Things to Do in Shanghai, Bank by Bank, Priced

Most things to do in Shanghai sit on one side of the Huangpu River or the other, and the split is worth understanding before you plan a day. Puxi, the west bank, is the old city: the Bund, Yu Garden, Nanjing Road and the leafy streets of the former French Concession. Pudong, the east bank, is the skyline you have seen in photographs, built mostly since 1990. You look at Pudong from Puxi, and you look down on Puxi from Pudong.

The good news for a budget is that the best of it is free or close to it. The Bund costs nothing, the river ferry costs ¥2, and the city’s main museum is free. The money goes on observation decks, river cruises and Disneyland. Below are fourteen things to do, grouped by area and priced where a price exists, with one we would leave out.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Puxi/Pudong history from Wikipedia’s Shanghai article (Pudong development from 1990). Prices and hours below are from the sources named under each entry.

Things to do in Shanghai on the Bund side

1. Walk the Bund, twice

The Bund is a 1.6 km riverside promenade with 52 old banks, hotels and trading houses along Zhongshan Road, most of them from the treaty-port decades after 1842. Walk it once in daylight to look at the buildings, and once after dark to look across the river. The lights on 38 of the buildings come on at 19:00 and go off at 23:00, according to a Guangming Daily report from August 2026; one guide gives 18:00 for winter evenings. The nearest metro is East Nanjing Road (Lines 2 and 10). It is free, and on a Golden Week evening like this one it is shoulder to shoulder.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Length and building count from Wikipedia’s Bund article; lighting hours from Guangming Daily (27 Aug 2026); winter start time from intotravelchina.com, not confirmed officially.

2. Cross the river for ¥2

The public ferry is the cheapest view in Shanghai. The Dongjin line runs from East Jinling Road on the Puxi side to Dongchang Road in Pudong, about 07:15 to 18:15, for ¥2. For night views, the Dongfu line runs until around 21:00. If you want a proper cruise, the official boats leave Shiliupu piers and cost ¥120 by day or ¥150 at night from late February to late November, ¥100 and ¥120 in winter, and ¥150 on public holidays. The ferry crossing takes minutes; a cruise takes 45 to 60.

Ferry

¥2 · Dongjin line about 07:15–18:15

Official cruise

¥120 day / ¥150 night (26 Feb–25 Nov)

Winter cruise

¥100 day / ¥120 night

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Ferry lines and cruise prices from the Shanghai government’s English transport page (10 Sep 2025); cruise length from Trip.com (Aug 2026).

3. Yu Garden, early

Pan Yunduan began this garden in 1559 for his father and finished it in 1577: two hectares of rockeries, ponds and pavilions, with the zigzag bridge and the Huxinting teahouse (1855) just outside. Arrive at opening, because by late morning the paths are a slow queue. The bazaar around it is fun to walk and expensive to shop in; one guide puts prices 20–30% above the streets a block away, and a cup of tea at Huxinting runs ¥80–100. The City God Temple next door is ¥10, incense included.

Admission

¥40 (Apr–Jun, Sep–Nov) · ¥30 (Jul–Aug, Dec–Mar)

Hours

09:00–16:30, last entry 16:00

Closed

Mondays, except public holidays

Metro

Yuyuan Garden, Lines 10 and 14

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Dates from Wikipedia; prices, hours and Monday closure from China Highlights (10 Sep 2026), matched by Trip.com and TrvLogue. One listing shows no closing day, so check before a Monday visit. Bazaar markup and tea price from wanderinchina.com (Feb 2026).

4. Nanjing Road, once, at night

The pedestrian stretch of East Nanjing Road, a little over 1 km between Henan Road and Xizang Road, has been car-free since 1999. It is neon, chain stores and crowds, and one Shanghai guide calls it a tourist trap. That is fair by day. After dark, walking it from People’s Square down to the Bund is still the most Shanghai way to arrive at the river. A little sightseeing tram does the length for ¥2.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Shanghai government (pedestrian street opened 1999); tram fare from China Highlights; “tourist trap” from chinafortravelers.com (Aug 2026).

