Shanghai China

A city that built a 632-metre skyscraper, then wrapped a magnetic-levitation train around it purely to see if it could, has opinions about you and your itinerary. Shanghai will not slow down to explain itself. It expects you to keep up, tap your phone at the right moments, and occasionally get fleeced by a very friendly stranger offering tea.

Getting In and Not Getting Fleeced on the Way

Pudong Airport (PVG) handles almost everything international; Hongqiao (SHA) sits closer in and connects straight into the bullet-train network for Suzhou or Hangzhou. The Maglev at Pudong is the trap every guide oversells: it only goes to Longyang Road station, which is nowhere near downtown, so you still need a Metro Line 2 transfer or a taxi afterward with your luggage in tow. It hits 431 km/h and gets you precisely nowhere useful faster than the alternatives. Ride it once for the thrill, not the itinerary. Metro Line 2 runs the sensible route straight across the city from PVG through Lujiazui and Nanjing East Road to Hongqiao.

Skip the touts at arrivals offering a flat “special rate,” a 2-3x meter markup, or a claim that the taxi queue is closed (it isn’t). Walk to the official marked rank and get in a teal Dazhong or turquoise Qiangsheng cab, insist on the meter, and expect Y180-220 plus tolls for the 45-60 minute ride to the Bund.

Getting Around Once You’re In

The metro is the backbone: 20 lines, base fare Y3, most trips Y4-8, running roughly 5:30am to 11pm. Bind a foreign card to the Metro Dazhong app or use Alipay’s transit QR, which works citywide. Contactless bank tap is spreading but isn’t universal yet, so don’t count on it exclusively.

Here’s the correction worth repeating because outdated advice is everywhere: Alipay and WeChat Pay have accepted foreign Visa, Mastercard, and JCB cards directly via passport since mid-2023. No Chinese bank account required. Transactions under Y200 are fee-free; above that, expect roughly 3%. Late 2025 brought stricter verification that can take 24-72 hours, so set this up before you land rather than at the airport carousel. Keep a backup of cash or a UnionPay-compatible ATM card just in case. Didi, with its English interface, takes international cards and beats street taxis on price.

If you’re from one of 55-plus eligible countries (US, UK, EU, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and others), the 240-hour visa-free transit policy lets you stay up to 10 days across Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang with a confirmed onward ticket, which conveniently covers day trips to Suzhou and Hangzhou. Register at entry.

Places Worth Your Feet

The Bund is free, open around the clock, and best at dawn when it’s empty or after dark when Pudong’s skyline lights up across the water. Yu Garden costs about Y40 and earns it; the bazaar surrounding it is a crowded maze of fake antiques and inflated “original Nanxiang” dumpling stalls trading on a name that has nothing to do with the actual original restaurant tucked inside the garden itself. Walk past the bazaar.

Shanghai Tower’s 118th-floor observation deck runs about Y180 (up to Y199 on holidays) and is legitimately one of the highest viewing platforms on earth. Nanjing Road is free to walk and also the densest concentration of scam artists in the city, which gets its own warning below. Tianzifang, a warren of shikumen laneways near the French Concession, is scrappier and more interesting than its polished cousin Xintiandi, which is worth a stroll for the architecture but not a meal.

The flagship Shanghai Museum East in Pudong is free and, since September 2024, requires no advance reservation for individuals: just walk in with ID. The original branch on People’s Square still wants a WeChat booking. Jing’an Temple, a working temple wedged between skyscrapers, runs about Y50.

Eating Without Regret

Jia Jia Tang Bao is the locals’ xiaolongbao stop: Y20-30, a queue, cash or mobile pay. Din Tai Fung serves competent, polished xiaolongbao for Y80-120, and it’s worth knowing it’s a Taiwanese chain, not a Shanghai institution, before you tell someone back home you “found the best local dumplings.” For shengjianbao, the pan-fried kind, Yang’s Fry Dumpling delivers at Y15-25 and doesn’t waste your time.

Sleeping It Off

The Bund and Pudong both cluster the big international hotel names with skyline views as the main selling point. Wherever you book, know that China requires police registration for overnight guests; hotels handle this automatically at check-in as long as you hand over your passport.

Things Worth Knowing Before You Land

Mandarin is the official language; “ni hao” and “xie xie” will get you further than silence. The currency is renminbi (RMB/CNY). Pickpocketing risk is low but not zero in crowded tourist spots, so keep bags zipped.

The genuinely important one: the Great Firewall blocks Google, Gmail, Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and X. Install and test a VPN before you arrive, because you cannot download one once you’re inside the country. Apple Maps and Amap work fine locally without a VPN.

And the tea ceremony scam deserves its own paragraph because it is still working on people daily, mostly near the Bund and Nanjing Road East. A friendly “student” wants to practice English, suggests a nearby tea house, and somewhere between the second and third pour you’re staring at a bill for Y3,000 to Y10,000 with the door conveniently blocked. A real tea ceremony costs Y50-200. Never follow a stranger to an unnamed venue, and always ask for a printed, priced menu before you sit down. A gallery variant runs the same play with overpriced art prints instead of tea.

Getting Between Neighbourhoods

The metro handles it all, tips above apply. Bike rentals are everywhere via app for short scenic hops along the river or through the French Concession’s leafy backstreets, though Shanghai traffic doesn’t forgive distracted riders.

When to Actually Go

Late March through May and September through November bring clear skies and manageable humidity. Summer (June-August) is a 30-35°C sauna, made worse by the plum rain season (mid-June to mid-July) which drapes the city in warm, prolonged drizzle. Avoid Golden Week, October 1-7: prices spike and every attraction fills past capacity. Chinese New Year empties the city out, but plenty of restaurants and shops close too.

One last practical tip: if a stall near Yu Garden says “original Nanxiang” on the sign, it almost certainly isn’t. The real one is inside the garden grounds, not out front hustling tourists.