Shanghai
上海A foreigner's 2026 guide to China's most navigable megacity — the Bund night view, the Pudong skyline you decide between, the French Concession café strip, Disneyland for the family, and the world's only commercial Maglev to PVG.
Top Things to Do in Shanghai — The Bund, Pudong & Disneyland
11 attractions ranked for first-time foreign visitors — the Bund night view, Yu Garden + Yuyuan Bazaar (don't conflate them), Pudong skyline (Oriental Pearl vs Shanghai Tower), Shanghai Disneyland, the former French Concession, Jing'an Temple, plus art districts and water-town day trips.
The Bund (Waitan) — Free, 24/7, Best at 6:30pm
Yes, the Bund is free — open 24/7, no tickets. The 1.5 km waterfront promenade with colonial buildings (1842-onward) behind you and the Pudong skyline across the river. Best at 6:30-9 pm when both sides are lit. SKIP the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (¥50 plastic light tunnel) — Metro Line 2 crosses for ¥4.
Yu Garden + Yuyuan Bazaar — Different Things
Most travelers conflate the two. Yu Garden (豫园) is the 16th-c Ming garden — ¥40, 8:30am-4:30pm last entry, 90 min. Yuyuan Bazaar (豫园商城) is the surrounding free shopping/snack market — open till 10pm, where you eat xiaolongbao at the original Nanxiang Mantou Dian. You can do bazaar without garden but not vice versa.
Pudong Skyline — Shanghai Tower or Oriental Pearl
Pick one observation deck, not both — view repeats. Shanghai Tower (632 m, world's 2nd tallest, ¥180) is the technically superior choice. Oriental Pearl (468 m, ¥160 with sky walk) is shorter but the building itself is the icon — you can photograph the Bund WITH Oriental Pearl in your shot, but not Shanghai Tower. Subway Line 2 to Lujiazui exit 6.
Shanghai Disneyland — Foreigner Guide
Metro Line 11 to Disney Resort station (terminus, can't miss it). 50 min from People's Square, ¥7-8. ¥475-799 ticket depending on date. The Premier Access pass (¥110-200/ride) is essential on weekends — without it, TRON + Soaring + Pirates are 90-180 min queues. Standout: TRON Lightcycle Power Run is faster + longer than the Florida version.
Former French Concession — Wukang Road Walking
8 km² of plane-tree-lined streets where Shanghai lived its 1920s-30s peak. Free, walk it day or evening. Wukang Mansion (1924) at the Wukang/Huaihai intersection is the photographer's corner. Anfu Road = dining strip; Wuyuan Road = cafés. Subway Line 10/11 to Shanghai Library or Line 11 to Jiaotong University.
Jing'an Temple — Tang Buddhism in a Skyscraper Pocket
1,800-year-old Tang-dynasty Buddhist temple ringed by 30-story office buildings — the architectural contrast is the attraction. ¥50, open 7:30am-5pm. Subway Line 2 OR Line 7 to Jing'an Temple station, exit 1 — the temple is directly above the station. Especially significant for Thai Buddhist travelers (TH 5,400 monthly searches).
Shanghai Museum — Free, Bronze Gallery World-Class
Free entry (book 7 days ahead via WeChat mini-program). People's Square, Subway Line 1/2/8. The bronze gallery + ceramic gallery are world-class — bronzes from the Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600-256 BCE) that you can't see assembled this densely anywhere else including Beijing. Allow 3 hours minimum, 5 if you're a museum person. Closed Mondays.
M50 + West Bund Art Districts
M50 (Moganshan Road) is Shanghai's 798-equivalent — repurposed factory complex with 50+ contemporary galleries, free, most galleries closed Mondays. West Bund is the newer museum-heavy version (Long Museum, West Bund Museum, Tank Shanghai). Pair either with a French Concession dinner.
Things to Do in Shanghai — The Curated 11 Picks
All 11 picks ranked by foreign-traveler payoff, with 3-day suggested timeline and decision trees for the trade-offs (Shanghai Tower vs Oriental Pearl, Zhujiajiao vs Wuzhen, what to skip and why). Read this first if you have ≤ 4 days.
Shanghai Maglev — 431 km/h to Pudong Airport
The world's only commercial high-speed maglev. 431 km/h between Pudong Airport and Longyang Road, ¥50 one-way / ¥80 same-day round-trip with airline ticket. 7 minutes each way. If you're flying via PVG, no-brainer add. If not flying, the round-trip costs the same as an observation deck and lasts 14 minutes — only for transport enthusiasts.
Shanghai Disneyland — The Foreigner's Decision Guide
Tickets ¥475-799 by date, Premier Access pass essential for weekends (¥110-200/ride). Standout rides foreign visitors single out: TRON Lightcycle Power Run (faster than Florida version), Soaring Over the Horizon (China-tailored), Pirates of the Caribbean (most technologically advanced anywhere). Metro Line 11 to Disney Resort station — 50 min from city.
