Shanghai Travel Guide

Shanghai, located in Eastern China, is China's largest City. Regarded as the financial and cultural hub of China, Shanghai is divided into two by the Huangpu River, with Pudong lying in the east and Puxi in the west, representing the financial and cultural aspects of the city respectively.

Shanghai At a Glance | Orientation | Weather Overview | When To Go | Travel Safety | Disabled Travellers | Activities - Places of Interest | Sports | Shanghai Food | Shanghai Shopping | Nighttime Venues | Shanghai Accommodations | Sports | Getting There | Getting Around | Other Facts

Shanghai is a scintillating city swirling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, it has embraced the forces of business and design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before.

While it can't match the epic history of Beijing or Xi'an's grander sights, Shanghai is the hotspot of modern China; a cosmopolitan city buzzing with the concept of 'lifestyle revolution', showcased in the architectural temples of art, fine dining and contemporary urban living on the Bund.

Shanghai lies in central-eastern China, exposed to the East China Sea. Broadly, central Shanghai is divided into two areas: Pudong (east of the Huangpu River) and Puxi (west of the river). Shanghai has no real single focus and the feel of the city still owes much to the original concessions. For visitors, most attractions are in Puxi, including the Bund - the tourist centrepiece, though not the physical centre of town. West of the Bund is the former International Settlement and one of Shanghai's main shopping streets, Nanjing Lu. South of the Bund is the Chinese city, a maze of narrow lanes. West of the old town and hidden in the backstreets north and south of Huaihai Lu (Shanghai's premier shopping street) is the former French Concession, with tree-lined streets, 1930s architecture, and cafes and bars. At its western end is a collection of Western-style restaurants and bars.

Continuing southeast, you come to the massive shopping intersection of Xujiahui. Further south is Shanghai Stadium. Western Shanghai is dominated by Hongqiao, a hotel/conference centre/office zone. Further west is Gubei, an expat area. Northeastern Shanghai has an industrial feel and is home to several universities. Further northwest is Zhapei and Shanghai train station. On the east side of the Huangpu, Pudong is a special economic zone of banks, skyscrapers and new residential complexes.

Shanghai starts the year shivering in midwinter, when temperatures can drop below freezing and the vistas are grey and misty. Spring brings warmth; April to mid -May is probably one of the best times to visit weather-wise, along with autumn (late September to mid-November). In summer the hot and humid weather makes conditions outside uncomfortable, with temperatures sometimes as high as 40°C (104°F) in July and August. In short, you'll need silk long johns and down jackets for winter, an ice block for each armpit in summer and an umbrella wouldn't go astray in either of these seasons.

Above all, the rule for Shanghai is to lay low during, or altogether avoid the Chinese New Year; the city grinds to a halt and public transport is flooded. The rest of winter offers good hotel discounts and few tourists.

Summer is peak season and gets a bit muggy, while from September to November the temperate weather brings out several interesting arts festivals and fairs. These are probably the best months to visit but trade fairs and conventions do little to bring the prices down from peak season.

The crime rate is really quite low in Shanghai; even the taxi drivers don't try to rip you off. One of the most unsavoury parts of town lies around the main train station, where many migrant workers end up scraping a living until they get better jobs.

If you do get something stolen you need to report the crime at the district Public Security Bureau (PSB) office and get a police report. If you have something stolen on the metro, the Renmin Square metro station has its own PSB office.

Traffic is a major danger in Shanghai; it is essential to look in five different directions at once (including above you, in case of falling construction debris) whenever you cross the street. Don't ever expect any vehicle to stop for you. Shanghai's most annoying traffic problem is the swarm of mopeds and bikes that weave up and down the pavements dodging pedestrians (because certain sections of Shanghai's roads are off-limits to bikes).

Shanghai has few facilities geared for disabled travellers, but that doesn't necessarily put it out of bounds for those with a physical disability (and a sense of adventure). Many hotels have lifts, so booking ground-floor rooms is not essential, unless you are staying in very budget accommodation. Some hotels at the four- and five-star level have specially designed rooms for people with physical disabilities.

