What to Do in Shanghai: 15 Things Worth Your Time

Fifteen things, and the order matters more than the list. Shanghai is enormous and the good parts are on opposite sides of the Huangpu, so the day has a shape: the classical Chinese garden in the morning, the Old Town streets around it, the colonial promenade at sunset, and the towers on the other bank after dark.

What should I do in Shanghai?

Walk the Bund. The promenade of colonial-era buildings facing the modern Pudong skyline is the single image everyone comes for, and it changes completely between four in the afternoon and nine at night.

Ride the Maglev. It is the world’s fastest commercial train at 431 km/h and covers the 50 km from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road in seven minutes. The ride is an experience in itself, and it saves the taxi fare on the way back.

Cross the river on the ferry. About ¥2, a few minutes, and it is the cheapest way to see the skyline from the side everyone photographs.

Get to the towers. The Oriental Pearl Tower is the older of the two, with spheres at 263 and 351 metres; the Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world, and its deck on the 118th floor gives a 360-degree view of the whole city.

Spend the morning in Yu Garden and the Old Town. The garden is a classical Chinese one, with rockeries, pavilions and koi ponds. The streets around it are the real thing: food stalls, narrow alleys and a different city from the one across the river. Go early.

Wander the French Concession. Tree-lined streets, small boutiques and European-style cafés, with architecture worth looking at properly. It is the best district for walking without a plan.

Lose an evening in Xintiandi. Restored shikumen houses turned into bars, restaurants and galleries, and the neighbourhood comes alive after dark.

Go to the 798 Art Zone. A former military factory turned into galleries, studios and cafés, and the fact that nothing here was built to be a destination is the point. Line 14 on the metro, and walk it at your own pace.

See the Jade Buddha Temple. An active Buddhist temple with two jade Buddhas brought from Burma, where monks and worshippers are still in use. It is the quietest site in the city.

Finish at People’s Square. The central square with the park, the museums and the metro underneath, and an underground mall big enough to lose an hour in when it is too hot or too wet to be out.

What are the fifteen things to do in Shanghai?

The Bund is the promenade of colonial-era buildings facing the modern skyline, and it changes completely between four in the afternoon and nine at night.

The Maglev reaches 431 km/h and covers the 50 km from Pudong Airport in seven minutes, saving the taxi fare on the way back.

The ferry crosses the Huangpu for about ¥2, and it is the cheapest way to see the skyline from the side everyone photographs.

The Oriental Pearl Tower has observation spheres at 263 and 351 metres, with restaurants inside them and cheaper tickets on weekdays.

The Shanghai Tower is the second tallest building in the world at 632 metres, and its 118th-floor deck gives a 360-degree view of the whole city.

Yu Garden is a classical Chinese garden with rockeries, pavilions and koi ponds, and the streets around it are street food, narrow alleys and a different city entirely.

The French Concession is tree-lined streets, small boutiques and European-style cafés, and the architecture is worth a slower look.

Xintiandi is restored shikumen houses turned into bars, restaurants and galleries, and the neighbourhood comes alive after dark.

The 798 Art Zone is a former military factory turned into galleries, studios and cafés, on metro line 14. Nothing here was built to be a destination, which is exactly the point.

The Jade Buddha Temple is an active Buddhist temple with two jade Buddhas brought from Burma, where monks and worshippers are still in use.

People’s Square has the park, the museums and the metro underneath, plus an underground mall big enough to spend an hour in when the weather turns.

Nanjing Road is the pedestrian shopping street from People’s Square to the Bund, modern malls at one end and traditional shops at the other.

The Shanghai Museum at People’s Square is the other half-day the city offers, and the main galleries need an advance reservation.

The People’s Park next to the square is free, shaded and a good place to sit out the hottest hour of the afternoon.

The night ferry is worth taking once at dusk, when the lights come on and the skyline reflects in the water. It is also the cheapest hour of sightseeing in the city.

How much time does each Shanghai activity take?

The Bund is a walk. The towers are about an hour each including the queue, less if you book a slot. Yu Garden and the Old Town together are a morning. The 798 is an afternoon if you let it be one. The Maglev is seven minutes.

The one to budget properly is the group of things around the Old Town: the garden opens early, the surrounding streets fill with tour groups by mid-morning, and the food stalls at the gates are at their best before that. Come for the opening.

What makes visiting Shanghai easier?

Book the tower tickets before you go. The walk-up price is higher, and the sunset slots are the ones that sell out. Booking on your phone, once the eSIM is active, takes two minutes.

Carry some cash. Alipay and WeChat Pay work almost everywhere, including the small stalls, but the occasional vendor and the temple donation boxes still want notes. An ATM at the airport is the easiest place to get yuan.

For the plans themselves, the eSIM plans for Shanghai list what is currently on sale for the city and for the country as a whole.

Bring a power adapter. Chinese outlets are different from most of Europe and the Americas, and a flat battery in a city this size is a genuinely bad afternoon.