Shanghai Itinerary — 3, 5, or 7 Days for First-Time Visitors
Most foreign travelers do 3-5 days in Shanghai. 3 days covers the city core (Bund + Pudong + French Concession). 5 days adds Disneyland (a full day) plus Suzhou or a water-town day trip. 7 days fits both Suzhou and Hangzhou day trips plus a slower French Concession café morning. Pick a duration to see the day-by-day plan.
Yu Garden + xiaolongbao + Bund night view. Bund-adjacent or French Concession hotel.
One observation deck (Shanghai Tower or Oriental Pearl) + free Shanghai Museum + French Concession dinner.
Metro Line 11 to Disney Resort station (50 min from People's Square). ¥475-799 ticket; Premier Access (¥110-200/ride) is essential on weekends. Standout rides: TRON Lightcycle Power Run + Soaring Over the Horizon + Pirates of the Caribbean.
Jing'an Temple morning → M50 (Moganshan Road) art galleries afternoon → Xintiandi or Tianzifang dinner.
Suzhou: 25 min HSR from Hongqiao (¥40), classical gardens (Humble Administrator's, Lingering, Master of Nets — pick one). OR Zhujiajiao: 1 h Metro Line 17 (¥7), restored canal town, half-day pace.
Getting Around Shanghai — Subway, Two Airports & HSR
Shanghai is the easiest major Chinese city to navigate as a foreigner — English signage everywhere, the world's largest subway, and the world's only commercial Maglev for the airport run. Pre-decide PVG vs SHA when booking — different airports, different cities, easy to mix up.
Line 2 east-west through the Bund / Lujiazui / PVG. Line 1 north-south through People's Square + French Concession. Line 7 to Jing'an Temple. ¥3-9 by distance. Tap-in with Alipay 乘车码 or WeChat 出行 QR — no card needed. Trains every 2-5 min, closed midnight to 5am.
PVG (Pudong) is 30 km east, mostly international flights. Maglev ¥50 or Metro Line 2 ¥8. SHA (Hongqiao) is 13 km west, mostly domestic + co-located with HSR. Metro Line 2/10 ¥4. The Maglev only runs to PVG — not SHA.
Hongqiao Station handles most southbound + Beijing Jinghu line. Shanghai Station handles older lines. ¥40 to Suzhou (frequent), ¥75 to Hangzhou, ¥553-933 to Beijing. Book on 12306 or use Trip.com. Read the Beijing↔Shanghai guide →
Where to Stay
Shanghai is the easiest Chinese megacity to stay in — most tourist-relevant neighborhoods are within 20 min metro ride of each other. The 4 areas below cover 95% of foreign-visitor preference profiles.
Walking distance to the Bund + Yu Garden + East Nanjing Road shopping. 4 metro lines connect everywhere else. Most-recommended for the 3-day “classic Shanghai” first visit.
Skyscraper hotels with the Bund-view rooms. The view IS the experience. But you commute to most attractions across the river — only choose if skyline-from-bedroom is your priority.
Tree-lined streets, boutique hotels, the densest café and dining strip in China outside Hong Kong. Slightly less walking-convenient to the Bund (15 min metro), but the area itself becomes part of your trip.
Only choose if you're hub-and-spoke-ing through Shanghai on a multi-city China trip via HSR — Hongqiao Station is in the same complex as the airport. 30-40 min by metro to the Bund. Cheaper, less atmospheric.
What to Eat in Shanghai — XLB & Beyond
Shanghai food gets reduced to xiao long bao in Western coverage, but the city has at least 4 distinct food scenes worth a meal each. Shanghainese cuisine is sweeter than other Chinese regional cooking — sugar is a default seasoning. The French Concession is China's densest café and Western-restaurant district outside Hong Kong, useful when you need a Western reset mid-trip.
Nanxiang Mantou Dian (1900 inventor) at Yuyuan Bazaar — the original. Din Tai Fung — the polished, foreigner-friendly chain. Jia Jia Tang Bao on Huanghe Road — the local-favorite hole-in-the-wall. Order crab roe XLB if in season (Sept-Nov).
Sweet-and-sour Mandarin fish, drunken chicken, red-braised pork (红烧肉), lion's head meatballs. Lao Fan Dian (老饭店) or Lubolang for the textbook version. Hairy crab Sept-Nov at Wang Bao He (王宝和) or Chenghuang Miao area.
800 m of Italian, French, modern Chinese, izakaya, natural wine bars. Polux, Bird, Mercato. Walk-in weekdays, reserve weekends. Subway Line 1/7/9 to Changshu Rd or Line 10 to Shanghai Library.
Wujiang Rd for shengjianbao (生煎包, pan-fried soup dumplings) at Yang's. Yunnan Rd for cong you bing, tang yuan. SKIP East Nanjing Rd snacks — pure tourist trap. Manner Coffee = ¥15-25 great espresso (the local champion).
Vegetarian + dietary tip: Shanghai is much easier for vegetarians than most Chinese cities — the French Concession has a strong Western-vegan scene, and the Buddhist restaurants like Godly (功德林, near Yu Garden) serve mock-meat versions of all the traditional Shanghai dishes.