Shanghai Travel Guide: What to See, Eat & Do in China's Most Modern City

Shanghai does not feel like the rest of China. It moves faster, dresses sharper, and drinks more coffee. The skyline across the Huangpu River—the Bund's colonial grandeur on one side, Lujiazui's neon towers on the other—is a single-image summary of what makes this city different: Shanghai is where China looks forward while carefully preserving what it has been.

A private guide transforms the Shanghai experience. The city's charm lives in its details—the lane houses, the dumpling shops with no English menu, the Art Deco lobbies that tourists walk past—and those details are invisible without someone who knows where to look.

Quick Facts: Shanghai

Tip: Shanghai's weather is humid year-round. Summer (June–August) brings temperatures above 35°C and sudden thunderstorms. If you visit in summer, schedule outdoor sightseeing before 11:00 AM.

What to See: The Essential Four

The Bund (Waitan)

The Bund is Shanghai's postcard image and its historical soul. The 1.5 km promenade along the Huangpu River is lined with 52 buildings representing nearly every major architectural style—Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Renaissance, and Art Deco—built between the 1880s and 1930s by British, French, American, and Chinese trading houses.

Walk the Bund in the late afternoon, when the setting sun hits the colonial facades. Then cross to the Pudong side (your driver handles this in 15 minutes) and watch the Lujiazui skyline light up from the rooftop of a riverfront bar. The contrast between the two banks—one built by foreign capital a century ago, the other by Chinese capital in the last 30 years—is the entire Shanghai story in one view.

Yu Garden (Yuyuan)

Built in 1559 by a Ming dynasty official for his parents, Yu Garden is a 2-hectare masterpiece of classical Chinese garden design. Every rock, window, and corridor is arranged according to feng shui principles, and the garden's 30 pavilions are connected by zigzag bridges designed to confuse evil spirits (which, according to tradition, can only travel in straight lines).

The surrounding Yuyuan Bazaar is touristy, but your guide can steer you to the Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant for a basket of authentic xiaolongbao—soup dumplings that have been made here since 1900.

The French Concession

This is the Shanghai that residents love most. Plane trees form a continuous canopy over narrow streets lined with Tudor houses, Art Deco apartments, and converted lane houses that now hold independent cafes and boutique clothing shops.

A private guide walks you through the former residences of Zhou Enlai and Sun Yat-sen, explains how the Concession operated as a self-governing French territory from 1849 to 1943, and shows you the specific intersection where Chinese Communist Party history pivoted in 1921. The Concession rewards walking, and the best route is the one your guide tailors to your interests—architecture, modern Chinese history, or just finding the best cold brew in the city.

Shanghai Tower

At 632 meters, the Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China and the third-tallest in the world. The observation deck on the 118th floor offers a 360-degree view that, on clear days, extends to the Yangtze River estuary. The elevator climbs at 18 meters per second—the ride itself is an attraction.

Info: Buy Shanghai Tower tickets in advance. The queue for walk-up tickets can exceed 90 minutes on weekends. Your guide can pre-book a specific time slot and bypass the main line.

Beyond the Highlights

If you have a second day, add one of these:

• Zhujiajiao Water Town — A 1,700-year-old canal town 50 km west of Shanghai. Stone bridges, wooden boats, and streets too narrow for cars. It is what Suzhou was before Suzhou became a city of 10 million. The Shanghai Zhujiajiao Water Town & Shanghai Tower Private Day Tour combines this with the Shanghai Tower.
• Shanghai Museum — One of the finest collections of Chinese bronzes, ceramics, and calligraphy in the world. Free entry, but expect long queues on weekends.
• Nanjing Road at Night — The pedestrian section between People's Square and the Bund. Neon at a scale that makes Times Square look restrained.

What to Eat in Shanghai

Shanghai cuisine is defined by sweetness—the use of sugar in braised dishes, the richness of red-cooked pork, and the delicacy of steamed dumplings. Four things you must try:

• Xiaolongbao — Soup dumplings filled with pork and a gelatinized broth that liquefies when steamed. Nanxiang or Din Tai Fung are the standard-bearers.
• Shengjianbao — Pan-fried pork buns with a crispy bottom and a soup-filled interior. Yang's Fried Dumplings is the local chain that perfected them.
• Hongshao Rou — Red-braised pork belly cooked with soy sauce, sugar, and star anise until the fat melts. A Shanghai classic.
• Hairy Crab (September–October only) — Steamed freshwater crabs from Yangcheng Lake, prized for their sweet meat and golden roe. Book a restaurant that specializes in them.

Practical Tips

• Transportation: Shanghai's metro is excellent, but your private driver eliminates transfers, wait times, and the 15-minute walks from station exits to attraction entrances that eat into your day.
• Language: English is more widely spoken in Shanghai than in any other mainland Chinese city, but menus in local restaurants are almost always Chinese-only. Your guide translates.
• Payment: Alipay and WeChat Pay are universal. Cash is increasingly rare. Set up Alipay before you arrive.
• Dress code: Shanghai is China's most fashionable city. You will not feel out of place in smart casual anywhere.

Recommended Tours

• Shanghai Bund, Yu Garden & French Concession Private Day Tour — The essential Shanghai experience: the Bund, Yu Garden, a French Concession walking route, and a Shanghai Tower visit.
• Shanghai Zhujiajiao Water Town & Shanghai Tower Private Day Tour — Escape the city to a 1,700-year-old canal town, then see Shanghai from 632 meters up.
• Customize your Shanghai itinerary