The Top 5 Attractions in Shanghai

The Bund is Shanghai's iconic waterfront promenade along the Huangpu River, lined on one side by grand 1920s European-style banks and trading houses and facing the futuristic Pudong skyline on the other. Walking it at dusk, when both sides light up, is the definitive Shanghai experience. It's free and always open, but it draws huge crowds in the evening and on weekends.

The stretch from the iconic Wukang Mansion at the tip of Wukang Road through to Anfu Road and Fuxing Road is arguably Shanghai's most beautiful urban streetscape — plane tree canopies, Art Deco villas, 1930s apartment blocks, and independent cafés create an atmosphere unlike anywhere else in China. This is a neighborhood to wander without agenda: duck into a courtyard, find a third-wave coffee shop in a converted villa, or simply sit on a bench and watch the city's creative class go about their day. Wukang Mansion itself is perpetually photographed and the surrounding sidewalk gets crowded on weekends. The real reward is exploring the quieter residential lanes one block off the main roads.

The Jade Buddha Temple is an active Buddhist monastery famous for two Buddha statues carved from single blocks of Burmese jade, brought to Shanghai in the 1880s. Beyond the jade figures, the incense-filled halls and monks make it a genuine working temple rather than a museum piece. It's modest in size and can feel busy with worshippers and tour groups, and photography of the main jade statue is restricted.

A regenerated industrial waterfront stretching south along the Huangpu River that has become Shanghai's most serious contemporary art corridor, home to Long Museum West Bund, Tank Shanghai, and the Yuz Museum among others. The outdoor sculpture installations along the riverside path are free to enjoy, while the museums charge separately and rotate genuinely ambitious international exhibitions. This is where Shanghai's art world actually congregates — openings here draw the city's creative class rather than tour groups. Check individual museum schedules before visiting as some have specific opening days and temporary closures between exhibitions.

A genuine working art complex in old textile mills on Suzhou Creek - 140-plus galleries and studios, free to wander. Come for contemporary Chinese art, graffiti walls, and coffee, not polish. Galleries mostly open around 11am to 6pm and many close Mondays.

The Oriental Pearl Tower is Shanghai's unmistakable 468-metre TV tower, its pink spheres a defining feature of the Pudong skyline since 1994. You can ride up to observation decks, including a vertigo-inducing glass floor, and the base houses the excellent Shanghai History Museum. The views are great but ticket lines and prices are steep, and many locals think it looks best from across the river rather than from inside.

Jing'an Temple is a lavishly rebuilt Buddhist temple whose gilded halls and golden rooftops sit surrounded by shopping malls and skyscrapers in the heart of downtown, making for a striking old-meets-new photo. Inside are impressive silver and jade Buddha statues and a soaring main hall. Purists note it was heavily reconstructed and feels more polished than ancient, and there is an admission fee unlike some other temples.

At 632 meters, Shanghai Tower is the world's second-tallest building, and its observation deck on the 118th floor delivers a vertiginous, cloud-level view of the entire city that no photograph adequately captures. The spiraling glass curtain wall design means you're looking down at neighboring skyscrapers — including the Jin Mao and World Financial Center — which is a genuinely surreal experience. Book tickets online in advance to skip queues, and choose a clear day; smoggy or overcast visits are a significant disappointment. Prices are steep but the engineering spectacle of the building itself is part of the attraction.

A canal town about an hour west of the city - stone bridges, Ming and Qing lanes, boat rides. Walking the streets is free; combo tickets (about 40-80 yuan) cover gardens and old houses. Reachable on Metro Line 17. Go early to dodge day-trippers.