Travel Guide
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China

Shanghai Travel Guide

Art deco façades, leafy streets and a glowing riverfront give Shanghai a fascinating mix of eras. Explore it slowly, one neighborhood at a time.

The Bund · Shanghai
The BundPhoto: Mattias Hill · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
First visit
3–4 days in the city
Good for walking
March–May or September–November
Airports
Pudong (PVG) · Hongqiao (SHA)
Short Metro ride
From ¥3

Before you go

When to go and how long to stay

Give the Old City and the Bund one day, the Pudong riverfront and an observation deck a second, and central neighborhoods a third. A fourth day lets you add a museum or swap outdoor days when rain or haze makes the river views poor.

  • March to May and September to November suit long walks. Pack a light rain layer in spring and check the holiday calendar if visiting in early May or early October.
  • In summer, walk early or late and keep the middle of the day indoors. On a poor-visibility day, defer a paid tower ticket if your booking allows it.

Entry documents

Choose the entry route before buying flights
RouteWhat to check
Ordinary visa exemptionCheck your ordinary passport, eligible purpose and permitted stay for the travel date. China has both mutual agreements and a unilateral policy, with different conditions.
240-hour visa-free transitCheck your nationality, entry and exit ports, permitted stay area and confirmed ticket to a third country or region. The border authority decides eligibility at entry.
Visitor visaIf your planned itinerary needs a visa, apply through the Chinese consular channel for your place of application before departure.

The transit test is about the places immediately before and after mainland China. New York → Shanghai → Seoul satisfies the third-country part of the test. New York → Shanghai → New York does not. An ordinary U.S. passport is on the 240-hour transit list. Check the other conditions for your specific flights. China Immigration Service hotline: 12367.

  1. Save the passport details, flight numbers, first hotel address in Chinese and onward booking offline. Use the same passport throughout your bookings.
  2. If an arrival card is required, use the free service named NIA 12367 before travel or complete it at the port of entry. Keep the onward confirmation ready if applying for transit entry.
  3. If using transit entry and planning to leave Shanghai for Suzhou or Hangzhou, verify that your whole itinerary is inside the area permitted for your entry and exit ports.

Daily budget

Use these worked examples in Chinese yuan for one adult paying for their own room. Plug in your actual nightly hotel quote first. The rows are spending plans, with a ticket allowance rather than a guarantee of what a specific attraction costs.

One day in Shanghai, excluding flights and airport transfers
Travel styleLodgingMealsLocal transportTicketsTotal
Economy¥150¥70¥20¥60¥300
Mid-range¥380¥120¥20¥100¥620
Higher budget¥650¥180¥50¥220¥1,100

To estimate a real day, four ¥3 Metro rides and a ¥2 ferry total ¥14. Adding a ¥40 peak-season adult Yu Garden ticket brings those items to ¥54, before food and lodging. The Bund promenade is free. Add a separately priced tower or cruise ticket only on the day you plan to use it.

Getting to the city

Check the airport code on the booking. Pudong (PVG) is east of the city, Hongqiao (SHA) is west. China’s intercity train station named Shanghai Hongqiao sits beside Hongqiao Airport Terminal 2.

Which arrival route to choose
FromRouteTime and fare guide
Pudong to People’s SquareMetro Line 2 toward the city. Stay on for East Nanjing Road or People’s Square.About 60 min on the train to People’s Square, about ¥7.
Pudong via MaglevGet off at Longyang Road and change to Line 2 for the center. Pay for the Metro leg or compare a combined pass.About 8 min to Longyang Road, plus the change and onward train.
Hongqiao to the cityFrom T1 use Line 10. From T2 use Line 2 for People’s Square or Line 10 toward Yuyuan Garden.Buy for the destination indicated at the station. Choose by the hotel stop and number of changes.
Pudong ↔ HongqiaoAirport Link Line between Pudong Airport T1/T2 station and Hongqiao Airport T2. For SHA T1, allow a separate terminal transfer.About 40 min on board, ¥26 full route. Add time for bags, walking and airport formalities.
  • Arriving late with luggage: use the official taxi queue if trains have stopped. The airport’s guide puts Pudong to People’s Square at about ¥180, with actual cost and timing affected by traffic and route. Show the driver your hotel’s Chinese address and entrance.
  • Arriving by high-speed rail: read the exact station name on the 12306 booking. Shanghai Hongqiao uses Metro 2, 10 and 17. Shanghai Railway Station and Shanghai South are different terminals. Bring the original passport tied to the booking and leave time for security.

