Printable destination guide
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Shanghai
China
- Cityscape
- Concrete, glass, neon
- City Life
- Flamboyant consumption
Skyscrapers, shopping and sensuality: this is Shanghai’s decade, and it wants to make sure you know it.
Celebrated in its Twenties’ heyday as the Paris of the East, Shanghai is now a dazzling showcase for 21st-century China. Despite its Communist legacy, this is a consumer society to the core, from the grand temples to Capitalism on the Bund to the bustling markets and endless restaurants. Refuel on delicious dim sum, stroll among Tai Chi enthusiasts at dawn or hit the extravagant bar and club scene – whatever path you choose, you’ll be electrified by this high-watt city.
Pictured: Fuchun Resort
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Shanghai
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Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
more
Highlights the best Shanghai has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
more
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Shanghai. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
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Here is the map of Shanghai; each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel is marked by a flag; click it for more details.
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Local knowledge
- Taxis
- Cheap and plentiful. Get your hotel to write down your destination - most drivers only speak Mandarin and Shanghainese. Shanghai streets are long so get the cross street too. Don’t try and exit from the driver’s side rear door.
- Tipping culture
- Tipping is never expected.
- Packing tips
- Leave room for your purchases. Take your favourite clothes to get copies made. During summer, bring your lightest outfits.
- Recommended reads
- Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday; Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang; The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran; People’s Republic of Desire by Annie Wang. The Great Wall: China Against the World 1000 BC–AD 2000 by Julia Lovell. Phantom Shanghai, photographs by Greg Giraud.
- Cuisine
- Specialist Shanghai food is nanxiang mantou – stuffed steam buns, sucai baozi – steamed buns with vegetable stuffing, leishatuan – meat and rice balls. Shanghai is also known for its hairy crab (which is hairless). Fans flock from far around during the crab season in October/November. Yuyuan Lu and Haining Lu are great streets for all kinds of dumplings, crayfish and other inventive snacks.
- Currency
- RMB (aka yuan aka quai)
- Dialing codes
- China: +86; Shanghai: 21.
- Do go/don't go
- Best times to visit are April to June, or September to November. Summer is hot and humid. Winters are wet and cold.
Shanghai hotels
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Shanghai
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- Style
- Luxe lakeside pavilion
- Setting
- Misty Hangzhou mountains
- Rates from
- CNY 2000
Getting there
Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
- Planes
- Shanghai is the only city in China with two international airports, but you’re likely to arrive in Pudong. Don’t pay more than 200RMB for a cab to get downtown.
- Boats
- Strictly for sightseeing: a Huangpu River Cruise – sounds tacky but the views of Shanghai’s space age architecture overlooking the harbour are spectacular.
- Trains
- The Maglev (magnetic suspension) train is an exhilarating way to enter Shanghai from the airport….even if it only hits its top speed of 400km/h for a few seconds. The subway system is crowded but thankfully air-conditioned in summer.
- Automobiles
- Don’t hire a car unless you’re feeling daring: the concept of giving way doesn’t exist. Road signs are in Chinese and English. The Chinese drive on the right hand side of the road – most of the time.
Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Shanghai has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
Suitably Shanghai
The Yu Gardens are a fine example of Ming Dynasty design. This haven of pagodas and carp-filled ponds and can be a welcome respite from the helter-skelter streets of Shanghai. Once you've got your breath back you can plunge into the neighbouring shopping alleys around Fangbang Zhonglu.
- Viewpoint
- Located in Pudong, the Jin Mao Tower is China’s tallest building and the third tallest in the world. Head to the Cloud Bar at the top of the Hyatt for cocktails and get views of all of Shanghai, but be sure to take in the breathtaking lobby halfway up. Not for vertigo sufferers.
- Arts and culture
- The Urban Planning Museum gives a fascinating (if somewhat unbelievable) vision of Shanghai in 2010. There’s a giant detailed model of the city and a 360 degree virtual tour.
