Shanghai

Fu He Hui (福和慧)

Vegetarian fine-dining restaurant on Yuyuan Road in Changning, Shanghai, by chef Tony Lu. Awarded two Michelin stars in the MICHELIN Guide Shanghai 2025.

3 Michelin vegetarian tasting in a 1930s villa, Jing'an. Spectacular setting, single seating. If you want one Shanghai temple-meal, this is it.

Taian Table

Chef Stefan Stiller's counter-seat restaurant in Changning holds three Michelin stars and is Shanghai's only three-star. Founded April 2016, it serves a fixed seasonal 10-course degustation (currently RMB 2,888 per the official menu No. 54), melding German traditions with Asian flavours around an open kitchen. Address: 101-102, Building No. 1, Garden Office, No. 161, Lane 465, Zhenning Road.

Shanghai's only 3 Michelin star restaurant. Chef Stefan Stiller. 10-12 course tasting at counter seats around the open kitchen. German-Asian. Changning.

Jia Jia Tang Bao (Huang He Road)

Time-honored xiaolongbao shop at No. 127 Huanghe Road, just north of People's Square, with dumplings made and steamed fresh on site. Known for crab-meat and fresh pork soup dumplings with a thin, tender wrapper, traditionally paired with chicken and duck blood soup. Opens 7:30am-8:30pm and draws queues at mealtimes.

XLB pilgrimage spot since 1986. Skin nearly translucent. The tiny Huanghe Rd flagship just north of People's Square always has a queue. Cash-only mom-and-pop energy.

Cheng Long Hang (Huangpu)

One-Michelin-star Shanghainese hairy-crab house at 216 Jiujiang Road, grown out of a Hong Kong crab-trading business and running its own crab farm. Signatures include drunken crabs steeped in Shaoxing wine for a month and steamed meringue on stuffed crab shell using the meat and roe of three crabs. Michelin's listing currently carries a temporarily-closed notice; call +86 21 6321 2010 before going.

1 Michelin star (Shanghai 2026 guide). Household-name hairy crab specialist since 2002 - runs its own crab farm. Signature drunken crabs steeped a month in Shaoxing, and steamed meringue on stuffed shell using meat and roe of three crabs. 216 Jiujiang Rd, Huangpu. PEAK HAIRY CRAB SEASON Sept-Nov lands exactly during the trip.

Shanghai Exhibition Centre (上海展览中心)

Originally built in 1955 as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building to commemorate the China-USSR alliance. Now a major central-Shanghai exhibition and convention venue.

Sister to Beijing's Soviet Exhibition Hall - same Stalinist wedding-cake template, red star on top. Walk from People's Square.

Long Museum West Bund (龙美术馆西岸馆)

Private contemporary-art museum on Shanghai's West Bund. Designed by Liu Yichun of Atelier Deshaus, integrating a preserved coal-hopper bridge from the site's industrial past. Opened 28 March 2014.

Atelier Deshaus's vaulted concrete halls over old Bund coal-unloading bridge. One of China's best buildings.

Anting New Town / Anting German Town (安亭新镇)

German-themed development in Anting, Jiading District, Shanghai. Designed by Albert Speer & Partners (Frankfurt) with central-European-style streets and plazas. First project of Shanghai's 'One City, Nine Towns' programme.

Sister to Thames Town. Built 2001 in 'authentic Bauhaus style' for Volkswagen execs who never came. Eerier than Thames because almost nobody is there. Ghost-Weimar in Shanghai's outer NW.

Pyongyang Okryu-gwan (Shanghai branch)

Same as Beijing branch but in Shanghai. Verify it's still operating - sanctions and state diplomacy have shut some branches; ask your hotel concierge to call ahead.

Lao Zheng Xing

Founded in 1862 and said to be Shanghai's oldest Shanghainese restaurant, credited with several classic recipes. Order yellow croaker in wine lees sauce and stir-fried river shrimps. One MICHELIN star.

1 Michelin star. Founded 1862 - reputedly Shanghai's OLDEST Shanghainese restaurant. 'Inventor' of several classic local dishes. 556 Fuzhou Rd, Huangpu.

Narisawa Shanghai

Shanghai outpost of Yoshihiro Narisawa's Tokyo restaurant: a seasonal satoyama set menu on mostly Chinese produce. The Bread of the Forest bakes tableside in a stone pot. One MICHELIN star.

1 Michelin star (2025). First overseas branch of chef Yoshihiro Narisawa's 2-star Tokyo flagship - opened July 2023 at the 1000 Trees complex. Sustainable 'satoyama' tasting menu; famous tableside-baked 'Bread of the Forest'. 600 Moganshan Rd, Putuo.

Maison Lameloise Shanghai

First Asian outpost of Burgundy's Maison Lameloise, on the 68th floor of Shanghai Tower facing the Bund. Burgundy recipes meet Yunnan mushrooms; deep Burgundy wine list. One MICHELIN star.

