Shanghai Travel Guide
Shanghai is the largest city in China and welcomes around 300 million tourists every year making it one of the most visited cities in the world. It is famous for its modernity, its historical places, delicious food and the perfect contrast between culture and technology. If you are dreaming about visiting this city don’t buy the tickets before reading this Shanghai travel information to get the most out of your travel.
Best Time to Visit Shanghai
The best time is the autumn season from October to November. The weather is comfortable ad there aren’t many tourists like in the summer season so you can get to know all the beautiful places without dealing with crowds. The next best time to visit Shanghai is the spring season between March and May, the weather is warm and you will enjoy the flower and beautiful cherry blossoms just make sure to avoid going in the holidays because the prices will be higher.
Top Places to Visit
Jade Buddha Temple
If you want to have a rich cultural experience in Shanghai you need to visit this temple. The highlights are two buddha statues made from pure jade during the Qing dynasty and brought back to China by the monk Hui Gen. The temple was built in 1928 and it is divided into three halls and two courtyards. You will also look at statues of the four heavenly kings and a collection of Buddhism manuscripts.
Shanghai Disney Resort
This is the 6th Disneyland in the world and since its opening in 2016, it has been a huge success and is famous for having the first-ever pirate-theme park that has two pirate ships and a water play zone. It has the tallest Disney castle in the world which is located in the theme park fantasyland where you will feel like in an echanted story. If you love the technology and science fiction movies visit Tomorrowland and get into the world of marvel and star wars.
The Bund
This is the place where the old and new Shanghai connect. It is a waterfront of the west bank of the Huang Pu river that was once the city’s international settlement. For this reason, the architecture along the bund has different historical styles like neoclassical, gothic, and baroque. You can also enjoy the beautiful sights of the most famous skyscrapers of the city like the Jim Mao Tower, Shanghai Tower, and the world financial center. Take a river cruise at night and enjoy the lights from the buildings.
Yu Garden
This garden was created during the Ming Dynasty more than 400 years ago and was the private garden of the Pan family. Some of its highlights are the exquisite jade rock with 10.88 feet height and is one of the most famous rockeries of China and the nine-turn bridge which is said to bring good luck. If you want to know the classical Chinese architecture and feel like in an ancient Chinese movie visit this garden.
Zhujiajiao
It is one of the many water towns near Shanghai. This town has more than 1,700 years and used to be a trading area due to having many canals. If you want to view the town from the water take a cruise in a small gondola. You can take a short-distance trip that will take you up and down the main canal and a long-distance trip that will get you to travel all the town.
Shopping In Shanghai
When it comes to shopping, Shanghai is a paradise. The most famous street to shop is the Nanjing Road that features more than 600 businesses where you can find Chinese traditional medicine, high-end fashion, Chinese painting, local food, and vintage things. If you want to buy luxury brands go to the Huaihai Road which is known for featuring the top leading designer brands. To buy affordable things go to North Sichuan Road.
Transportation in Shanghai
Shanghai has different transportation options according to your budget. We suggest you buy the Shanghai Jiaotong card to pay buses, taxis, and the metro along with saving payment time. The metro is the fastest transport option and it arrives every three to five minutes, the bus is another affordable option but it will take you longer to get to the destination and they are usually crowded. The Maglev train is the first in the world used for tourism and transportation. It connects the Shanghai Pudong International Airport with the outside of central Pudor and covers that 30.5 km distance in 8 minutes. Taxis are not expensive but avoid using them during the traffic rush hours and keep in mind that most taxi drivers know little to nothing of English so you may have to explain the address in Chinese.