Travel Guide for One Day in Shanghai

We spent a few days in Shanghai as a part of a 10-day tour group we did with UTO Vacations. If you want to read about the entire trip you can read my review of UTO vacations. You can read about what we did on our free day in Beijing here.

We went on the tour because it was an insane deal, but we definitely prefer to explore new cities at our own pace. While in Shanghai, we had one day to ourselves and we made the most of it. Shanghai has more signs in English as well as people who speak English compared to Beijing, making it easier to navigate. We had a rough idea of some of things we wanted to do, but mostly ended up playing it by ear. We didn’t take very many pictures or notes on what we did, but I figured I’d share what I can anyway.

Morning:

We started our day in the infamous former French Concession neighborhood. The French Concession is much different than the rest of Shanghai’s skyscraper surroundings. The tree-lined streets are quaint with French-style homes and a slow-paced atmosphere. We took the train directly into the neighborhood and stopped to grab a few pastries for breakfast at the first bakery we saw. After our snack, we continued walking through the neighborhood and even found a small house-turned-museum that we took a detour into. The neighborhood was beautiful, but we both agree that we probably spent more time than we needed there given that we only had one day to explore on our own. I’d recommend visiting the neighborhood if you have a few days to explore Shanghai.

From there, we made our way to the People’s Square. It was a bit of a walk from the French Concession, but we walked anyway. People’s Square and People’s Park are both south of Nanjing Road and a hub of people congregating. I’d definitely recommend stopping by People’s Park to relax and people watch for a bit. It’s near the giant shopping street – Nanjing Road East – but didn’t feel overwhelming.

We walked through the park for a bit before looking up where to get some famous soup dumplings – xiao long bao – for lunch. There were a lot of options and we ended up a Yang’s Fried Dumplings. It was a quick order and then sit place. The menu was behind the register with photos and English/Mandarin words. We had our fair share of dumplings throughout the trip, but this was one of our favorites. You could even see them being prepared through a glass.

Late Morning/Early Afternoon:

After lunch, we headed over to Nanjing Road East. This is a high tourist area filled with shops and restaurants – think Time Square on a strip. We enjoyed walking along the street and observing all there was to see. We walked in and out of stores, observing all there was to see. One thing to note about the stores is you won’t be getting any kind of deal or discount on non-Chinese brands. There is a huge markup on imported goods in China. You’re better off buying those types of goods back home. We spotted a McDonald’s while we were walking along the street, so we decided to stop in. One of our favorite travel traditions is to eat at a McDonald’s when we go to new countries. We like to try whatever menu items are unique to that country.

The McDonald’s in Shanghai is one of my favorites to date. We tried the sweet taro pie, Sichuan double chicken burger, and crisscut fries. They were all amazing, but the sweet taro pie has a special place in my heart. My mouth is watering for it as I type this. It was delicious. Side note, in Chicago is you can go to the McDonald’s headquarters and try different menu items from around the world. They have the crisscut fries, or waffle fries as we call them in the US, on the menu and they’re just as good as they were in Shanghai.

Late Afternoon:

After our second lunch, we made our way over to The Bund. We walked along The Bund the day before, so we didn’t spend much time exploring it. The Bund is waterfront walking path lined with historical buildings one side contrasting the tall skyscrapers on the other. The buildings used to hold banks and other governmental offices from foreign establishments. We made our way to the entrance of the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel to cross the Bund. The tunnel is essentially a train to get you across that has fun lights as you go through a dark tunnel. It’s fun and yet a little underwhelming, but also why not? This is definitely touristy, but it was quick and fun. It’s a great option if you have kids, but we weren’t the only adults using it either.

Once we made it across, we made our way towards AP Plaza, the famous knockoff market in Shanghai. Along the way, we took some photos of the famous Oriental Pearl TV Tower (pictured in my first image at the top.) We could have spent an entire day in this market and I was disappointed we couldn’t spend more time there. I also wished I had done more research so that I could prepare better. The market was quite overwhelming. We spent a couple of hour walking through the shops and Hart was our resident negotiator. We bought a few items, but nothing major. I ended up with a handful of Lululemon leggings that feel and look exactly like my other Lululemon leggings. In hindsight, I wish I went bigger and bought a ton more there. The knockoffs are really just excess goods from the real factories. We also ran into others from tour group while we were there, which was fun.

Evening:

We could have spent more hours in the market, but we made plans to meet up with some friends we made from the tour, so we made our way back across The Bund one last time. There are several rooftop bars throughout Shanghai and I recommend going to have dinner and/or drinks at any of them. The view of the skyline is amazing from up top and you don’t want to miss it.

If you aren’t into rooftops, you could also experience the skyline from a boat on the river. We did a riverboat cruise the night before and the skyline was equally as mesmerizing down below as above.

I hope you enjoyed my recap of our free day in Shanghai. What is your favorite part of Shanghai or something you’d want to see when you visit?