Shanghai

Right okay so Shanghai. Honest answer: I was not prepared. I went in late 2023 on a stopover en route from Auckland to Lisbon — meant to be three days, ended up extending to seven, and spent most of those seven days walking around with my mouth open. Doris (the van) was at home obviously and I was a bit lost without her but yeah nah, Shanghai is genuinely one of the most extraordinary cities I've ever been to. Mean, I knew it was big. I didn't know it was that big.

[IMAGE: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1545893835-abaa50cbe628?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop | The Shanghai Bund at night with the Pudong skyline lit up across the Huangpu River — the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai Tower visible against the sky]

Just orientation, quickly

Shanghai sits on the Yangtze delta in eastern China. Population around 26 million in the metro area, give or take a couple of million depending who you ask. The city is split by the Huangpu River — Puxi (west bank) is the older historic city, Pudong (east bank) is the new financial district that didn't really exist before about 1990. The Bund is the historic waterfront on the Puxi side, looking across to the Pudong skyline. That photograph of the river at night with all the towers lit up — that's what you came for, and yeah, it does deliver.

Most travellers spend their time in three or four neighbourhoods:

• The Bund and Old City (Puxi central) — heritage architecture, the old Yu Garden, the original colonial-era waterfront
• The French Concession (Puxi west) — leafy plane-tree-lined streets, small lanes, art-deco buildings, indie cafes and small shops
• Pudong/Lujiazui — the towers, the financial district, the malls
• Xintiandi — restored shikumen (stone-gate house) lanes turned into a pedestrian district of restaurants and bars

I'd budget at least 4 days, ideally a week, to do justice to all four.

How you actually get around

The Shanghai Metro is genuinely incredible. 20 lines. Goes everywhere. Cheap (3-9 yuan per trip = 0.50-1.50 USD). Trains every 2-3 minutes. Signs in English and Chinese. Get an Alipay app set up before you go and load some yuan onto it — you can scan the QR code at the metro turnstiles instead of buying tickets, much easier.

Actually that's the bigger thing about China for first-time visitors: it's almost completely cashless and Western credit cards barely work anywhere outside the airport hotels and the highest-end restaurants. WeChat Pay or Alipay is how everyone pays for everything. Both apps now let foreign tourists link an international card for short-stay use — set this up before you fly. Without it you're going to have a bad time.

Taxis are everywhere and cheap (about 14 yuan = 2 USD base fare, plus per-km). Use Didi (the Chinese Uber) — works for foreigners now. Hailing on the street works too if you can show the driver an address in Chinese on your phone.

What to actually do

Like, this is a city of 26 million people, you're not going to see it all. The hits I'd prioritise:

Walk the Bund at sunset. Start at the northern end (around Suzhou Creek) and walk south for about a kilometre. The historic colonial buildings are on your right, the river and the Pudong skyline on your left. As the sun drops, the towers across the river light up in sequence. About 8pm in summer the Pudong side does an actual light show on the buildings. Free, mental, the photo of the trip.

Yu Garden and the Old City. Yu Yuan is a Ming-dynasty garden right in the centre — small but beautiful, classical Chinese landscape design. Around it is the old walled city with the Huxinting tea house on its zigzag bridge. Touristy but worth the morning. Get there at 8:30am opening to beat the tour groups.

The Shanghai Museum. Probably the best museum in China for ancient bronzes and ceramics. Free entry but you need to book online a day in advance. Three hours minimum. The Tang dynasty pottery and the Shang/Zhou bronze galleries are the standouts.

Walk the French Concession. Just walk it. Start at Shaanxi South Road metro and wander west and south for a couple of hours. Wukang Road, Xinhua Road, Anfu Road. Plane trees, art-deco apartment blocks, indie bookshops, small cafes, vintage shops. The most pleasant part of the city to lose half a day in.

Up the Shanghai Tower. Second-tallest building in the world (632m). Tickets around 200 yuan = 30 USD. The view is what you'd imagine. Go on a clear day — pollution can blank out the view. Sunset slot is the right one if you can book it.

Tianzifang. A maze of restored shikumen lanes in the French Concession turned into a small-shop and gallery district. Touristy but the lanes themselves are genuinely cool. Hour and a half, easy.

Jing'an Temple. Active Buddhist temple in the middle of the financial district, surrounded by skyscrapers. The visual juxtaposition is worth the visit. Inside, real worshippers, real ceremony. About 50 yuan entry.

