Shanghai is the easiest major Chinese city to sightsee in, because the metro genuinely goes everywhere — including, remarkably, to a Ming-dynasty water town at the end of Line 17. Show the Chinese column at a taxi window on the rare occasions you need one.
Every entry below was cross-checked against at least two independent sources, including the Shanghai municipal government, district governments and the city's official tourism portal.
The list#
| Sight | Chinese | Address | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bund | 外滩 | 上海市黄浦区中山东一路 | Lines 2 and 10, Nanjing East Road |
| Shanghai Museum (People's Square) | 上海博物馆（人民广场馆） | 上海市黄浦区人民大道201号 | Lines 1, 2 and 8, People's Square |
| Yu Garden | 豫园 | 上海市黄浦区安仁街218号 | Line 10, Yuyuan Garden |
| Shanghai Tower | 上海中心大厦 | 上海市浦东新区银城中路501号 | Line 2, Lujiazui |
| Oriental Pearl Tower | 东方明珠 | 上海市浦东新区世纪大道1号 | Line 2, Lujiazui (opposite exit 1) |
| Jing'an Temple | 静安寺 | 上海市静安区南京西路1686号 | Lines 2 and 7, Jing'an Temple |
| Site of the First CPC Congress | 中共一大纪念馆 | 上海市黄浦区黄陂南路374号 | Line 1, Huangpi Nan Lu |
| Xintiandi | 新天地 | 上海市黄浦区太仓路181弄 | Lines 10 and 13, Yidahuizhi·Xintiandi |
| Tianzifang | 田子坊 | 上海市黄浦区泰康路210弄 | Line 9, Dapuqiao (exit 1) |
| Wukang Mansion | 武康大楼 | 上海市徐汇区淮海中路1842-1858号 | Lines 10 and 11, Jiaotong University |
| Zhujiajiao water town | 朱家角古镇 | 上海市青浦区朱家角镇课植园路555号 | Line 17, Zhujiajiao |
How to group them#
The waterfront, both sides. Walk the Bund in the late afternoon, then cross under the river for Lujiazui and go up one tower. Pick the Shanghai Tower for the higher, better-organised observation deck, or the Oriental Pearl if you want the retro-futurist landmark itself in your photographs rather than in the view.
Old Shanghai. Yu Garden and the surrounding bazaar, then the Shanghai Museum at People's Square. The garden is a genuine Ming-dynasty scholar's garden and the bazaar around it is aggressively commercial — go for the garden, don't linger for the shopping.
The Concession day. Xintiandi, the First Congress site, Tianzifang and Wukang Mansion sit in and around the former French Concession, and the point of this day is the walking between them rather than the stops themselves. Wukang Mansion is a 1924 Hudec building on a five-way junction, and the crowd on the opposite corner photographing it is part of the experience now.
The water town. Zhujiajiao is the easiest escape from the city in China — Line 17 to the end, then about twenty minutes on foot or a short local hop to the old town, which is free to enter. Half a day, no tour required.
Practical notes#
The metro does the work. Almost everything here is a short walk from a station, and fares are trivial. Set up the transport code in Alipay and you never queue for a ticket.
The station names have changed. Xintiandi's station is now signed 一大会址·新天地 — "Site of the First Congress · Xintiandi" — which catches out anyone working from an older map.
Wukang Mansion is a building, not a site. You look at it from the street corner; there is nothing to enter. The reason to go is Wukang Road itself and the plane-tree streets around it.
For recovering afterwards, massage in Shanghai covers how to read a shopfront. For how long to stay, day trips and the food, see the Shanghai travel guide. For where to base yourself, see where to stay in Shanghai.