Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai operates at a scale that makes most cities feel provisional. About 25 million people live here, the metro system has 20 lines and over 500 stations, and the Pudong skyline visible from the Bund at night, the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Shanghai Tower at 632 metres, the World Financial Center with its trapezoidal opening at the top, is a genuine thing to stand in front of for a few minutes. It is not subtle. Shanghai does not try to be subtle, which is partly why it is interesting.

A practical note before arrival: install a VPN before you reach China. Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, most Western news sites, and most international apps are blocked. If you do not have a VPN already active on your phone before passing Chinese customs, you cannot easily get one.

The Bund and Pudong

The Bund (Waitan) is the western waterfront of the Huangpu River: 1.5 kilometres of 1920s and 1930s European bank buildings, now housing luxury hotels and restaurants, facing the 1990s Pudong towers across the water. The buildings on the western bank were built when Shanghai was a treaty port and foreign banks controlled much of the city’s finance; the contrast with the Pudong skyline they face shows 70 years of history with unusual compression.

The Shanghai Tower observation deck (floors 118 and 123) gives the best elevated view: you look down on the World Financial Center and see the full Bund from above. Entry around CNY 180.

The French Concession

The former French Concession, centred on Fuxing Road and Hengshan Road, is where 1930s Shanghai architecture survived the 20th century most intact. Tree-lined streets, lane houses (shikumen), independent restaurants, and cafes. It is the neighbourhood most visitors spend the most time in. Walk north into Jing’an for more of the same character.

Xintiandi is a few blocks north: a pedestrianised development of restored shikumen buildings with restaurants and bars. High prices, controlled atmosphere, genuinely lovely architecture, good evening people-watching.

Yu Garden

The Ming Dynasty garden in the Old Town area is surrounded by a bazaar of souvenir shops that gets extremely crowded. The garden itself is best appreciated on a weekday morning before 10am. The surrounding Old Town streets are more interesting than the garden itself for most visitors.

Food

Shanghai cuisine is less spicy, sweeter than most other Chinese regional styles, with a preference for braising and steaming.

Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings): small steamed dumplings containing a meatball and a pool of hot broth, eaten carefully to avoid the broth scalding your chin. Din Tai Fung has consistent quality, around CNY 68 per steamer of eight. Jia Jia Tang Bao on Huanghe Road is rougher and cheaper.

Sheng jian bao: pan-fried pork dumplings with crispy bottoms and juicy interiors, found at street stalls throughout the city for CNY 8-15 per order. Better than any restaurant version.

Hairy crabs are the seasonal Shanghai prestige ingredient, available September through November: steamed, eaten with vinegar and ginger, CNY 80-200 per crab depending on quality. The timing is worth building around if autumn travel is possible.

Getting Around

The metro is fast, cheap (CNY 3-8 per journey), and extensive. Download the Shanghai Metro app. Didi (Chinese ride-hail) covers destinations not on metro lines. Alipay and WeChat Pay are the dominant payment methods; having cash helps in smaller restaurants and street food situations. Major credit cards work at international hotels.

Where to Stay

The Peninsula Shanghai on the Bund has a long history and river views, CNY 3,000-5,000 per night. The Waterhouse at South Bund is a smaller boutique option in a converted warehouse south of the main Bund strip at CNY 1,500-2,000. Mid-range options in the Jing’an and Xintiandi areas run CNY 600-1,200 per night.