5. The Shanghai Museum, now in Pudong

This is where older guides go wrong. The Shanghai Museum moved most of its permanent collection, the bronzes, ceramics and paintings, to a new building, Shanghai Museum East, at 1952 Century Avenue in Pudong, which fully opened on 26 June 2024. It is free, open 10:00–18:00 with admission until 17:00, closed on Tuesdays except holidays, and individual visitors no longer need to book; bring your passport. The original building on People’s Square now mainly holds special exhibitions, closes on Mondays, and the current Ancient Americas show needs a booking. Allow three hours at Museum East at least.

Museum East

Free · 10:00–18:00 · closed Tuesdays

People’s Square

Special exhibitions · closed Mondays

Metro (East)

Line 2 exit 8, Line 4 exit 2

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Shanghai government English site (Museum East hours, booking and access, page updated 21 Nov 2025; opening dates, 8 May and 26 Jun 2024); People’s Square status from the museum’s own site and Trip.com.

The former French Concession

6. Wukang Road and Anfu Road on foot

The French Concession, set up in 1849 and handed back in 1946, is where Shanghai is quiet. Plane trees, old villas and apartment blocks, and cafés on every corner. Wukang Road, the former Route Ferguson, runs 1.17 km and has 37 protected buildings; at its southern end is the Wukang Mansion, a 1924 apartment block by László Hudec that looks like the prow of a ship. People live there, so photograph it from the street and stay out of the lobby. A walk from Jiaotong University station (Lines 10 and 11) to Changshu Road (Lines 1 and 7), taking in Anfu Road, is about 90 minutes without stopping and half a day if you do it properly.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Wikipedia (Concession dates, Wukang Road, Wukang Mansion); walking route and timing from wanderinchina.com (Jul 2026).

7. Xintiandi and Tianzifang

Both are blocks of shikumen, the stone-gated lane houses that once housed most of the city, turned into shops and restaurants. Xintiandi, redeveloped from 1999 and opened in 2001, is polished and pricey. Tianzifang, at Lane 210 Taikang Road (Line 9, Dapuqiao), is a tighter maze of alleys with small shops, mostly open until about 22:00. Both are free to walk. To see what a lane house looked like with a family in it, the Shikumen Open House Museum in Xintiandi charges ¥20; we could not confirm its current hours.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 eastchinatrip.com (Xintiandi, Tianzifang, Sep 2026); museum price from thechinaguide.com, hours unconfirmed.

8. The Propaganda Poster Art Centre

A private collection of Mao-era posters, now on the 7th floor of the East Building at 726 Yan’an West Road after it moved in 2019; older guides still give the Huashan Road basement. ¥25, 10:00–17:00, a short walk from Jiangsu Road station (Lines 2 and 11, exit 4). It is small, odd and one of the more memorable hours you can spend in the city. We could not confirm its current closing day.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Trip.com (May 2026); relocation confirmed by Wikipedia.

Temples

9. Jade Buddha, Jing’an or Longhua

You probably need only one. The Jade Buddha Temple in Putuo is the best known, for its seated white jade Buddha: general entry is free and the Jade Buddha Hall costs ¥10 more, 08:00–16:30, near Jiangning Road station on Line 13. Jing’an Temple, the gilded one wedged between shopping malls on Nanjing West Road, costs ¥50, 07:30–17:00. Longhua, the oldest and least visited, charges ¥10 with incense, 07:00–16:30, by Longhua station (Lines 11 and 12). Our pick for a first visit is Jade Buddha; for quiet, Longhua.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 China Highlights (Jade Buddha, 24 Sep 2026), wanderinchina.com (Jing’an, Mar 2026), chinaexplorertour.com (Longhua, Aug 2026). The recommendation is ours.

Hongkou: Shanghai’s Jewish refugees

10. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

Between 1938 and 1941 around 20,000 Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria and Poland reached Shanghai, one of the few places that took them without a visa. From 1943 the Japanese authorities confined most of them to a designated area of about 2 km² in Hongkou. The museum is in the Ohel Moshe Synagogue (1927) at 62 Changyang Road, near Tilanqiao station, with a memorial wall of 13,732 names. The latest price we found was ¥20 for an adult, 09:00–17:00, but that figure dates from 2021, and we could not confirm the current booking rule or closing day. If you have been to Harbin, this is the other half of the story: many of Harbin’s Jews moved to Shanghai after 1931, and our things to do in Harbin guide covers the synagogue they left behind.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 US Holocaust Memorial Museum encyclopedia and Wikipedia (refugee numbers, 1943 designated area); Wikipedia (synagogue, memorial wall); price and hours from SmartShanghai (Feb 2021).