The roads and pavements make things awkward for the wheelchair-bound or those with a walking disability. Pavements can often be crowded, in a rundown condition and with high kerbs. People whose sight, hearing or walking ability is impaired must be extremely cautious of the traffic, which almost never yields to pedestrians. Escalators leading from subways frequently go up only.

In many ways, Shanghai is a Western invention. The Bund, its riverside area, and Frenchtown are the best places to see the remnants of its decadent colonial past. Move on to temples, gardens, bazaars and the striking architecture of the new Shanghai.

Art Scene China
Tel: 021 6437 0631 (info)
Contemporary Chinese art is exhibited over two floors in this lovingly restored 1930s villa. Hidden away in a quiet alley off West Fuxing Rd, the white-painted house's French Concession interior is simple and uncluttered, with a pleasant garden and an absorbing range of contemporary Chinese art work.
Web: www.artscenechina.com

Bund Sightseeing Tunnel
Tel: 021 5888 6000 (info)
A 647m voyage with entertainment from budget effects, garish lighting and dreadful props, the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel is a transport mode that guarantees to get you to Pǔdōng in an altered state. Stepping from the trains at the terminus, visitors are visibly nonplussed, their disbelief surpassed only by those with return tickets. A combined ticket includes the excellent China Sex Culture Museum and other attractions Pǔdōng-side.

Century Park
Shanghai's largest park at the end of Century Ave in the east is strong on hard edges and synthetic lines, but there's a great central lake with boat hire, and bicycle hire for getting around all the paths. Children will enjoy themselves, and the spacious paved area between the Science and Technology Museum and the park is great for flying kites (for sale from hawkers) and rollerblading.

Changfeng Ocean World
Tel: 021 6233 8888 (info)
Adults may find this subterranean aquarium dank, dark, dingy and dear, but the little people will adore the clownfish and shark tunnel. Attention parents with strollers - the lift bypassing the slog down the stairs may or may not work.

China Sex Culture Museum
Tel: 021 5888 6000 (info)
A fascinating foray into the little-understood realm of Chinese sexuality and erotica. Among the mating tortoises, copulating beasts and graphic jade phalluses, search out the knife that raised eunuchs' voices to the correct register, the horrifying donkey saddle with the wooden penis (used to punish 'licentious' women), and the special coins once used as quid pro quo in China's brothels of yore. The exhibition doesn't dwell simply on erotica, but extends to educational musings on China's creation myths, marriage customs, the sexual oppression of women (including the old practice of foot binding), sex education, sexual health, video presentations and a token tantric statuette or two.

Dino Beach
Tel: 021 6478 3333 (info)
Way down south in Minhang district, this popular summer place has a beach, a wave pool, water slides and tube hire to beat the Shanghai summer heat and keeps going late. But it's absolutely heaving at weekends.

Duolun Road Cultural Street
This nicely restored, if a little twee, street of fine old houses, just off North Sichuan Rd, was once home to several of China's most famous writers (as well as several Kuomintang generals), when the road was known as Doulean Rd. Today it is lined with art supply stores, curio shops, galleries, teahouses and cafés, as well as statues of the writers Lu Xun and Guo Moruo.

Formula One Grand Prix Off
Tel: 021 9682 6999 (info)
Every October, the Formula 1 circus comes to this impressive, state-of-the-art circuit 40 minutes northwest of the city centre. It's one of the most glamorous events on the Shanghai calendar and tickets, from around 380 to around 4000, get snapped up very quickly. Book ahead through the website, or visit a friendly ticket tout.
Web: www.icsh.sh.cn

Gongqing Forest Park
Tel: 021 6574 0586 (info)
Most of Shanghai's synthetic parks can leave one cold, but this vast expanse of forested parkland on the western shore of the Huangpu River is a leafy, wooded and tranquil slice of countryside in town. This is about as wild as you get in Pǔxī, with nary a skyscraper in sight. Aim to spend half if not the whole day picnicking and wandering around this huge area, or hop into one of the buggies for express tours around the grounds. If you want to spend the night in the park, there's the Gongqing Forest Resort.

