Destination
Type of Activity
Editors Pick
Read More50 Moganshan Road
Also known as M50, this arts district is often compared to New York's Soho (i.e. it's one of the city's most prestigious gatherings of galleries). It's located in a former industrial area along the Suzhou Creek, and the factories and...
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Banyan Tree
With one of the best reputations in Asia, Banyan Tree is a Thai resort company that has expanded its spa business into a few city hotels like this one at Westin Shanghai. The treatments incorporate Asian healing practices.
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China Art Museum (China Art Palace)
The former Shanghai Art Museum moved to this new Pudong location in 2012. Originally, the museums was housed inside a former race club and also hosted the well-regarded Shanghai Biennale (which is now held in the Power Station of Art)....
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Day Trip: Zhujiajiao Ancient Water Village
Often likened to Shanghai’s Venice, Zhujiajiao water village is located one hour from the city and has a history spanning over 1,700 years. The tiny town (it’s only about 20 square miles), is a charming place to explore (via gondola...
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Dragonfly
If you want to discover why the Shanghainese never seem to falter, try a foot massage, a daily ritual for many. For an authentic Shanghai experience and a terrific treatment, head to one of the many branches of this contemporary...
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HSBC Building on the Bund
The HSBC is one of the most famous of the gorgeous neo-classical buildings on the Bund. It's luxurious inside and out, but particularly known for gorgoues mosaics dating from 1923. Hidden under plaster and paint during the Cultural Revolution and...
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Indagare Tours: Bike Tour in the Former French Concession
This cycling excursion through tree-lined avenues and into narrow lilongs (courtyard lanes) of old neighborhoods is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a lot of fun. An expat guide takes cyclists into the heart of the French Concession,...
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Indagare Tours: Food Tour
What better way to experience China than to eat your way through its culinary culture? Come hungry for an evening food tour that highlights the best of four distinct regional cuisines. Go from the umami overload of Cantonese dishes to...
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Indagare Tours: Insider Shanghai
Unlike many other Asian destinations, where you can fudge your way with English and sign language, Shanghai remains one of the hold-outs of communication issues. Most people in the service industries do not speak English, and this includes wait staff...
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Indagare Tours: Vintage Motorcycle Tour
Explore the streets of Shanghai through a different vantage point: from the sidecar of a vintage motorcycle. Led by a resident expat, these tours are equal parts sightseeing excursion, historical tour and just a fun ride with a knowledgeable local....
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Jazz at the Fairmont Peace Hotel
Formerly the Cathay and Palace Hotel, this is one of those old-school Shanghai properties with a lot of history (it's where Noël Coward wrote Private Lives). The Communist government used to have the rooms bugged, and one former guest told...
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Long Museum West Bund
Coming onto Shanghai’s art scene in 2014, the Long Museum West Bund is the second museum from Chinese billionaire Liu Yiqian and his wife Wang Wei (their first art gallery is in Pudong). Located on the banks of the Huangpu...
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Longwu Kungfu
This legendary kung fu school teaches long-running classes as well as one-off courses for those interested.
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M97 Gallery
Located in the art-centric Moganshan Road neighborhood, M97 is one of many pioneering galleries in the area, but the only one that is entirely dedicated to photography. Established in 2006, the 3,000-square-foot M97 features works from roughly 30 Chinese and...
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MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Shanghai
The first independent nonprofit art institution in Shanghai when it opened in 2005, the MOCA cannot bank on big-name international exhibitions (read: nothing too cutting-edge or controversial). It’s location in People's Park is winning, as is the architecture with floor-to-ceiling...
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Neighborhood Walk: People’s Square
Start with the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall to get a sense of where the city is headed. Then walk over to the Shanghai Museum for a great overview of Chinese classical art. You can walk through the park to the...
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Neighborhood Walk: The Bund
Start at the Bund Historical Museum in Huangpu Park to see its collection of vintage photos, showing the city when it was known variously as the Whore of Asia and Paris of the East. Make a reservation at M on...
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Neighborhood Walk: The French Concession
A tour of this neighborhood allows you to combine some historic Communist landmarks with some of the city’s best shopping. The Chinese allowed the French this area until 1949, when foreign governments were expelled; it’s also the site of grand...
