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Like a local
The real spots and the timing — from locals, not guidebooks. The stuff a top-10 list will never give you.
Breakfast dumplings queue
📍 old lanes
Join the local queue for morning 'shengjianbao' — pan-fried soup dumplings, crispy bottom, scalding inside. Bite a small hole first. Yang's is famous; the no-name stall with the line is often better.
The former French Concession
📍 Xuhui & Jing'an
Skip the Bund crowds after the photo. Locals wander the plane-tree-lined lanes of the old French Concession — Wukang Road, Anfu Road — for indie cafés, wine bars and 'longtang' alley life.
Speakeasy hunting
📍 Jing'an
Shanghai's cocktail scene hides behind unmarked doors — a fridge, a laundrette front, a phone booth. Locals share them by word of mouth; ask a bartender where they drink after their shift.
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Shanghai's signature promenade — a sweep of grand 1920s banks and hotels along the Huangpu, facing the futuristic towers of Pudong across the water. Walk it by day for the colonial architecture, and again after dark when both banks blaze with light; it's the definitive Shanghai view, old China and new staring at each other across the river.
A serene 400-year-old classical garden of rockeries, ponds, pavilions and dragon-topped walls, hidden in the heart of the frantic Old City bazaar. Wander its winding paths, then dive into the surrounding warren of curved-roof shops and snack stalls, and the famous zigzag bridge to the Huxinting teahouse. Touristy but beautiful — a pocket of old China amid the metropolis.
The twisting Shanghai Tower is the second-tallest building on earth, and its 118th-floor deck — reached by one of the world's fastest lifts — floats you dizzyingly above the whole city and the Pearl tower beside it. Go near dusk to watch Shanghai light up; it's the ultimate view of the most futuristic skyline anywhere, and the Lujiazui towers dazzle from the ground too.
The most atmospheric quarter to wander — quiet avenues canopied by plane trees, 1920s villas and shikumen lane houses now full of independent boutiques, coffee roasters and hidden bars. Get pleasantly lost around Wukang Road and Anfu Lu, coffee in hand; this leafy, elegant Shanghai is where locals and expats actually live and play, and it's the city at its most seductive.
Shanghai's kitchen is a delight — its icon the xiaolongbao soup dumpling and the pan-fried, sesame-topped shengjianbao, alongside sweet-savoury 'red-braised' pork, hairy crab in season and a whole world of noodle and dumpling shops. Eat them at an old canteen or a queue-out-the-door specialist; cheap, comforting and unmistakably local. Mind the scalding soup inside.
China's most famous shopping street — a dazzling, neon-lit pedestrian mile running from People's Square to the Bund, packed day and night with department stores, crowds and a little sightseeing train. More spectacle than bargain, but a quintessential Shanghai stroll, especially after dark when the lights come on; the Bund waits at the far end for the perfect finish.
Two takes on old Shanghai reborn — Xintiandi's polished shikumen lane houses turned upscale bars and restaurants, and Tianzifang's tighter maze of arty boutiques, tea rooms and cafés in a restored lane neighbourhood. Both are touristy but genuinely fun to wander, eat and drink in; together they show how Shanghai reinvents its 1920s bones for the 21st century.
A working Buddhist monastery of golden halls and drifting incense, home to two serene Buddha statues carved from single blocks of Burmese white jade. A calm, colourful oasis amid the modern city, with monks chanting and a good vegetarian restaurant; one of the most active and atmospheric temples in Shanghai, and a lovely counterpoint to the skyscrapers.
One of China's finest museums, free and superbly presented on People's Square — galleries of ancient bronzes, ceramics, jade, calligraphy and painting that trace thousands of years of Chinese art. Beautifully lit and never overwhelming; a cool, cultured couple of hours that gives real depth to a China trip. (A vast new second campus has opened in Pudong too.)
The best way to take in both Shanghais at once — a boat glides down the Huangpu with the floodlit colonial Bund on one bank and the glittering Pudong towers on the other, all mirrored in the black water. Touristy, yes, but genuinely spectacular after dark; an hour of pure Shanghai dazzle, and a lovely way to end an evening on the waterfront.
A dazzling golden-roofed Buddhist temple sitting incongruously — and spectacularly — among the glass skyscrapers of central Shanghai, its warm timber halls and gilt Buddhas floodlit at night. The surreal clash of ancient and ultra-modern is the whole point; small enough for a quick visit, striking enough to be unforgettable, and right on the metro in a great shopping district.
The photogenic old teahouse standing on stilts in the middle of the Yu Garden bazaar's lake, reached by the famous nine-turn zigzag bridge (built so evil spirits, who move only in straight lines, can't follow). Climb up for a pot of tea and a moment's calm above the crowds; it's one of the oldest and most beloved teahouses in China.
Shanghai's booming contemporary-art riverside — a run of striking museums along the Huangpu south of the centre, from the vast Power Station of Art (a former power plant) to the Long Museum and the Pompidou's Chinese outpost, linked by a breezy waterfront park. Cutting-edge, spacious and a world away from the crowds; the place to see where China's art scene is heading.
Shanghai does glamour like nowhere in China — cocktail terraces high on the Bund and in the concessions, staring straight across at the floodlit Pudong towers, plus a deep scene of speakeasies and jazz clubs below. Dress up, ride the lift, and toast the skyline; from the historic Peace Hotel jazz bar to sleek rooftop lounges, the city's nights sparkle.
A quirky, unmissable little museum hidden in the basement of a French Concession apartment block — a private collection of vivid Mao-era propaganda posters, tracing the turbulent decades of 20th-century China through its art. Small, fascinating and a real conversation-starter; you'll need to find it (the guard hands you a map), which is half the fun.
