, converted lane houses, small galleries and coffee roasters around every second corner.
Tip Wukang Mansion, a curved Art Deco building at a junction of three roads, is a good anchor point to start from.
Sheng jian bao (pan-fried soup dumplings), scallion pancakes and soy milk from a neighbourhood stall — a completely different, more casual food culture from the tourist restaurants of Yu Garden.
Tip Look for a queue of commuters rather than a shopfront with an English menu.
The Shanghai Tower, Jin Mao Tower or Oriental Pearl Tower all offer views over the lit-up skyline and the Bund beyond — a different, more comprehensive perspective than street level.
Tip Book tickets online in advance for a discount and to skip the ticket-counter queue.
A canal town under an hour away, or the classical gardens of Suzhou under thirty minutes by bullet train — both add a completely different, older pace to a Shanghai-based trip.
Tip Suzhou works as a genuine day trip; Zhujiajiao can be done in half a day if time is tight.
Local food
Shanghainese cooking is sweeter and more delicate than the food of most other Chinese regions, built around soy, sugar and rich braising alongside its famous soup dumplings.
Soup dumplings, folded by hand to hold a mouthful of scalding broth inside a thin skin, traditionally eaten with a spoon to catch the first bite rather than risking a lap full of hot soup.
Where to try it Din Tai Fung for reliable excellence, or Yu Garden's bazaar stalls for a more local, less refined version.
Pan-fried buns with a similar soup-filled interior to xiaolongbao but a thicker, chewier dough and a crisp fried base — arguably the better breakfast option and less fiddly to eat standing up.
Where to try it Yang's Fry Dumpling, a Shanghai chain with branches across the city and queues at breakfast time.
Pork belly braised slowly in soy sauce, sugar and rice wine until dark, glossy and meltingly tender — the signature dish of the sweeter, richer Shanghainese style of home cooking.
Where to try it Old-school Shanghainese restaurants in the French Concession rather than tourist-facing ones near Yu Garden.
A flaky, layered pan-fried flatbread studded with scallion, crisp outside and soft within, sold from street carts and eaten as a snack or light breakfast across the city.
Where to try it Any street cart with a queue, particularly around the old town and near metro stations in the morning.
Poached chicken steeped in Shaoxing rice wine and served cold, a classic Shanghainese cold appetiser that showcases the region's fondness for rice wine in savoury cooking.
Where to try it Traditional Shanghainese restaurants, usually listed among the cold starters.
Shanghai's most prized autumn delicacy — Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, steamed simply and eaten with ginger-infused vinegar, its roe considered the point of the whole dish.
Where to try it Seasonal, roughly October to December, at seafood restaurants across the city advertising it prominently when in season.
Accommodation
Shanghai's two obvious choices are the historic Puxi side of the river or Pudong's modern towers — most visitors are better served staying in Puxi.
Transport
Shanghai has two major airports and sits on the eastern end of China's high-speed rail network, making it a natural bookend to a Beijing-based trip.
Shanghai's metro is extensive, cheap and among the largest networks in the world, making it by far the easiest way to cover the city's real distances.
When to go
Shanghai has a humid subtropical climate — cold, damp winters and hot, humid summers — which makes spring and autumn clearly the most comfortable windows.
Mild and increasingly green, with the French Concession's plane trees at their best and comfortable walking weather throughout.
Hot and very humid, regularly above 33°C with a distinct rainy season in June and July, plus occasional typhoon risk in August and September.
The best season: comfortable, drier, and from October the arrival of hairy crab season adds a genuine culinary reason to visit.
Cold, damp and grey rather than snowy, with limited indoor heating outside hotels and malls, but noticeably cheaper and quieter than peak season.
Worth planning around: The first week of October, Golden Week, when the Bund and Yu Garden are at their most crowded nationwide.
Itinerary
Old Shanghai, new Shanghai, and a day trip — a structure that gives each face of the city its own unhurried time.
The Bund, the old town and Yu Garden.
Pudong's towers in the morning, the French Concession in the afternoon.
Suzhou's gardens or Zhujiajiao's canals, then a last Shanghai evening.
Travel tips
Shanghai-specific practicalities, most of which are about timing the skyline and getting the day trips right.
FAQ
Three to four. That covers the Bund and old town, Pudong's skyline, a proper wander through the French Concession, and a day trip to Suzhou or Zhujiajiao. Two days is workable if you skip the day trip, but the classical gardens under an hour away are worth the extra day.
Dusk, specifically the ten to fifteen minutes as the sky darkens and both the Bund's colonial facades and Pudong's towers light up together. Arrive on the promenade thirty minutes before official sunset to get a clear view before it fills with people.
The Bund view is free and excellent, and is enough for most visitors. An observation deck — the Shanghai Tower is the best of the three main options — adds a different, comprehensive height perspective and is worth it if budget and time allow, but is not essential.
March to May and September to November. Both are mild and comfortable; autumn adds hairy crab season from October. Summer is hot, humid and prone to typhoons; winter is cold, damp and grey rather than snowy.
Yes, more so than most Chinese cities — English is more widely spoken here than almost anywhere else in mainland China, the metro is intuitive, and the city's international history makes it a comparatively gentle introduction. The same VPN and payment-app preparation still applies as everywhere else in the country.
Xiaolongbao soup dumplings above everything, ideally at Din Tai Fung or a good local shop. Sheng jian bao for a heartier breakfast alternative, hongshao rou for the classic sweet-savoury braised style, and hairy crab in season, roughly October to December, if you can time it.
Keep exploring
Places that pair well with Shanghai, whether you have a few spare days or are building a longer route.
Beijing Municipality, China
China's capital for most of the last eight centuries, where a walled Ming palace, tai-chi parks and some of the country's best duck sit inside a modern megacity of 22 million.
Don't miss The Forbidden City — 980 buildings and nearly 9,000 rooms, the seat of Chinese emperors for nearly five hundred years.
Explore Destination — BeijingShaanxi, China
China's ancient capital for eleven dynasties and over a thousand years, where an emperor's buried army meets a walled old city and the best street food in the country.
Don't miss The Terracotta Army — over 8,000 individually sculpted life-size warriors, discovered by farmers digging a well in 1974.
Explore Destination — Xi'anJiangsu & Zhejiang, China
Two canal-and-lake cities under ninety minutes from Shanghai, one built around the most celebrated classical gardens in China, the other around a lake that has shaped a thousand years of poetry.
Don't miss The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou — the largest and most celebrated classical garden in China, its pavilions, ponds and rockeries composed like a three-dimensional painting.
Explore Destination — Suzhou & HangzhouMarmara, Turkey
The only city on two continents, holding the buildings of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires, a covered bazaar of 4,000 shops, and a waterway running through the middle of it.
Don't miss Hagia Sophia — a cathedral for 916 years, a mosque for 481, a museum for 86, and a mosque again since 2020.
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