- Something for nothing
- Go Tai Chi watching on the Bund or in any public park early every morning. And it costs nothing to join in.
- Shopping
- Upmarket shopping centres can be found at The Bund at Plaza 66 on Nanjing Xi Road, or Xintiandi, where Shikumen architecture forms an attractive backdrop. The famous IPR-dodging Xiangyang market has been closed down, so there’s no longer a one-stop shop for all your counterfeit requirements. You’ll come across guys flogging watches and other ‘luxury’ goods on most of the main tourist drags. Never pay more than half the original asking price. Visit Dongtai Road Antique Market for all your Mao memorabilia and other China kitsch requirements.
- Daytripper
- Hangzhou, two hours south of Shanghai, is a beautiful area of lakes, bridges and pagodas centred around the beautiful West Lake.
- Activities
- Get yourself a massage. Dragonfly on Xinle Road (www.dragonfly.net.cn) is one of the most sensuous options. Go for the deluxe Love Nest where you and your partner can be pampered and pummeled together. Green Massage at 58 TaiCang Road in the Luwan district is fantastically affordable (www.greenmassage.com.cn).
- And...
- If you’ve got a mobile with you and a local sim card, text Guanxi (9588 2929) with a destination name and get the address (in English or Chinese) in seconds.
Diary
Late January Chinese New Year, which means bangers and fireworks on every corner. Mid June Shanghai International Film Festival is growing in size and prestige every year. Good to check out the burgeoning Chinese film industry and also to see which international films are making it in China (www.siff.com). 1 October Formula 1 roars into town surrounded by a bevy of spectacular parties (www.formula1.com). Mid October Shanghai Tennis Open: one of the few times the big players hit Asia (www.masters-cup.com).
Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Shanghai. All you have to do is make sure you've packed your favourite threads…
Restaurants
Pier 1
A welcome relief from incessant high rises, this Art Deco building at 82 YiChang Road boasts a bar, restaurant and club overlooking the river. The Mimosa Supperclub is a stunning multi-level restaurant of cushion-strewn booths. Order a ginga ninja to get started and see if you can book the private glass-walled room, overlooking the other diners.
(+86 (0)21 5155 8322)
Bali Laguna
This restaurant at 189 Huashan Road is a Balinese island paradise with scented blooms, exotic statuary and carved teak furniture in a pretty residence beside a lily-carpeted lake in the middle of Jingan Park. This is a popular spot with the local romantics and is a very chilled out option in an urban metropolis.
(+86 (0)21 6279 7188)
Jean Georges
This gastronomic temple at 3 Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road is the three-Michelin-star chef’s only signature restaurant outside New York. Inspired by old Shanghai grandeur, the moody lounge is filled with pony-hair club chairs and eel-skin benches leading through to a luxurious burnished copper and cobalt blue dining room.
(+86 (0)21 6321 7733)
Jade on 36
This restaurant is in Tower 2 of the Pudong Shangri-La on Fu Cheng Lu. Adam D Tihany’s eccentric design (giant snuff bottles and a deconstructed rice bowl) and French chef Paul Pairet’s deliciously quirky molecular cuisine conspire to make Pudong Shangri-La’s signature restaurant Jade on 36 one of the city’s most talked-about new dining experiences. The bar, in a fuchsia-inlaid jade box, is a destination in its own right offering creative cocktails, international DJs and jaw-dropping views of the Bund and TV tower.
(+86 (0)21 6882 8888)
Bars and clubs
Bar Rouge
The view from the Bund at night is awesome, and this bar on the 7th floor at Bund 18 is one of the best places for evening cocktails.
(+86 (0)21 6339 1199)
Glamour Bar
This bar, at 5 Guangdong Road, is a great spot to drink cocktails (try the Glamour Bar’s Orange Marmalade martini) and watch the neon come alive. Avoid Saturday nights.
(+86 (0)21 6350 9988)
©2008 Mr & Mrs Smith