Travelling to Shanghai?
Shanghai is two skylines staring at each other across the river: the 1920s Bund on one side and Pudong, which didn’t exist in 1990, on the other. It’s the easiest China to start with, and you’ll still need the local apps to pay for almost everything.
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What to see in Shanghai
8 ROUTESOur routes, not a list of everything. Places that have been there for centuries: no opening times or prices, which go stale.
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Shanghai in a day
9 hTwo skylines stare at each other across the river with seventy years between them: one is from the 1920s and the other didn’t exist in 1990. You cross in five minutes.The Bund in the morning · Yuyuan Garden · Crossing to Pudong and going up · The former French Concession · The Bund at night, from the other sideRead the full guide - 02
A weekend in Shanghai
18 hThe museum to see is in Hongkou and it’s on no list: twenty thousand Jews fleeing Europe took refuge here, because it was the only port that asked for no visa.Saturday: the Bund and Pudong · Saturday night: the French Concession · Sunday: the Jewish Refugees Museum · Sunday: the Shanghai MuseumRead the full guide - 03
What to see in Shanghai
In 1990 Pudong was fields. Today it’s the world’s second tallest tower, twisted on purpose: the turn cuts almost a quarter of the wind load.The Bund · The Shanghai Tower · Yuyuan Garden · The former French Concession · The Shanghai MuseumRead the full guide - 04
Eating in Shanghai
You bite a small hole and drink the soup first. Put the whole thing in your mouth and you burn: there’s boiling broth inside, and that isn’t a rhetorical warning.The xiaolongbao, and how not to burn yourself · The shengjianbao, which is the real one · The hairy crab, and its window · Hongshao rou, and the sugar · Scallion oil noodlesRead the full guide - 05
Where to stay in Shanghai
The river splits the city and the decision is simple: Puxi has the city, Pudong has the towers and the offices. You almost always want Puxi.The former French Concession · The Bund and Nanjing Road · Jing’an · Pudong · HongkouRead the full guide - 06
Day trips from Shanghai
Twenty-five minutes by train to a city of sixteenth-century gardens that is world heritage. Twenty-five. Less than crossing Shanghai.Suzhou · Hangzhou and West Lake · Zhujiajiao · NanjingRead the full guide - 07
From Pudong airport to the centre
The world’s fastest train doesn’t take you downtown and it shuts at ten. And line 2 does get there, but with a mandatory change nobody tells you about.The Maglev, and its two catches · Line 2, and the change nobody expects · Which to take, and whenRead the full guide - 08
Shanghai: practical tips
Many services you use daily aren’t reachable from a local connection, and here everything is paid by phone. Connectivity isn’t a convenience: it’s the trip.Mobile data · Alipay and WeChat Pay · August humidity · The metro and the scanner · The address, in ChineseRead the full guide
Airport to city centre
2 OPTIONSThe real options, with what actually decides it: which terminal it leaves from and where it drops you. Fares and timetables live with the operator, who keeps them current.
- TrainMaglevLongyang Road (enlace L2)The world’s fastest commercial train: 7 minutes at a 380 km/h peak. Two catches: it doesn’t reach downtown, change to L2 at Longyang Road, and it shuts early, around ten at night. Landing late, it isn’t an option.·Fares and timesShanghai Maglev
- MetroL2People’s Square · East Nanjing Road (transbordo en Guanglan Rd)Line 2 reaches the centre, but not in one go: from Pudong you change trains at Guanglan Road, across the platform. It’s over an hour against the Maglev’s seven minutes, but it drops you where you want to be for a fraction of the price.·Fares and timesShanghai Metro
VIP lounges in Shanghai
15Before you fly, or on the layover. Pay per visit, whatever airline.