Pudong

11. One observation deck, not four

Lujiazui has four towers you can go up, and one is enough. We would pick the Shanghai Tower: at 632 m it is the tallest building in China, and its main deck on the 118th floor sits 546 m up. An adult ticket was ¥180 in June 2026 (¥120 for students and over-60s), with higher prices quoted for summer and holidays; you need your passport, and the station is Lujiazui (Lines 2 and 14). The Oriental Pearl Tower, the pink-sphered one, is better as something to look at than something to stand in, and its price varies by source between ¥160 and ¥220. Decks close in bad weather; the Shanghai Tower’s shut on 11 July 2026 during a typhoon. Go on a clear late afternoon and stay for the lights.

Shanghai Tower

¥180 adult · ¥120 student, 60+

Hours

About 08:30–22:00, last entry 21:30

Bring

Passport

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Heights from Wikipedia; Shanghai Tower price from wanderinchina.com (5 Jun 2026), summer and holiday prices (¥190–199) and hours from chinafortravelers.com (Sep 2026); Oriental Pearl prices from the same two sources, which disagree; typhoon closure from The Paper (Jul 2026). The pick is ours.

Art on the West Bund

12. Power Station of Art and the West Bund museums

Shanghai’s riverside south of the old city has turned into a museum mile. The Power Station of Art, in a former power plant at 678 Miaojiang Road, is open Tuesday to Sunday 11:00–19:00. Further south on Longteng Avenue are the West Bund Museum, run with the Centre Pompidou (its current show, “Computer Worlds”, runs 24 September 2026 to 14 February 2027), and the Long Museum West Bund. All of them close on Mondays, and prices depend on the exhibition, so check each one before you go.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Shanghai government museum listing (Apr 2026); exhibition dates from the Centre Pompidou’s site. Ticket prices vary by show and were not confirmed.

Further out

13. Zhujiajiao water town

The nearest canal town to central Shanghai, at the end of Metro Line 17, about 40 minutes from Hongqiao and 70 to 80 from downtown. Walking the town is free. A combined ticket for five of its sights is about ¥75, a boat ride ¥60–100, and you need four to six hours with the journey. It is busy on weekends; on a weekday morning it is what the brochures promise. Qibao, on Line 9, is a smaller and closer version for an afternoon.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 China Daily (free entry, Line 17, Mar 2026); eastchinatrip.com (combined ticket) and Trip.com (boat, travel time), both undated, so treat prices as approximate.

14. Shanghai Disneyland

If you are travelling with children, it is probably on the list already. One-day tickets are priced by date, from ¥475 on the quietest days; the resort’s site showed a range up to ¥1,134 when we checked, and Golden Week is peak. You need a physical passport to get in. It is about 50 minutes from central Shanghai on Line 11, so it takes the whole day.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Shanghai Disney Resort website (price range, accessed 3 Oct 2026); passport and pricing tiers from wanderinchina.com (Feb 2026); journey time from chinafortravelers.com (Sep 2026).

The one we’d skip

The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel runs 646.7 m under the river between the Bund and Pudong, in a pod, past flashing lights and recorded effects. It costs ¥50–70 one way, and it rates 2.7 out of 5 on Tripadvisor. One reviewer in May 2026 was charged ¥90 for a “VR experience” and suggested the ferry instead. So do we: the ¥2 boat has a real view.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Length from Wikipedia; price and ratings from travelofchina.com (Oct 2025); review on Tripadvisor (1 May 2026).

Putting it together

Three days covers the Bund, Yu Garden, Museum East, one deck and a French Concession walk, with time left for a water town or the Jewish museum; the 3-day Shanghai itinerary puts them in order around the Monday and Tuesday closures. For a base, where to stay in Shanghai compares the areas, and Shanghai food covers what to eat between sights. Spring and autumn are the easy seasons; the best time to visit Shanghai explains why July and August are hard work.