Huangpu River Cruise
Tel: 021 6374 4461 (info)
The Huangpu River offers staggering views of the Bund and riverfront activity. Most tour boats depart from the docks on the south end of the Bund, near East Jinling Rd, where tickets can be purchased; popular 30-minute cruises also depart hourly from the Pearl Dock (Míngzhū Mǎtoú; 1 Century Ave) in Lùjiāzuǐ.

Jade Buddha Temple
Tel: 021 6266 2668 (info)
Built between 1911 and 1918 in Song dynasty style, this active place of worship is one of Shanghai's few Buddhist temples. But the large numbers of tourists it attracts make contemplation difficult. The centrepiece of the temple is its 1.9m-high pale-green jade Buddha. Visitors are not able to approach the statue, but can admire it from a distance. An additional charge of around 10 is levied to see the statue (photographs aren't allowed). A similarly elegant jade reclining Buddha can be found downstairs, opposite a much larger copy in stone.

Jinjiang Amusement Park
Tel: 021 5493 7999 (info)
Roller coasters, rides and a huge Ferris wheel are all here in this amusement park. It's a bit out of town, but easy to get to, as it has its own metro station.

Jinmao Tower
Tel: 021 5047 5101 (info)
In a city of dubious contemporary architecture, the colossal Jinmao Tower stands out for its winning design, loosely inspired by a traditional Chinese subject, the pagoda. If you want to see Shanghai in a splendid nutshell, travel in the elevators (moving at 9.1m/second) to the 88th-floor observation deck, accessed from the separate podium building to the side of the main tower. Time your visit at dusk for both day and night views.
Web: www.jinmao88.com

Longhua Temple & Pagoda
Tel: 021 6457 6327 (info)
Southwest of central Shanghai, close to the river, this is the oldest and largest monastery in Shanghai. Said to date from the 10th century, it has been much renovated. Lónghuá refers to the pipal tree under which Buddha achieved enlightenment. The best time to visit the temple is during the Longhua Temple Fair, held on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which is usually during April or May. A short walk north along Longhua Rd is the Longhua Flower & Bird Market (Lónghuá Huāniǎo Shìchǎng), a relaxing stretch of chirping crickets and bird song.

Lu Xun Former Residence
Tel: 021 5666 2608 (info)
Lu Xun buffs will adore ferreting around this simple three-floor domicile on lovely Shanyin Rd, where an English-speaking guide can fill you in on all the bits and bobs, including a clock displaying the exact time of Lu Xun's death and a painting hanging on the wall of the writer's son, Zhou Haiying, as a baby. His books, though, now reside in Beijing. Don't overlook wandering along Shanyin Rd and peeking into its lovely alleyways and traditional lòngtáng houses (for example at number 41-50, Lane 180, Shanyin Rd).

Lu Xun Memorial Hall
Tel: 021 6540 2288 (info)
An excellent museum, this modern hall charts the life and creative output of Lu Xun (China's most celebrated modernist writer) with photographs, first editions, waxworks and the author's vestments (including his fedora and lamb-skin lined coat) and personal effects. Detailed English captions throughout. The museum bookshop sells Lu Xun's stories in English, French and German.

Natural Wild Insect Kingdom
Tel: 021 5840 6950 (info)
Aimed at kids, this collection of creepy-crawlies includes an opportunity to handle some of the hairy monsters. It's one that could be missed unless your kids have a special interest.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Tel: 021 5879 1888 (info)
Love it or hate it, this preposterous 468m-tall poured-concrete shocker of a tripod tower has become a symbol of Pudong and of Shanghai's renaissance, even though it has long been literally and stylistically eclipsed by the much superior Jinmao Tower and other skyscrapers sprouting skywards. Despite having nothing original to say, the huge tower is dazzling when illuminated at night and you can always join the queue for high-altitude views of Shanghai. The tower is most notable for its excellent Shanghai History Museum. The tower's crude lines are matched by an excruciating ticket system and recently rocketing prices.

Qibao
Tel: 021 6461 5208 (info)
The gǔzhèn (ancient town) of Qībǎo - literally 'Seven Treasures' - dates back to the Northern Song dynasty (AD 960-1127). Easily reached from town, the ancient settlement prospered during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now, it's run by the quaintly named Shanghai Qibao Ancient Town Tourism Exploitation Co. It's overrun with visitors, but is also littered with traditional, historic architecture.

