Shanghai

Our last stop was Shanghai: skyscrapers, colonial buildings along the river, tree-lined streets in the old French Concession and a water town just outside the city. We arrived on 12 August 2025 and flew home on the night of the 15th.

The train from Hangzhou East to Shanghai South takes under an hour. Ours left at 9.13am and arrived at 10.05am, booked on Trip.com.

Where to Sleep?

For the end of the trip we treated ourselves to the Crowne Plaza Shanghai Nanjing Road, right on the pedestrian street. We paid €300.

Day 1 - Nanjing Road, the Bund and Yu Garden

1. People's Park

A green space in the middle of the city, next to People's Square, with a lotus pond and the Museum of Contemporary Art. On Sundays it hosts the famous marriage market, where parents advertise their children to find them a match.

2. Nanjing East Road

Shanghai's main shopping street, almost five kilometres long, from the Bund to Jing'an Temple. The pedestrian section between Nanjing Road East and People's Square metro stations is the busiest, with flagship stores, malls and neon signs.

3. The Bund

The riverside promenade lined with historic buildings from the 1920s and 1930s. Cross to the river side for the most famous view in Shanghai: the skyscrapers of Pudong on the other bank, including the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China. Along the Bund, look out for:

• The Old HSBC Building (number 12), once the second largest bank building in the world, with a dome decorated with mosaics of the cities where the bank had branches.
• The Custom House (number 13), with a clock tower inspired by Big Ben. It still works as a customs house.
• The Bund Bull, almost identical in size to the Wall Street bull and by the same sculptor.
• The Gutzlaff Signal Tower, an Art Deco tower first built in 1865 to give weather and typhoon warnings to ships.
• The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, a short underwater ride with light effects to Pudong. It was about ¥50 one way and ¥70 return, from 8am to 10pm.

4. Fairmont Peace Hotel

The most famous of the historic buildings on the Bund, an Art Deco landmark that has appeared in films and novels and hosted celebrities from all over the world.

5. Gucheng Park

The Ancient City Park, a green stop on the way to the old town, where locals come to relax among the trees and flowers.

6. Yu Garden

One of the most famous classical gardens in China, started in 1559 during the Ming dynasty, at the heart of a maze of old-style buildings and shops. We bought our tickets on Trip.com for €6 for the two of us, with a noon to 4pm slot. Join the queue at the north entrance and scan the QR code to get in.

Open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 4.30pm (last entry 4pm). Closed on Mondays.

7. Huxinting Teahouse and the Nine Turn Bridge

The oldest teahouse in Shanghai stands in the middle of a lake next to Yu Garden, reached by the zigzag Nine Turn Bridge. The pavilion was built in 1784 and became a teahouse in 1855.

8. Yuyuan Old Street and the City God Temple

The lanes around the garden are lined with traditional architecture, and one of them has a canopy of butterfly and flower lanterns. They look even better at night, when everything is lit up. The City God Temple, the temple that protects the city, was included in our garden ticket. Shanghai Old Street, on the south side, is full of food stalls.

9. Sir Elly's Bar

Finish the night on the rooftop of the Peninsula Hotel, with one of the best views of the Bund and Pudong. The cocktails are pricey, but the view is hard to beat.

Day 2 - Temples and the French Concession

1. Jade Buddha Temple

A Buddhist temple built to house two jade Buddhas brought from Burma in 1882. Tickets were ¥30, paid at the entrance. Open from 8am to 4.30pm.

2. Jing'an Temple

A golden temple surrounded by the skyscrapers of one of the most modern parts of the city. It is very old, though most of what you see today was rebuilt. Tickets were ¥50, paid at the entrance with Alipay. Open from 7.30am to 6pm.

3. Hunan Road and Wukang Road

The heart of the former French Concession: quiet streets under plane trees, garden villas, cafés, flower shops and bookshops. Wukang Road is just over a kilometre long but has 37 protected historic buildings in every style, from Spanish to Art Deco. There is a tourist information centre at number 393 with self-guided walking tours.

4. Wukang Mansion

The famous wedge-shaped apartment building at the end of Wukang Road, designed by László Hudec and finished in 1924. It is one of the most photographed buildings in Shanghai.

5. Tianzifang

A maze of narrow alleys off Taikang Road, in old shikumen houses, full of craft shops, cafés and art studios.

6. Xintiandi

A car-free district of restored shikumen houses with restaurants, bars and shops. It is also where the first congress of the Chinese Communist Party took place, now a museum.

7. Weixiangzhai

A time-honoured noodle shop famous for its sesame sauce noodles, made with sesame paste and peanuts.

8. Longhua Temple

The largest and oldest Buddhist temple in Shanghai, with six grand halls along a central axis and a pagoda. Free to enter, open from 7am to 4.30pm. Next to it is the Longhua Martyrs' Memorial.

Day 3 - Zhujiajiao water town

An ancient water town on the edge of Shanghai, known as the Pearl Stream, with canals, stone bridges from the Ming and Qing dynasties and old houses along the water. Take metro line 17 to the end of the line, Zhujiajiao station.

Buy your ticket at the visitor centre on Caoping Road: the ¥80 ticket includes five sights (two gardens, an art gallery and two temples), and the ¥60 ticket only three, without the temples. The temples are worth it, so get the full one.

• Apo Teahouse: 'Apo' means grandma, after the old ladies who used to come here to do needlework, chat and drink tea. The tea room upstairs looks over the river.
• Jiangnan First Teahouse: a historic two-storey teahouse facing the Dianpu River, a lovely spot to watch the boats go by.
• Fangsheng Bridge: the largest and most famous stone bridge in town, crossing to the busier southern side.
• Kezhi Garden: a big garden from 1912 with ponds, pavilions, bridges and a library. Go early, before the crowds.
• Yuanjin Temple: a Buddhist temple first built in 1341, by the river.

Day 4 - Going home

Our last day was a slow one: the hotel pool and the last souvenirs. Our flight home left at 11pm. China, we'll be back!