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Travel guide
Shanghai
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: March to May, and September to November
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Welcome
Shanghai, in a few days
On the west bank of the Huangpu, the 1930s façades of the Bund face the 632-metre Shanghai Tower and the skyscrapers of Lujiazui. Behind them, the former French Concession lines up plane trees and Art Deco villas, the old town serves baskets of xiaolongbao, and the canal town of Zhujiajiao is a metro ride away.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 2 things
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · The Bund free · about 1 h 301.5 kilometres of neoclassical and Art Deco banks and trading houses built before 1937, facing the towers of Pudong across the river.
- Afternoon · Yu Garden · about 1 h 30A Ming garden laid out in 1559: two hectares of ponds, rockeries and pavilions linked by zigzag galleries, ringed by the undulating Dragon Wall.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Radisson Blu Shanghai New World€85 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Shanghai Tower · about 1 h 30China's tallest building, 632 metres, finished in 2015; its twisting glass skin cuts wind load, and lifts reach the 546-metre observatory in under a minute.
- Afternoon · Shanghai Museum free · 2 to 3 hA round-on-square building on People's Square with one of China's great collections: Shang and Zhou bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy, Ming furniture and minority costumes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Broadway Mansions Hotel€110 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Tianzifang free · about 1 h 30A maze of brick shikumen lane houses off Taikang Road, taken over by artists from 1998 and now full of studios, cafés and craft shops.
- Afternoon · The former French Concession and Wukang Road free · 2 to 3 hPlane trees, brick villas and Art Deco blocks; Wukang Road leads to László Hudec's 1924 prow-shaped Wukang Mansion and dozens of plaqued historic homes.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Indigo Shanghai on the Bund€130 a night
D4
Day 4
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Jade Buddha Temple · about 1 hFounded in 1882 for two white jade Buddhas brought from Burma; the seated one, nearly two metres tall and studded with gems, sits upstairs.
- Afternoon · Zhujiajiao free · half a dayA water town 50 kilometres west of the centre with 36 stone bridges, including the five-arched Fangsheng Bridge of 1571, and Ming and Qing houses.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Grand Central Hotel Shanghai€100 a night
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Dim sum: small steamed and fried dishes shared over tea, a Cantonese morning ritual.
- Peking duck: lacquered, roasted until the skin cracks, and carved at the table.
- Hot pot: a simmering pot of broth, often fiercely spiced in the Sichuan style, to cook your own meat and vegetables.
- Jiaozi and hand-pulled noodles: dumplings and noodles made to order, cheapest and best in the north.
- Tea and baijiu: green, oolong or pu'er depending on the region, and a very strong grain spirit for toasts.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Google, WhatsApp and most Western apps are blocked: sort out a roaming eSIM or a VPN before you arrive.
- Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay with your foreign card before you go: cash is accepted less and less.
- Carry your hotel's address written in Chinese characters for taxi drivers.
- Stay away from political topics in conversation.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Mandarin
| English | Mandarin |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好 (nǐ hǎo) |
| Thank you | 谢谢 (xièxie) |
| Please | 请 (qǐng) |
| Yes | 是 (shì) |
| No | 不是 (bù shì) |
| Excuse me | 对不起 (duìbuqǐ) |
| Goodbye | 再见 (zàijiàn) |
| Do you speak English? | 你会说英语吗 (nǐ huì shuō yīngyǔ ma) |
| I don't understand | 我不懂 (wǒ bù dǒng) |
| How much is it? | 多少钱 (duōshǎo qián) |
| Where are the toilets? | 厕所在哪里 (cèsuǒ zài nǎlǐ) |
| The bill, please | 买单 (mǎidān) |
| Help! | 救命！ (jiùmìng!) |
| Cheers! | 干杯！ (gānbēi!) |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyChinese yuan (CNY, ¥)
BudgetAbout €100 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMarch to May, and September to November
PlugA/I/C · 220V
Tap waterBoiled or bottled only
TippingNo tipping, it is not the custom
Emergency110 / 120
EntryUntil 31 December 2026, UK, Canadian, Australian and most EU passports (not Czech or Lithuanian) enter visa-free for up to 30 days. US citizens need a visa, unless they qualify for the 240-hour visa-free transit with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country.
HealthHepatitis A and typhoid are recommended. China has been certified free of malaria since 2021. Dengue occurs in the south in summer, and Japanese encephalitis in some rural areas: use repellent.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/shanghai
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.