Qinci Yangdian Temple
Shanghai's largest Taoist temple is, perhaps surprisingly, located in Pudong (476 Yuanshen Rd). It's worth a perusal for its massive trinity of Taoist gods in the Hall of the Three Clear Ones (Sān Qīng Diàn), although the temple architecture is all recent (at the southern end of the temple grounds are what appears to be older, semi-destroyed temple halls). At the rear of the temple is the humungous Hall for the Storing of Scriptures (Cáng Jìng Diàn) and up the stairs above the side halls is a huge glittering gathering of 61 gilded Taoist generals.

Room with a View Gallery
Tel: 021 6352 0256 (info)
Art critic Wu Liang conceived of this trendy space atop a department store for showcasing contemporary artworks and the output of up-and-coming artists. An accessible and successful combination, the gallery doubles as an image-conscious loft-bar where the tried and trusted blend of alcohol and art gets the nod from Bohemians city-wide.
Web: ww.topart.cn

Shanghai Arts & Crafts Museum
Tel: 021 6437 2509 (info)
Repositioned as a museum, this arts and crafts institute displays traditional crafts such as embroidery, paper cutting, lacquer work, jade cutting and lantern making. Watch paper cutting and other traditional crafts being performed live by craftspeople and admire the wonderfully wrought exhibits, from jade, through ivory to inkstones and beyond. It's hard not to suspect that the collections were arranged to herd visitors through the overpriced ground-floor shops (foreign exchange assisted). The highlight is quite possibly the building itself, built in 1905, and its ample lawn out back.

Shanghai Botanical Gardens
Tel: 021 5436 3369 (info)
The Botanical Gardens offer an escape from Shanghai's synthetic cityscape. The Tropicarium gives you the chance to get close to tropical flora; take the lift to the 6th floor for an impressive view of the gardens. Some of the flower arrangements are a little twee, but the place is well-maintained and busy. On weekends, it's a popular place for couples to take wedding photos.

Shanghai Gallery Of Art
Tel: 021 6321 5757 (info)
Shanghai's handiest (and perhaps trendiest) art gallery finds itself sandwiched between two floors at Three on the Bund, which introduces you to Shanghai's effortless marriage of contemporary art and haute couture. For glimpses of high-brow and conceptual Chinese art, sample this gallery's rarefied atmosphere and manifestly exclusive inclinations.
Web: www.threeonthebund.com

Shanghai Museum
Tel: 021 6372 3500 (info)
Rocked slightly from its jealously guarded throne by the 2006 unveiling of Beijing’s tip-top Capital Museum, the monarch of China's museum world remains one of Shanghai's highlight sensations. Expect to spend half, if not most of, a day here. A primer of Chinese civilisation recounted via 120,000 exhibits, the intelligently designed museum guides you through the pages of Chinese history.

Shanghai Museum Of Contemporary Art (Moca Shanghai)
Tel: 021 6327 9900 (info)
A recent opening that has grabbed the bull by the horns on steering the world contemporary art scene to Shanghai, this non-profit museum collection has an all-glass construction to maximise natural sunlight (when it cuts through the constant clouds), a tip-top location in Renmin Park and a fresh, invigorating approach to exhibiting contemporary international art works.

Shanghai Ocean Aquarium
Tel: 021 5877 9988 (info)
Education meets entertainment in this slick and intelligently designed aquarium that children will love. Join them on a tour through the aquatic environments from the Yangzi River to Australia, South America, the frigid ecosystems of the Antarctic and to the flourishing marine life of coral reefs. The 155m-long underwater clear viewing tunnel has gobsmacking views.
Web: www.aquarium.sh.cn

Shanghai Zendai Museum Of Modern Art (Shanghai Moma)
Tel: 021 5033 9801 (info)
This newish, small-scale museum delivers an invigorating shot to the arm to Shanghai's ever- flexing art scene. The emphasis is on contemporary exhibitions in a highly modern art space; the effect is a sophisticated and cool haven for fashionable aesthetes. Tours (in Chinese), lectures, concerts and other activities are part of the overall production. Check their website for details on current and forthcoming exhibitions.
Web: www.zendaiart.com