SHANGHAI. 1 Michelin star (2026, held since 2020). First Asian outpost of the 3-star Lameloise in Burgundy; French contemporary by chef Eric Pras. 68th floor of Shanghai Tower (China's tallest building) with 180-degree Bund views. 501 Middle Yincheng Rd, Pudong.

Meet the Bund

One Michelin star (2026). Fujianese cooking by an all-Fujian kitchen in the Bund Finance Center; the signature is a whole duck steamed for hours with its juices collected and no water added. Four private rooms, the largest seating 16 as of 2020. Book by phone on +86 21 6377 7668.

1 Michelin star (2026 guide). Fujianese, 3F South Mall, Bund Finance Center, 600 Zhongshan Dong Er Road. Largest private room seated 16 as of 2020. Book by phone +86 21 6377 7668.

• NickDefinitely the expensive one: expects RMB 1,200-1,500 pp, roughly US$170-210.

1933 Old Millfun (1933老场坊)

British-designed Art Deco concrete complex in Hongkou District, Shanghai. Built 1933 as the Shanghai Municipal Council Slaughterhouse - then the city's largest. Renovated 2006-08 into a cultural, retail, and dining hub. Labyrinthine ramps, bridges, and a square-outside / round-inside core engineered to channel both workers and cattle.

1933 Old Millfun; brutalist concrete spirals. Now half-redeveloped into shops but still haunting.

The Jazz Bar (Fairmont Peace Hotel)

Art deco bar on the Peace Hotel ground floor, once the Horse and Hound pub, where the Old Jazz Band plays 1930s-era jazz each evening. Order a signature cocktail and stay for a set.

Octogenarian jazz band on the Bund. Shanghai legend.

Lost Heaven

Yunnanese 'folk cuisine' restaurant inspired by the Ancient Tea Horse Road. Original location at 38 Gaoyou Road in the former French Concession; second branch (Lost Heaven on the Bund) at 17 Yan'an East Road, Shanghai.

Yunnanese fine dining in Shanghai. Reliable banger.

Canton 8 (粤8)

Cantonese restaurant in Shanghai noted as one of the most affordable two-Michelin-starred restaurants in the world. Distinct from Yong Yi Ting (a Michelin-starred Jiangnan restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Pudong).

Cheapest Michelin 3-star meal in the world. Shanghai.

Nanxiang Mantou Dian - Yu Garden

Iconic Shanghai xiaolongbao house inside Yu Garden / City God Temple area in Huangpu. Established 1900 with origins in Nanxiang village. Pork, crab-pork, and matsutake-pork fillings.

Nanxiang Steamed Buns - Yu Garden flagship XLB. Tourist trap but historic.

Xibo

Modern Xinjiang restaurant in Shanghai (Changshu Lu / Xuhui, Fengshengli, MixC). Founded 2009 by Xibonese owner Atina Kuo. Lamb-forward Xinjiang dishes, ingredients sourced from Xinjiang.

Xinjiang/Uyghur cuisine in Shanghai. Underrated banger.

Shanghai Propaganda Poster Art Centre (上海宣传画艺术中心)

Private museum founded by collector Yang Pei Ming in 1995 with a rare collection of Maoist- and Cultural Revolution-era propaganda posters. Moved in 2019 from the Huashan Road basement to the 7th floor, East Building, 726 Yan'an West Road (Huamin Empire Plaza); take the lift up and follow the signs. Open 10:00-17:00, last entry 16:30.

Moved 2019: 7F, East Building, 726 Yan'an West Road (Huamin Empire Plaza). 10:00-17:00, last entry 16:30, CNY 25.

Shanghai French Concession (上海法租界)

Foreign concession administered by France 1849-1943, occupying parts of today's Xuhui and Huangpu districts. Premier early-20th-century residential and retail district; still known for plane-tree-lined streets, shikumen, and Art Deco architecture.

Shanghai walking neighborhood. Half-day.

Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center (上海城市规划展示馆)

China's first city-planning exhibition hall, opened 2000 on People's Square, Huangpu, next to the municipal government building. Centerpiece is a scale model of central Shanghai showing all existing and approved buildings.

Shanghai Urban Planning Center. Quick easy add.

Da Vittorio Shanghai

Italian fine-dining restaurant on the Bund - the Cerea family's first venue outside Europe (NOT in the Bulgari Hotel). Holds two Michelin stars.

3 Michelin Italian inside Bulgari Hotel on Suzhou Creek. Most 'occasion dinner' option in town. Easier to book than the Chinese tastings.

Le Comptoir de Pierre Gagnaire

Modern French restaurant at Capella Shanghai, Jian Ye Li (480 West Jianguo Road), in the former French Concession. By Pierre Gagnaire with Romain Chapel. One Michelin star.