Getting around

Start with three station names: East Nanjing Road (南京东路) for the Bund, Yuyuan Garden (豫园) for the Old City, and Lujiazui (陆家嘴) for the Oriental Pearl Tower. The Bund is a walk from East Nanjing Road station, and Line 2 goes from that station across the river to Lujiazui.

  • Metro fares start at ¥3 for up to 6 km. Tap an eligible contactless card at entry and exit using the same card. If the gate rejects the card, buy a single ticket from a machine or ask at the station service desk.
  • A 24-hour standard Metro pass is listed at ¥18. Five ¥3 rides cost ¥15, so compare your route first. Maglev and newer suburban rail services have separate rules.
  • The Dongjin public ferry connects East Jinling Road on the Bund side to Dongchang Road in Pudong. The posted adult pedestrian fare is ¥2. Check the last sailing before heading over or take the Metro back after dinner.

SIM and mobile data

For data as soon as you land, compare your home carrier’s roaming with a travel eSIM that explicitly covers mainland China. Check phone compatibility before paying and save the installation instructions offline. For a local phone number, ask for a local SIM plan at an airport telecom counter or an operator store and bring your passport.

Some travel eSIMs are data-only. Keep access to your home number for bank verification if required, and test your maps or messaging app before relying on it. Save the Chinese names of the hotel, nearby Metro station and airport terminal.

Payment and cash

  1. Before flying, register for Alipay with your phone number. Open Me → Bank Cards and link an eligible card. Keep the card’s verification method available.
  2. At a shop, either choose Scan to read the merchant’s code or show your payment code when the cashier asks. Check the merchant name and amount before approving.
  3. Carry a backup physical card and some small RMB notes. If payment setup fails on arrival, ask airport one-stop service staff for help and use a station ticket for your first Metro trip.

Where to stay

Choose a hotel by the trip you plan
AreaConvenient forCheck before booking
People’s Square / East Nanjing RoadFirst visits centered on the Bund, Old City and Line 2.Check walking distance from the exact station exit and whether a car can reach the hotel door near the pedestrian zone.
Jing’an TempleRestaurants and evening walks, with convenient trips toward both central districts and Hongqiao.Look near Jing’an Temple station if using Lines 2 or 7 often.
LujiazuiPudong business, river views and the observation towers.Allow a river crossing each day if most of your stops are in Puxi.

Things to do in Shanghai

What to eat in Shanghai

Suggested route

  1. Day 1, Old City to the Bund: start at Yuyuan Garden for its daytime admission, stop for xiaolongbao or shengjian, then walk to the Bund near sunset. Swap this day with another if the garden is closed on your date.
  2. Day 2, Pudong: take Line 2 to Lujiazui, visit the Oriental Pearl Tower if visibility is good and walk along the Pudong waterfront. Pair it with a daytime Dongjin ferry or return by Metro.
  3. Day 3, central neighborhoods: start near Xintiandi or South Shaanxi Road, walk the small streets, and end with dinner in Jing’an. Add a museum on your fourth day or on a rainy morning.

Day trips

Choose one destination per day. For high-speed rail, book both legs against the station names in 12306 and keep the same passport used at booking. If using transit entry, confirm the destination is in your permitted area before buying.

Day trips from Shanghai
DestinationHow to goHow to plan it
ZhujiajiaoTake Line 17 from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to Zhujiajiao, then walk or use a local ride to the old town.Good for a canals-and-bridges half-day or a slow full day. Check the last train back.
SuzhouUse 12306. Compare Suzhou Railway Station and Suzhou North with the garden you want to visit.Start with one classical garden, then add a canal-side walk. Reserve the garden if required.
HangzhouBook a high-speed train and compare Hangzhou East or Hangzhou Railway Station for the connection to the lake.Pick one section of West Lake. Start near Longxiangqiao for the east shore and leave time for the train back.