Shanghai Date Night: Rooftops to Canals
Reserve a rooftop table in Shanghai for the wrong hour and you get a hazy daytime view of Pudong; get the timing right and the same table watches the whole skyline switch on.
Rooftop cocktails, done right
Sir Elly’s Terrace at The Peninsula and the 58th-floor FLAIR Rooftop Restaurant & Bar at the Ritz-Carlton Pudong both book out on weekends, so reserve a window or terrace table a few days ahead rather than walking in. VUE Bar at the Hyatt on the Bund is real and open too; the hotel closed in 2023 and VUE reopened quietly in 2025, so check its current hours before building an evening around it specifically.
The Old Jazz Band at the Peace Hotel
Downstairs from the rooftop scene, the Fairmont Peace Hotel’s Art Deco lobby bar hosts the Old Jazz Band, Guinness-record holders with an average age past 80, nightly. Arrive by 6pm for a table close enough to hear the trumpet without a microphone doing the work.
A sunset or night cruise on the Huangpu
Board at dusk rather than during the day; the entire point is watching the Pudong skyline switch on tower by tower from an open deck as the sun drops. Search a Huangpu sunset or night cruise on GetYourGuide .
A private gondola through Zhujiajiao at dusk
Outside the city center, a hand-poled wooden canopy boat drifts under red lanterns along Zhujiajiao’s stone canal walls, a quieter option for a couple who has already done the Bund and wants the crowds thinned out.
Walking Wukang Road and Anfu Road
The former French Concession’s quietest stretch runs past the 1924 Normandie Apartments into side streets holding artisan gelato counters and small garden courtyards, better walked on a weekday morning than a weekend afternoon.
Where to stay
The Peninsula Shanghai and the Bvlgari Hotel Shanghai both put a Bund or skyline view within reach of the bed. Check Shanghai hotel rates on Agoda and book the room before the dinner reservation; the best view rooms tend to sell out first.
Verdict: build one evening around a rooftop table and the jazz set downstairs, rather than trying to also fit a river cruise and Zhujiajiao into the same night.
Concrete tip: call ahead for both the rooftop table and the Peace Hotel on the same day, since both take reservations for that evening only a few days out.
For a slower, less scheduled version of the same evening, see the day trips guide for how far Zhujiajiao actually sits from the city, and the Shanghai guide for the rest of the trip.