Things to do
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Former French Concession
Leased to France in 1849 and handed back during the Second World War, this spread of low streets west of the old city kept its plane trees, shikumen lane houses and garden villas. Wukang Road and Anfu Road carry most of the cafes and small shops. Little of it is ticketed; the interest lies in the lanes themselves, which take a slow afternoon.
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Jade Buddha Temple
Two Buddha figures carved from Burmese jade, brought to Shanghai by a travelling monk in the 1880s, are the reason for this working monastery in Putuo district. The halls around them are yellow walled and busy with incense. Visits are short, and the vegetarian dining hall in the compound is a reason to linger.
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Nanjing Road
Shanghai's main shopping street runs from the Bund west towards Jing'an, with the eastern stretch pedestrianised and strung with neon. Old Chinese department stores and food halls sit beside global chains, and the side lanes hold better eating than the frontage. A tourist tram shuttles the walking section end to end.
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Oriental Pearl Tower
Eleven linked spheres on three splayed columns, finished in 1994 and for years the emblem of a Pudong that was still being built. Observation levels rise through the shafts, one with a glass floor looking straight down on Lujiazui. Queues form through the middle of the day, and the view across to the Bund works best at dusk.
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Shanghai Museum
Ancient Chinese art fills a round topped, square based hall on Renmin Avenue: bronzes, ceramics, jades, seals, calligraphy and painting drawn from a collection of more than a hundred thousand objects. Admission is free and the doors close on Mondays. Galleries rotate between this building and the newer Pudong site, so the display shifts between visits.
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Shanghai Tower
At 632 metres, the twisted glass spire in Lujiazui is the tallest building in China and holds an observation floor at level 118. The lift climbs it in under a minute. Haze and low cloud close the view for much of the summer, so the deck repays a clear, dry day after a front has passed.
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The Bund
A kilometre and a half of riverfront on the Huangpu's west bank, lined with the banks and trading houses built when Shanghai was a treaty port. Granite, Beaux Arts and Art Deco facades face the Pudong towers across the water. The promenade is busiest after dark, when both sides are floodlit, and quietest soon after dawn.
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Tianzifang
Three narrow lanes off Taikang Road, where a shikumen block of 1930s houses and small factories was turned into studios, craft shops and bars. The alleys are barely two abreast and residents still live overhead, with laundry strung above the galleries. Weekends are shoulder to shoulder; a weekday morning shows the lane pattern properly.
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Yu Garden
Laid out from 1559 by a Ming official for his father, this walled garden in the old city packs rockeries, ponds and pavilions into two hectares. Zigzag bridges and dragon walls divide it into scenes that unfold slowly. The bazaar around it is loud and commercial, so the garden itself rewards an early entry.
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Zhujiajiao
Canals, stone bridges and Ming and Qing shophouses make up this old water town in Qingpu district, reached on metro line 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station. Fangsheng Bridge, a five arch span dated to 1571, is the set piece. Boats work the main channel, and weekday mornings are the quiet window before the coach groups arrive.