Shanghai Zoo
Tel: 021 6268 7775 (info)
As Chinese zoos go, this is just about the best and it makes for a good day out for those with kids in tow. There's a decent selection of beasts - from woolly twin-humped Bactrian camels to spindly legged giraffe, gorillas, lions, lots of different monkeys, giant pandas and polar bears - but some of the enclosures they're housed in are less than ideal. Shanghai folk flock here to enjoy one of the city's most picturesque and well tended acreages of green grass. Picnic-goers dive onto the lawns for a spot of sun, while electric tour buggies whirr along shaded paths through old-growth woods every 10 to 15 minutes.

Song Qingling Mausoleum
Tel: 021 6474 7183 (info)
Despite its hard-edged communist layout, this green and well-tended park is excellent for a stroll and for escaping the relentless Hóngqiáo skyline. Song Qingling herself is interred in a low-key tomb here, but she is memorialised in the Song Qingling Exhibition Hall straight ahead from the main entrance, which itself looks like a Chinese Imperial tomb.

Sun Yatsen's Former Residence
Tel: 021 6437 2954 (info)
China is awash with Sun Yatsen (Sun Zhongshan) memorabilia and this is one of several former dwellings nationwide. Sun lived here on Rue Molière for six years from 1918 to 1924, supported by overseas Chinese funds. The entry price gets you a brief tour of the house in English. The two-storey house is set back from the street and is furnished as it was back in Sun's days, though it was looted by the Japanese during WWII.

Taikang Rd Art Centre
This warren of shíkùmén architecture offers tranquil doses of genuine charm. A community of art galleries, studios, pocket-sized wi-fi cafés, petite shops and boutiques - the perfect antidote to Shanghai's oversized malls and intimidating skyscrapers. With families still residing in neighbouring buildings, a community mood survives, while the area's relative transport isolation has prevented it from being swamped by feral tour groups.

Xintiandi
It brought a stylish twist to the fêted French Concession, and this restaurant, bar, entertainment and cultural complex quickly became an epicentre for fashionable alfresco diners and well-heeled Shanghai shoppers - uniformed security was at hand to shoo-shoo the hobos and keep a lid on downwardly mobile behaviour. The layout - divided by alleys (lòngtáng) and pedestrianised lanes - is inviting, but Xintiandi is self-consciously trendy and cracks have started to appear. The name Xīntiāndì - New Heaven and Earth - is little more than a modern brand name and the locale has been calculatingly prettified, so don't expect any of the creaking, rickety simplicity of the Old Town or the lived-in charm of the Taikang Rd Art Centre.

Yuyuan Gardens & Bazaar
Tel: 021 6355 5025 (info)
With its shaded alcoves, glittering pools churning with carp, pavilions, pines sprouting wistfully from rockeries, whispering bamboo, jasmine clumps, stony recesses and roving bands of Japanese tourists, the Yuyuan Gardens are one of Shanghai's top-notch sights. With over 1000 visitors daily, securing an early morning visit is advisable. The adjacent bazaar is great for a browse, if you can ignore the surrounding sales roar.
Web: www.yuyuantm.com.cn

Badminton
The Chinese excel at accuracy sports. Test your eye at the public badminton courts at the well-equipped Shanghai Stadium.

Cycling
The French Concession offers some charming areas for cycling, and the ambitious can head out of the city to Sheshan or even Suzhou.

Swimming
For swimming, the Shanghai Swimming Pool opens to the public on weekends only, but there are hotel pools, or you could try the Ocean World water park.

Tennis
There are public tennis courts at the Shanghai Stadium, or you can have a game at the Xianxia Tennis Centre.

Shanghai offers a dazzling array of food and provides an exciting opportunity for cuisine exploration that should be seized with both chopsticks. Eating out in Shanghai is about more than just food. It is a social lubricant, a time when families get together and a major pastime of Shanghai's chic.

