Top things to do in Shanghai - Travel the World with Morgane

SHANGHAI

Shanghai is one of my favorite cities in Asia. It feels clean, safe, modern, and full of life. You can eat really well, travel cheaply, and always find something to do. The city looks almost futuristic, very different from many Western clichés people might have about China.

I had the chance to live there for several months, and honestly it was one of my best travel experiences ever. China in general is a huge country with a strong culture and history, and it deserves to be explored deeply.

TIPS

✈️ Getting from the airport to the city

Take the Shanghai Maglev Train from Pudong Airport:

Reaches over 430 km/h – the fastest commercial train in the world
Covers 30km in just 8 minutes
Then transfer to the metro (written also in English, very easy to follow)

🏨 Where to Stay

We stayed at the Radisson Collection Hyland Shanghai, perfectly located on Nanjing Road. With shops, restaurants, and nightlife right outside the door and the Bund within walking distance, it’s an ideal base for exploring Shanghai.

💳 How to Pay

This is very important:

Credit cards are NOT widely accepted
You must download Alipay before arriving, it requires passport verification and biometrics, it can take 24-48h to activate
WeChat Pay exists but harder for tourists, it requires a Chinese resident to sponsor your account
Avoid ATMs: many swallow foreign cards

Set everything up before your trip

📱 VPN + Internet

Install a VPN before arriving because much harder to set up once you are there: Google, WhatsApp, Gmail, Instagram are all blocked in China
NordVPN often does NOT work well in China
I used LetsVPN and it worked very well (be careful with NordVPN, for me it didn’t work at all)
No local Chinese eSIM for foreigners: either buy a travel eSIM before you leave (Nomad, Holafly for example) or pick up a SIM card at the airport on arrival, it is very simple

🚕 Getting Around

Bike – rentable via Alipay, the best way to explore
Metro – clean, fast, safe, stations in English
Didi (Chinese Uber) – easiest option, bookable directly in Alipay, enter destination in English. Very cheap – around €2 per ride, €11 for 25km. If the driver calls, hand your phone to a Chinese person nearby to help communicate
Taxi – cheap but language barrier. Prepare your address in Chinese in advance (Trip.com shows addresses in Chinese)

🗣️ Lifstyle & Food

Most Chinese people don’t speak a word of English, I used Google Translate, it helps but can be tricky sometimes
Restaurant menus are in Chinese only, but almost always with photos. They’re not 100% accurate to what arrives on your plate, but close enough, point at what you want, specify your protein (beef, pork, chicken) and go for it
Street food is the best option: you can see exactly what you’re getting before you order, and it’s almost always delicious
Seasonal fruits like mangoes and lychees are exceptional

What Shanghai Is Actually Like

Streets are genuinely clean: cleaning teams everywhere, bins on every corner, public toilets also that are actually usable (many are squat toilets). A real contrast with Paris
Almost no graffiti, no homeless people visible
98% of people you see are Chinese locals, very few tourists in daily life, which makes it feel immersive and real
Metro bag scanners at every entrance, passport checks at museums, cameras everywhere. Very safe but surveillance is visible
Cars are mostly high-end: Porsches, Teslas, Chinese EV brands. Roads are wide and relatively quiet since most vehicles are electric
Electric scooters everywhere, very silent, so drivers compensate by honking constantly. Be careful crossing the road, scooters don’t stop…
In the parks, people play Jianzi, a 2,000-year-old game keeping a large shuttlecock in the air with your feet and body. Worth stopping to watch
Men carrying their partner’s bags is completely normal and common
Very few tattoos or piercings visible
Hotels have gas masks in rooms for fire emergencies, not very common elsewhere
Learn to eat with chopsticks before you go, there are no fork

Must Visit

The Bund & Nanjing Road

Nanjing Road – Shanghai’s main commercial street, always buzzing, leads directly to the Bund
The Bund – riverside promenade along the Huangpu River. Walk it during the day and come back at night when the Pudong skyline lights up across the water, just amazing!
North Bund green land

Lujiazui – financial district

Shanghai Tower – 632 metres tall, the third highest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa and Merdeka 118. The elevator travels at 20.5 metres per second to the 119th floor. Watch day turn to sunset turn to night from up there. Note: the very top floor is more of an indoor light and music show, the real observation is a few floors below. There’s also Duoyun Books on the 52nd floor: a free bookshop with a café and the view of course.
Elevated walkways connecting the towers above street level.
Fake market – directly attached to Shanghai Science metro station. Replica designer goods (YSL, LV, Dior…).

Tianzifang

A maze of narrow laneways in the former French Concession with small bars, boutiques, galleries, old Shanghai brick architecture.

Yu Garden & Old Town

Yu Garden – classical Chinese garden built 500 years ago. Zen atmosphere, ponds, rockeries, pavilions. It is very crowded but worth it anyway
Yuyuan Bazaar – the surrounding old town with pagodas, golden ornaments and traditional shops. Go at night when everything is lit up

Fuxing Park

On weekends: couples dancing and groups singing. Pure local Shanghai life. The locals even invited us to dance with them, one of those moments where you don’t share a language but it doesn’t matter at all.

Jing’an Temple

Ancient working temple surrounded by skyscrapers.

Xintiandi

Restored shikumen (traditional Shanghai stone-gate houses) neighborhood with European-style restaurants and cafes
Sinan Mansions
First National Congress of the CPC – free to visit. The complex includes the original 1921 shikumen house where the Communist Party was founded and a memorial hall next door. The exhibitions cover China’s history from the Opium Wars and foreign occupations to the May Fourth Movement and the founding of the Party. Visiting the museum helps explain why many Chinese people view China’s relationship with Western powers through the lens of past humiliation and foreign interference. The museum presents the founding of the Communist Party as a turning point that brought national unity, stability and development to China.

Jade Buddha Temple

Rooftop Bars with Skyline Views

Captain Bar – more affordable, good views, central location
The Rooftop at Shanghai EDITION – luxury, pricier but the most beautiful view
Ritz Pudong
The Fellas