Pairet-adjacent French tasting at Capella Jian Ye Li, French Concession. The shikumen courtyard setting is half the experience.

102 House

Chef Xu Jingye's Cantonese banquet restaurant, a Foshan private kitchen that moved to the Bund in 2021. Two MICHELIN stars in the 2026 Shanghai guide; No. 29 on Asia's 50 Best 2026.

SHANGHAI, not Beijing. 2 Michelin stars (2026). Cantonese banquet cooking by chef Xu Jingye at House of Roosevelt, Bund 27.

Mr & Mrs Bund

Paul Pairet's French brasserie on the 6th floor of Bund 18, a 1922 former bank. Order the chilled seafood platter and the lemon & lemon tart, a whole lemon filled with sorbet. MICHELIN Guide listed.

Paul Pairet's accessible French brasserie on Bund 18, 6F. Same chef as Ultraviolet. Bund views, late hours, fun. The casual Pairet experience.

Shanghai Museum of Glass

G+ ARCHITECTS / Coordination Asia. Former glass factory in Baoshan turned into a slick contemporary glass-art museum + park (685 Changjiang West Rd). Blown-glass demos, a mirrored maze, neon installations. Far NW Shanghai (~25 km from the Bund) but a genuinely good museum building. Open late some days.

Lu Hanbin Typewriter Museum

World's 3rd-largest typewriter collection (~3,000 machines), assembled by Czech-Chinese businessman Lu Hanbin. 7th floor of an office block on Yan'an West Rd, Changning; 5 min from Jiangsu Rd metro (Lines 2/11). Free, has a cafe, open till ~9pm. Tiny and weird in the best way.

Qushui Lanting (曲水兰亭), Shanghai Hongqiao

Ultra-premium 24h bathhouse-resort at 3337 Hongmei Rd, Hongqiao: hot-spring pools, saunas, four meals incl. seafood buffet, luxury-brand amenities; overnight allowed on the 24h ticket, private rooms via the on-site hotel.

QUSHUI LANTING (曲水兰亭), Hongqiao flagship - Bldg 26, 3337 Hongmei Rd, Minhang; 940 m from Longxi Rd metro (Line 10). Location corrected Aug 2026 (was wrongly pinned in Jiading). The 'Hermes of bathhouses': hot-spring pools, saunas, four meals incl. seafood buffet, Chanel/Dior/La Mer amenities, Dyson dryers, nap lounges. 12h ticket ~RMB 1,208; 24h (overnight) ~RMB 1,538; scrub, massage, spa and facials extra. Private overnight rooms via the on-site Qushui Lanting Hotel in the same complex.

Shuixie Lanting 24h Spa

SHUIXIE LANTING (水榭兰亭), 1501 Defu Rd, Jiading - neighbour/sibling to Qushui Lanting. Same 24h luxury bathhouse formula: pools, sauna, lounge pods, premium toiletries, big-service reputation. ~RMB 1,200-1,300. Compare the two on the map and pick on the day.

Muyu Xinji 24h Spa

MUYU XINJI (沐屿新集), 727 Tongfeng Rd, Hongkou - a more central, slightly cheaper alternative (~RMB 900-1,100). Modern, quieter, strong seafood buffet, private rooms and recliners. Best option if you don't want to trek out to Jiading.

Jin Xuan (The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong)

Cantonese dining room on the 53rd floor of the Ritz-Carlton Pudong, looking over the Huangpu. Order the dim sum platter at lunch or the roast suckling pig. One MICHELIN star.

SHANGHAI. 1 Michelin star (2026, held 9 years running). Refined Cantonese by Executive Chinese Chef Daniel Wong on the 53rd floor of The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, Pudong, with sweeping Bund and skyline views. Shanghai IFC, 8 Century Ave, Lujiazui.

Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum

Housed in the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, a 1927 building of a congregation Russian Jews founded in 1907, the museum opened in 2007 and tells the story of the roughly 20,000 European Jews who took refuge in Shanghai during the Second World War.

Closed Mondays, last entry 16:00, passport needed to register. Line 12 to Tilanqiao. 1933 Old Millfun is 1.6 km west, so the two pair into one Hongkou walk.

Site of First CCP Congress Museum

Where the Party was founded in 1921. Recently rebuilt as a giant shrine. Free, central, surreal.

Power Station of Art (上海当代艺术博物馆)

China's first state-run contemporary art museum, in a converted former power station on the Expo 2010 site along the Huangpu River. Opened 2012; conversion budget reportedly ~US$64 million from the Shanghai government.

Decommissioned 1985 power plant turned contemporary art museum. Smokestack still on. Pure industrial concrete.

Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery

Park-cemetery for Communist martyrs; massive socialist-realist sculpture program. Free, quiet, intense.