A 1,700-year-old canal town an hour out — humpbacked stone bridges, boat rides and teahouses over the water. Shanghai's own 'Venice', and an easy escape.
The city's oldest and largest temple, with a beautiful 1,000-year-old pagoda and a thundering bell — most magical during the spring peach blossom. Old Shanghai's soul.
A 1930s Art Deco slaughterhouse of spiralling concrete ramps and bridges, now a surreal creative complex of shops and cafés. An architectural rabbit-warren; get lost in it.
The biggest Disney castle in the world anchors a lavish, well-run park with China-only rides and lands. A full day of joy, especially with kids.
A gritty riverside cluster of old mills turned into Shanghai's leading contemporary-art district — galleries, studios and graffiti. Free to wander, endlessly cool.
Prices are relative to China, a mid-range country.
The historic waterfront
The centreThe grand colonial waterfront and the central square just behind it — the Bund's stately old banks facing the Pudong skyline, Nanjing Road's shopping, and the Shanghai Museum. The most central, iconic base, superbly connected and full of hotels from hostels to grande dames; busy and touristy, but you're in the heart of everything, with the river view on your doorstep.
What’s here
Leafy & stylish
12 min · 4 kmThe most charming district in Shanghai — quiet, plane-shaded avenues of 1920s villas and lane houses, now full of boutiques, cafés, wine bars and the nightlife hubs of Xintiandi and Tianzifang. Leafy, walkable and effortlessly stylish, a short metro from the Bund; the loveliest base for those who want atmosphere, good food and cocktail bars over the tourist bustle.
What’s here
The futuristic skyline
15 min · 5 kmThe science-fiction skyline across the river — a forest of supertall towers, the Shanghai Tower and the Pearl, huge malls and five-star hotels with jaw-dropping views. Spotless, modern and a little corporate, well-linked by metro and the river tunnel; the base for skyline lovers and business travellers who want to sleep among the clouds, with the Bund a short hop across.
What’s here
Central & temple-side
10 min · 3 kmA slick, central district around the golden Jing'an Temple — upscale malls, good restaurants and easy metro links, straddling the line between the old concessions and the modern city. Convenient, comfortable and a touch quieter than the Bund; a well-connected base with the temple, parks and great eating on the doorstep and everywhere in easy reach.
What’s here
Traditional & gardens
8 min · 2 kmThe remnant of old Shanghai around the Yu Garden — a warren of curved-roof bazaars, the classical garden, the zigzag-bridge teahouse and the City God Temple, thronged with visitors and snack stalls. Touristy and less about hotels, but the most traditionally 'Chinese' corner of the city; a short walk from the Bund, and best for a wander and a dumpling rather than a base.
What’s here
Worth knowing: Shanghai is enormous but its metro — the world's largest — is cheap, clean and easy, and taxis and ride-hailing are plentiful. The Huangpu River divides it: historic Puxi on the west bank (the Bund, the concessions, the old town, most of the charm) and the futuristic skyscrapers of Pudong on the east. There's no beach; the water towns and garden cities of the Yangtze delta are the great days out. Bring a VPN for your usual apps, and a payment app (Alipay/WeChat) set up in advance.
30 min by train away
The 'Venice of the East', half an hour by bullet train — a canal city famous for its exquisite UNESCO-listed classical gardens, humpbacked bridges, whitewashed water lanes and silk. One of the loveliest day trips in China; wander the gardens and the old water district of Pingjiang Road, and glide the canals by boat.
High-speed train
1 hr by train away
One of China's most beautiful cities, an hour south by bullet train, built around the fabled West Lake — a serene expanse of causeways, pagodas, willow-draped islands and tea hills that has inspired poets for a thousand years. Rent a bike or take a boat, visit the Longjing tea villages, and see why the Chinese say 'heaven above, Hangzhou below'.
High-speed train
1 hr away
The nearest and easiest of the Yangtze delta water towns — a thousand-year-old canal village of stone bridges, whitewashed houses and lantern-lit waterways, right at the end of a Shanghai metro line. Drift the canals by gondola, cross the graceful Fangsheng bridge and snack on smoked river fish; a charming, gentle half-day back in old China.
Metro + bus, or car
1.5 hr away
The most famous of the water towns, an hour and a half away — an impossibly picturesque maze of canals, arched bridges and Ming-era merchant houses that has enchanted Chinese painters for centuries. Busier and more polished than Zhujiajiao but ravishing, especially early or late; a classic, dreamlike glimpse of the old Jiangnan canal country.
Car or tour
Best time to go
October–November and March–May — mild, drier and comfortable, the loveliest times to walk the city; autumn is the pick.
Cheapest: Winter is cheapest but cold and damp; avoid the crowded, pricey Golden Week holidays (early October, early May) and the hot, wet, humid peak of summer.
Pick your dates above and we’ll tell you exactly what the weather does then.
September
28° / 21°C
Wet
MixedShanghai is China at its most glamorous and forward-looking — a city where the colonial grandeur of the Bund faces a science-fiction skyline of supertall towers across the river, where plane-shaded French Concession lanes hide cocktail bars and boutiques, and where old teahouse gardens sit minutes from the world's fastest maglev train. It is China's showcase: cosmopolitan, energetic and endlessly stylish, with a food scene from dumpling stalls to Michelin stars. The easiest, most exciting introduction to modern China there is.
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+ Suggest a hidden spotLast updated 11 August 2026. Cities are refreshed, not written once.