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Neighborhood Walk: Tian Zi Fang
This vibrant neighborhood is chock-full of kitschy boutiques and restaurants that cater to foreigners (NY-style pizza, anyone?), but it is still fun to explore and has some great people watching. The arts enclave in the French Concession has a number...
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Old Town Yuyuan Garden
You can see traditional Chinese architecture in this peaceful Ming-dynasty garden, including a 223-year-old pavilion teahouse. It’s one of the few green spots in crazy Shanghai, so take advantage of the serenity (relatively speaking: the garden is always full of...
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Oriental Pearl TV Tower
Otherwise known as the TV Tower, this is the landmark that has come to symbolize the city and that you will see on souvenirs. It has pink orbs on stalks, which you can ride to different levels for a view...
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Pearl Lam Galleries
Pearl Lam started her career showing contemporary Chinese art in Hong Kong in the early 1990s. The Shanghai branch offers some of the most thought-provoking art around, from modern Chinese calligraphers and ink brush painters to solo shows by artists...
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Power Station of Art
The Power Station of Art, opened in 2012, is being touted as Shanghai’s answer to the Tate Modern. It occupies a renovated —vast and impressive—power station that overlooks the more gritty, industrial end of the Huangpu River. Exhibitions are generally...
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Red Town
This arts district successfully gave the more established M50 a run for its money when it opened, though insiders say both art neighborhoods pale in comparison with Beijing’s vibrant Dashanzi. Occupying an enormous space that used to house a former...
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Rockbund Museum
The Rockbund Museum is located in a gorgeous brick extravaganza that used to house the Royal Asiatic Society. It has been masterfully restored by David Chipperfield Architects (the London-based company was commissioned with the restoration and conversion of eleven historic...
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Shanghai Gallery of Art
If you're shopping or dining in one of the venues at Three on the Bund, stop by this massive contemporary gallery first. It's vaulted exhibition space has views of the river and always hosts interesting shows.
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Shanghai Grand Theatre
You can recognize this building as the one that looks like a boat hull or a lemon wedge resting on top of a square. Built in 1998, the theater hosts the city’s largest musical and theatrical productions (The Lion King,...
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Shanghai Museum
Designed to resemble the round sky of heaven and the square earth, the striking Shanghai Museum opened in 1996. It contains impressive collections of bronzes, jade, scroll paintings and porcelain. Invest in the acoustic tour with overviews of each collection,...
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Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre
Even in Shanghai, the most modern city in China, locals are reluctant to speak about the Cultural Revolution. The prevailing attitude is one that favors optimism, and many unfavorable aspects of the country’s history are glossed over and not discussed....
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ShanghArt Gallery
This has long been considered one of Shanghai's top galleries (it's Swiss owned and was one of the first to participate in the major international art fairs). It's been based on Moganshan Lu since the mid-1990s and represents such top-selling...
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Site of the First National Congress of the CPC
This (very literally) named site is the house where, in 1921, Mao Zedong attended the first meeting of those who would later form his original Communist Party. A treasured national landmark, the modest property has been preserved in the same...
- Courtesy E. R. MellRead More
The Shanghai Tower
At over two thousand feet high, the Shanghai Tower is a sight to behold. But, the colossal structure is even better experienced from its sightseeing deck, which is the highest in Shanghai. Completed in 2015, the building is the tallest...
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Tour the Bird and Flower Market
Located on Xizang Nan Lu, in Shanghai’s atmospheric old town, the Bird and Flower Market is one of the most evocative sights to see in the city. Here, hundreds of crammed stalls sell exotic plants and crickets in glass jars,...
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Try Local Cuisine: Yunnan Nan Lu
For travelers eager to try local street food should head to Yunnan Nan Lu, located a mile west of the tacky tourist hub Yuyuan Bazaar. This buzzing food street is made up of small stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants and is...
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Urban Planning Exhibition Hall
The name may imply dull exhibits, but because of the dynamic nature of the city’s growth, it is fascinating to see what lies ahead. The slogans emblazoned throughout, like “Better City, Better Life,” certainly aim to put you in an...