Shanghai is well known among the Chinese as the place to shop in China. Ever since the 1930s the city has been home to the cream of China's department stores and today Shanghai is fast rivalling Hong Kong as a shopper's heaven. Bring some extra spending money - you'll need it.

Shanghai's entertainment scene, the nation's most exciting, reveals a hedonism that most people never dreamed existed in communist China. Over the last couple of years there's been an explosion of nightlife options, offering everything from the incredibly sleazy to the marginally chic.

Shanghai boasts more than 100 star-rated hotels and more are popping up daily. The vast majority of Shanghai's hotels are identical mid-range joints - there's little to choose between them, except location. A spot near a metro station is a definite advantage for getting around the city.

Shanghai is easy to get to. It is China's second-largest international air hub (third-largest if you count Hong Kong) and if you can't fly direct, you can go via Beijing or Hong Kong. With rail and air connections to places all over China, ferries travelling up the Yangzi River, many boats along the coast, and buses to destinations in adjoining provinces, you'll be hard pushed to find somewhere you can't get to.

Bus
Shanghai has a few long-distance bus stations; the most useful is probably Hengfeng Lu. It's a 13-hour trip to Beijing from this station.

Ferry
Boats are one of the fastest ways of leaving Shanghai and are often the cheapest. Ferries travel up the Yangzi River and there are many boats that stop along the coast - although these are probably an endangered species. There are also regular ships and ferries to Korea and Japan.

Plane
Shanghai has two international airports and is a nexus for international flights. A new airport opened in 1999 near Pudong, about an hour's drive from the city centre, handling most international and some domestic flights. Buses and taxis connect this new airport to the city centre and the second aiport, Hongqiao. There's also the Maglev, one of the world's fastest trains, which speeds you into Pudong. Hongqiao airport is 18km (11mi) from the Bund and reachable via bus, shuttle or taxi. It has some international and most domestic flights. Departure tax is USD11.00 (international) and USD6.00 (domestic) - although there is a plan to incorporate these into the ticket price. Both taxes are paid at the airport from which you depart.

Train
Shanghai is at the junction of the Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Hangzhou train lines. Since they branch off in various directions, many parts of the country can be reached by direct train from Shanghai. Most trains arrive and depart from Shanghai station.

Shanghai isn't exactly a walker's paradise. There are some fascinating areas to stroll around, but new road developments, building sites and shocking traffic conditions conspire to make walking an exhausting, stressful and sometimes dangerous experience. Travelling on buses can also be hard work; the routes, and particularly the stops, are not easy to figure out and buses are packed at rush hour. The metro and light railway system, on the other hand, work like a dream. Taxis are cheap and hassle-free as long as you avoid the rush hours. As private cars become increasingly affordable to the new middle class, traffic is becoming noticeably heavier, a trend that will only worsen. There is not enough space for everyone at rush hour and from around 07:00 to 09:30 and 16:00 to 18:30 it's every frail old man for himself. Cool aggression and elusive speed, along with a friendly smile, keep things from getting ugly.

Bus
Local buses are hard work. During the rush hour and the weekends they are packed to the hilt and virtually impossible to board. Stops can also be unpredictable: you may be helplessly carried past your destination. Pickpockets are another drawback.

Car
Only residents can hire a car in Shanghai; besides, it's really not worth the hassle unless you're familiar with the nightmare one-way system and the appalling conditions on the roads.

Taxi
Shanghai's Volkswagen taxis are reasonably cheap and easy to flag down, except during rush hour. Only a few take credit cards. Most taxi drivers are surpisingly honest, but you should always go by the meter.

Underground rail
Shanghai's subway system is a dream, and probably the best way to get around town. Trains are fast, cheap, clean and easy, although they can be crowded at peak hour. The new Mag Lev (Magnetic Levitation) line has started regular services between the city and Pudong airport. The 30km (19mi) trip will take just eight minutes.

Walking
While there are some fascinating places to stroll through in Shanghai, new road developments, building sites, jam-packed walkways and shocking traffic conditions conspire to make walking in most areas an exhausting experience.

GMT/UTC +8 (Standard Time)

6,340 sq km (2,448 sq miles)

220V 50HzHz

Yuan Renminbi (Y)