A Weekend Travel Guide to Shanghai

Information and advice on weekend sights and attractions in Shanghai

So much to see, so little time. The rapid pace at which Shanghai is developing offers visitors the perfect excuse to spend the weekend at ultra chic and modern expat venues, but that just means missing out on the real Shanghai and its people. In our weekend travel guide to Shanghai, we highlight both the trendy and the traditional must-see places any weekend visit should include.

1. Getting Around

Shanghai has very efficient public transport, with the underground metro system connecting the entire city through a network of 12 different lines and 288 stations in total. All of the major landmarks and places of interest are located close to a metro station, thus offering a cheap and convenient way to travel from place to place. It is worth noting, however, that it is the fifth busiest metro in the world, and is the most popular method of transport for locals so the Shanghai metro can get very crowded at peak times. Tickets can be purchased inside the stations at electronic ticket booths which display the routes and fares in both Chinese and English.

Taxis are also plentiful and quite cheap at just RMB 13 (US$2) for a minimum three kilometer ride. While they are convenient for moving quickly around the city, most taxi drivers will have no English so it is advisable to have the Chinese address of your destination to hand.

2. Eating Out

If Shanghai is blessed in one particular area, it is the abundance of restaurant and dining options available throughout the whole city. These range from traditional street food vendors offering their food and a plastic seat at a small roadside table, to high end restaurants of international standard. The good news is that most streets, and particularly those on which popular tourist destinations are located, will contain a variety of different dining options. Some highlights worth visiting include: M on the Bund (20 Guangdong Road), a restaurant and terrace bar offering Western cuisine and a fabulous view of the Bund and Pudong business district; Lost Heaven (38 Gaoyou Road), a traditional but high quality restaurant specializing in cuisine from the southern province of Yunnan; South Beauty (numerous locations), a popular chain of restaurants that combine traditional spicy and sweet dishes from eastern and western China; and Nepali Kitchen (819 Julu Road), a favourite among local expats for their delightful mix of Nepalese and Tibetan dishes.

A visit to Shanghai would not be complete without trying the city’s famous pork dumplings for lunch. While these tasty snacks are available almost everywhere, the Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung (numerous locations, two of more popular restaurants are at 123 Xingye Road and 168 Lujiazui Road) reputedly offer the tastiest dumplings in the city. Their menu is quite diverse and as the restaurants can get very busy at weekends, an arrival before 11 a.m. is advised to guarantee a table.

3. Things to See and Do

Time is very much of the essence on a weekend visit to Shanghai and most visitors will try to avoid spending large amounts of time at just one or two locations, however difficult that actually may turn out to be. The Shanghai Museum (201 Renmin Avenue, metro lines 1, 2 and 8) is one such place. While a whole morning or afternoon could easily be spent here, a couple of hours wandering through the various exhibitions is probably sufficient. Ditto for Yuyuan Garden (metro line 10), although the surrounding area includes a vibrant market and is great for taking a leisurely stroll and witnessing old Shanghai and its people going about their daily lives.

Shanghai’s famous riverfront area, The Bund (Zhongshan Dongyi Road), is busy at all times of the day, but on a weekend we suggest spending a couple of hours here in the evening. It is at this time that the architecture and buildings look their best, plus there are a host of dining and bar options in the area. Fuxing Park (Fuxing Gongyuan) in the old French Concession area is arguably the best place to watch the locals singing, dancing, playing games and generally enjoying their time outdoors. The French Concession area also has many other attractions in its own right, including a popular two hour walk around the area’s most prominent landmarks.

4. Nightlife

There’s nothing better than relaxing with a cold beverage after a long day of sightseeing, and Shanghai boasts numerous bars to unwind in. Some of the more high end bars offering great views of the Bund and Pudong business district at night include Glamour Bar (No 5 The Bund), Flair (58F, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, 8 Century Avenue), Vue Bar (Hyatt on the Bund, 199 Huangpu Road) and the Long Bar (Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, 2 Zhongshan Dongyi Road).

Xintiandi (South Huangpi Road, metro line 1 and 10) is another lively entertainment area located in the heart of the city. It is a pedestrianised area of shops, bars, clubs, restaurants and cafes that is extremely popular at weekends. There are also numerous dining options (South Beauty has one restaurant here) and it is not uncommon for visitors to spend the entire evening in the area. Yongkang Road is a new development that is home to a large number of expat bars including Irish, British, French and German themed pubs. The bars here are quite small, yet many offer outdoor seating and are popular choices for watching sports and al fresco drinking in the warmer months.

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