What to eat

Shanghai food is a thing. Sweeter and lighter than Sichuan or northern Chinese cooking, big on freshwater fish and seafood, lots of small-plate variety.

Xiaolongbao. Soup dumplings. The Shanghai dish. Din Tai Fung is the famous chain (they're brilliant) but the local hole-in-the-wall stalls are honestly just as good. Jia Jia Tang Bao on Huanghe Road is the legendary spot — queue down the street, about 10 yuan for a bamboo steamer of eight dumplings.

Shengjianbao. Pan-fried pork buns — soup-filled like xiaolongbao but with a thicker fried base. Yang's Fry Dumpling is the classic chain, multiple branches.

Hairy crab. Autumn (October-November) is hairy crab season. A serious thing here. Slightly more sophisticated dining choice but worth doing if you're in town then.

Street food markets. The one inside the old city near Yu Garden has the most variety. Stinky tofu (don't be put off by the smell — actually delicious), grilled squid skewers, sticky rice in lotus leaves, every kind of fried dumpling. About 30 yuan for a substantial bowl of noodles. Bring small change and your Alipay.

Coffee. Shanghai has the best coffee scene of any Chinese city — proper third-wave roasters in the French Concession. M Stand and Manner Coffee are the local chains. Excellent flat whites at like a third of London prices.

Where to stay

Stay in the French Concession or near the Bund. The big chain hotels in Pudong are perfectly fine but disconnected — you're a metro ride from anywhere interesting. The boutique places along Wukang or Anfu Roads in the Concession are way better atmosphere and walkable to most of what you want to see. Around 800-1500 yuan a night = 110-200 USD.

I stayed at a small place on Anfu Road for the seven nights — quiet, breakfast included, walking distance to Tianzifang and the Bund, owner spoke decent English. Wouldn't change a thing.

When to go

September to November is the goldilocks — cool, dry, comfortable. March-May is also lovely. June-August is hot, humid, and rainy (typhoon season too — occasional disruption). December-February is cold and grey but the prices drop and the museums are quiet. I went in mid-November. Was perfect.

Avoid: Chinese national holiday week (October 1-7) when the entire country is travelling at once. Don't try to do anything in Shanghai that week.

A word on the visa thing

China changed its visa policy for many countries in 2023-24 — multiple Western European countries can now do 15-day visa-free entry, and there's a 144-hour visa-free transit option for most other Western passports if you're flying onward to a third country. Check current rules carefully before you book. NZ passports got a deal where we can do 15 days visa-free now which is part of why I extended my stopover.

Combining with the rest of China

Shanghai works as a long stopover or as the entry point for a longer trip. Suzhou (the canal city) is 30 minutes by high-speed rail and a great day trip. Hangzhou (West Lake) is 50 minutes. For a longer journey, the high-speed train to Beijing is 4.5 hours and a great way to see the country. The China country guide covers the wider routes month by month, and the Asia category page collects more from across the region.

If you'd rather have someone arrange logistics, tours in China lists Shanghai-anchored multi-day options.

Practical bits

Bring: a power adapter (China uses both flat-pin US-style and three-pin Australian-style sockets — a universal adapter is the safe call), a VPN app installed BEFORE you arrive (Google, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook are all blocked — set up a paid VPN like ExpressVPN or NordVPN before flying, don't try to do it in-country), a Chinese SIM or eSIM (much cheaper than international roaming, set up at the airport).

The English level is variable — high in fancy hotels and tourist areas, basically zero in random restaurants. Pleco app (free, offline Chinese-English dictionary) and Google Translate's camera-translate function are both essential.

Official sources

The Shanghai Municipal Government tourism page has practical visitor info, current opening hours and the visa-free transit details. The China National Tourism Administration page covers the wider Chinese context.

Last word

Shanghai surprised me. I'd been carrying around a vague impression that all Chinese cities would be brutalist and overwhelming and I came away thinking it might be one of the more livable major cities I've been to — once you have the apps sorted, the metro is easy, the food is unreal, the French Concession is genuinely beautiful, and the Pudong skyline is the closest thing the 21st century has to the Manhattan-of-1930s wonder photograph. Doris would not survive the traffic but I might come back without her. Seven days minimum. Get the apps before you fly. Eat the dumplings. Walk the Bund at sunset. That's the trip.