East China
The Bund, the Shikumen lanes, the art scene, the coffee, and an argument with itself about what it wants to be. Shanghai rewards a few days more than any other Chinese city.
The case for going
The most photographed waterfront in China, best at 6am.
The stone-gate lane houses of the 1930s, now full of cafés, studios and small restaurants.
Plane trees, villas, cafés and the best walking in the city.
The Ming-era garden and the bazaar maze around it.
Bronze and ceramics, and the best contemporary art in the country.
The walled-city temples and the 1920s terminal that is now a park and a fashion venue.
Practical
Temperate, humid subtropical. Cold and damp in winter, hot and muggy in July and August.
Pudong (PVG) has two terminals 40 minutes apart; the maglev and the airport express both run into the city. Hongqiao (SHA) is the domestic hub and the high-speed rail terminus.
Airport. Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)
Rail. Shanghai Hongqiao is the main high-speed hub, 30 minutes from the centre by metro.
In pictures
Questions travellers ask
Three full days: the Bund and the old city, the French Concession, and a water town or Zhujiajiao day. Two if Shanghai is the tail of a longer route.
The Bund or Nanjing East for the postcard view; the former French Concession for the lanes, cafés and the walking city. Both sit on metro Line 2 from both airports.
Fly into Pudong (PVG) — 40 minutes to the centre on the maglev plus metro — or Hongqiao (SHA), which is also the high-speed rail hub for Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou.
It is one of the three anchors of the classic first route with Beijing and Xi'an. The Bund at dusk and the French Concession lanes are two of the country's signature images.
Routes through here
East China
7days
The three cities that first-time visitors to China should see, in the right order, with the trains between them already worked out. This is the route we run most often, and the one we recommend for a first trip if the traveller has a week.
From US$2,100per person
East China
4days
A deliberately unhurried route through the classical China that most itineraries speed past. Four days, two of them in Suzhou, one in a water town and one in Hangzhou for the lake.
From US$1,100per person
Combine it with
Where to eat
Michelin 3 Stars
Stefan Stiller’s three-starred counter restaurant changes its menu every six to eight weeks. Twelve seats around an…
Michelin 3 Stars
The city’s most radical dinner: ten guests, one room, projections, scent and sound staged course by course around Paul…
Michelin 2 Stars
China’s most celebrated vegetarian restaurant, promoted to two stars for set menus that coax mountains, forests and…
Michelin 2 Stars
Proof that two stars do not require two-hundred-dollar menus: a genial Cantonese room famous for barbecued pork and…
Michelin 2 Stars
A two-starred private-kitchen take on Cantonese essentials — roast goose, double-boiled soups and steamed fish…
Michelin 1 Star
One star for old Shanghai cooking served in a 1930s consulate villa with one of the city’s great garden terraces…
Michelin 1 Star
The first dim-sum specialist in Shanghai to earn a star: crab xiaolongbao in a dozen permutations, each with its own…
Michelin 1 Star
A century-plus benbang institution with a star for the definitive red-oil pork, eight-treasure duck and river-fish…
Michelin 1 Star
A one-star restaurant that exists for one season: autumn, when hairy crab arrives. Whole steamed females with roe…
Michelin 1 Star
The Mandarin Oriental’s star-holding Jiangnan dining room, where delicate Huaiyang knife work and sweet Shanghai notes…
Where to stay
Aman · Ultra Luxury
A relocated Ming-dynasty camphor tree and a collection of antique villas set inside a forest in Jing’an. Forty minutes from the Bund, and the most quietly spectacular hotel in Shanghai.
From US$960 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Puli · Luxury
On the edge of Jing’an Park, with a rooftop pool looking over the old French Concession rooftops. Fits the city better than most and feels more like a private house than a hotel.
From US$960 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Fairmont · Luxury
The 1930s Sassoon House on the Bund, with the legendary Jazz Bar and a rooftop terrace facing the Pudong skyline. History is the selling point here, and it delivers.
From US$970 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Swire Hotels · Luxury
Piero Lissoni’s 111-room house inside HKRI Taikoo Hui, in Jing’an. Minimal, craft-led and quietly expensive — the Shanghai stay for people who care more about design than a river view.
From US$510 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
J Hotel · Luxury
High on the 60th floor of the Shanghai Tower, with glass-floor bathrooms and a bar that looks straight down the length of the Pudong river.
From US$1,360 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
MGM · Luxury
A boutique option on the north end of the Bund with the best-value harbour view on this list.
From US$750 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
Ritz-Carlton · Luxury
On the upper floors of the IFC tower in Lujiazui, with the river and the Pudong skyline framed from the west-facing rooms. The address for a skyline view rather than a heritage one.
From US$340 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
The House · Luxury
A country-style retreat in Songjiang with a deer park on the grounds and a peacock-themed afternoon tea. A restorative night away from the Bund.
From US$940 per night
Valid to 2026-12-31