Lotus Eatery (Dingxi Lu)

Cheap, busy Yunnan restaurant and a Shanghai standby for group dinners. Order fried goat cheese, mint salad, BBQ fish and the wild mushroom dishes; a few Guizhou and Sichuan plates bring heat.

Shanghai Yunnanese. The Yangzhai Lu branch closed; this is the Dingxi Lu outlet.

Liuyuanwai Shixian Golden Dragon Xia Restaurant

Shanghai seafood.

Bulloman chicken

Shanghai fried chicken.

Circus World

Shanghai acrobat show.

Shanghai Marriage Market / People's Park Blind-Date Corner (人民公园相亲角)

Informal weekend gathering in Shanghai's People's Park, active since around 2004. Parents and matchmakers post advertisements with the age, height, income, education, and zodiac of their unmarried adult children seeking partners.

People's Park parents matchmaking, Shanghai. Sunday only.

50 Moganshan Road / M50 Creative Park (莫干山路50号)

Contemporary art district in the former Chunming Slub Mill along Suzhou Creek, Putuo District, Shanghai. Established 2000; over 120 galleries and artist studios.

Shanghai art warehouses.

Natural History Museum

Shanghai. Decent rainy-day option.

1930 Folk Street

Old Shanghai re-creation.

Shanghai Film Park

1930s Shanghai backlot.

Loushang Huiguan (Jing'an Kerry Centre)

Premium Cantonese-style hotpot on the ground floor of Jing'an Kerry Centre, opened in 2018 as an upgraded version of Shanghai's Loushang Hot Pot. It focuses on fish-maw chicken broth, high-grade beef and live seafood.

The upmarket sibling of the Loushang Cantonese seafood hotpot group. Ctrip diners report about RMB 760 a head. Order the free-range chicken, fish maw and conch broth, the Loushang beef platter, and the 40-year aged tangerine peel red bean soup. A 2018 report said the second-floor booths and private rooms were bookable by members only, so ask about a large table well ahead.

Cathay Theatre / Park Hotel

1930s skyscraper that was the tallest in Asia for 20 years; faded interior.

Yangpu Riverside / Old Shipyard

Decommissioned cotton mills + power station along the Huangpu. Walk it; lots of preserved-decay aesthetic.

Rockbund Art Museum + neighborhood

1932 building, contemporary art inside, cluster of preserved/decaying Bund-side blocks around it. Easy add.

Bambino Italian Restaurant

Shanghai Italian; you didn't fly to China for this.

Thames Town (泰晤士小镇)

Completed 2006 in Songjiang District, ~30 km from central Shanghai. British market town pastiche - cobbles, Victorian terraces, red phone boxes. Roughly 1 km², planned for 10,000 residents; popular for wedding photography.

FAKE ENGLISH TOWN OUTSIDE SHANGHAI. Half-deserted, ghostly, identical genre to Tianducheng - surprised you don't have it. Tudor pubs, fake Bath stone, Wedding Photo central, ~80% empty. 20 min from your Quarry Hotel. Pair them: Tianducheng + Thames Town in one weekend = a thesis on Chinese ghost-Europe.

Fengjing Upside-Down House

Two-storey upside-down house (furniture on the ceiling, you walk the 'roof') inside the China Folk Painting Village at Fengjing Ancient Town, Jinshan District. Designed by Polish architects, opened 2014, first of its kind in China. ~57 km SW of central Shanghai. Pair it with the Fengjing water-town canals while you're out there.

Shanghai Astronomy Museum (上海天文馆)

Branch of the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum in Lingang, Pudong. Designed by Ennead Architects (Thomas J. Wong) with no straight lines or right angles. Opened 2021; described as the world's largest planetarium by building scale.

Ennead Architects. Curved concrete shells, no straight lines, oculus that projects a sundial. 1h from central Shanghai. Probably the best new museum building in the world right now.

Suzhou Tower Bridge replica

Full-scale replica of London's Tower Bridge in Suzhou's Xiangcheng District, completed 2012. Doubled up with four 40 m towers (twice the original's two). Adapted to span a five-lane highway.

Suzhou full-scale replica with double the towers.

Precious Belt Bridge

317 m, 53-arch stone bridge near Suzhou at the intersection of the Grand Canal and Tantai Lake. Built AD 816 (Tang); reconstructed 1446 (Ming). Named for a legend that prefect Wang Zhongshu funded construction by selling his ornate belt.

53-arch Tang bridge, Suzhou. Easy.

- KOWLOON WALLED CITY adjacent -

Less essential, but if you do the Quarry Hotel you're nearby - abandoned observatories on Sheshan.

Tunnel of books

Zhongshuge Yangzhou - kaleidoscopic bookshop. Easy stop.

Horse Culture Museum

Wuxi.