Once, around two centuries ago, Shanghai was merely a silty corner of the Yangzhou delta, with a few fishing villages and farms, surrounded by the glittering capitals of imperial China such as Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing.
Now it glitters brightest of them all with a population of 24 million, skyscrapers that pierce the clouds, billionaires in plentiful supply, designer shopping, luxury hotels, gourmet dining, a seriously happening night life and a fun vibe that makes it a joy to visit.
The 72 hour visa-free transit policy includes Shanghai, so you can stop over there for a long weekend en-route to another part of Asia, allowing for a hassle-free glimpse of this fascinating country.
To stay:
The choice is wide, from stately grand-dames built in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Shanghai’s heyday which line the Bund and from whose windows you can watch the locals doing Tai Chi at sunrise to the latest opening, The Middle House, a new addition to the sleek House Collective from Swire Hotels.
Brimming with art, most of which is bespoke, The Middle House immerses you in culture centric luxury.
To eat:
Din Tai Fung is actually a Taiwanese chain, but no visit to Shanghai is complete unless you have savoured the famous soup dumpling or xiaolong bao that is the city’s most loved food.
It can be found everywhere but the Din Tai Fung outlets are considered by the cognoscenti to produce the best. You can watch the little dumplings being filled and pleated through the large glass window onto the kitchen. Choose between the classic pork filling or their new black truffle and chicken or – if you are sensible – both and save the Michelin dining, of which there is plenty, for another day.
To explore the parks:
Here is where the locals play out their days and wandering through Shanghai’s parks offers a fascinating glimpse of everyday life.
Start in the leafy French Concession area, a beautiful walk past 19th and early 20th century houses to reach Fuxing Park, unique to Shanghai for maintaining the French classic style. There are rose gardens and lotus ponds but also pyjama-clad elderly women practising opera and men taking their caged birds for a walk.
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Then head over to the People’s Park, once a horse-racing course in Shanghai’s glory days but now wonderfully green and refreshing. There, beneath weeping trees and besides trickling streams, you can watch the men playing chess, or cards and women match-making their children.
To visit the museums:
Hands down the best here for ancient artefacts is the Shanghai Museum, which offers a vast collection of Chinese culture in a modern setting ranging from bronzes to ceramics, calligraphy to jade. Designed by architect Xing Tonghe, the museum mimics the shape of an ancient bronze cooking vessel.
Also good is the Long Museum, the largest private collection of art and split into two separate buildings. The works within encompass both contemporary art and ancient and traditional masterpieces.
To explore the contemporary art world:
The last decade has seen a huge growth in the contemporary art market with galleries springing up all over town. Photography gallery M97 is not to be missed, neither is Art Labour which brings in an international element.
Take time though to explore M50. Here, in an graffiti-covered area of previously deserted warehouses, Shanghai’s best contemporary art galleries have opened up. Dip into ShangART Gallery and wander down the narrow streets to see emerging artists at work in their studios.
To ascend China’s tallest building:
Those who have a head for heights should ascend the Shanghai Tower in what are supposed to the world’s fastest lifts. It rises 632 metres or 127 floors into the air with nine vertical zones that range between 12-15 stories, with zone 1 offering a retail space and zone 9, the peak, offering observation areas. It is the tallest building in China and the second tallest in the world.
To shop till you drop:
Shanghai is known for its shopping with big designer brands lining the streets and huge shopping malls where you could spend an entire day browsing the beauty brands and clothing with tea houses and western and eastern restaurants for sustenance. Just next to The Middle House hotel is the new HKRI Taikoo Hui where many western brands are debuting in China for the first time.
To visit the Jing’An Temple:
First built in 247 AD in the Wu Kingdom, this temple was one of the most significant Buddhist centres in China but suffered the fate of being turned into a plastics factory during the Cultural Revolution.
A large scale renovation began in 1998 and now it is possible to visit the 15-ton sterling silver Buddha within the monastery. Jing’An means peace and quiet and that is exactly what this complex provides amidst the busy city.
Visit Shanghai’s Shikumen lane houses:
Head to Xintiandi, an upscale bar and shopping district which incorporates elements of Shanghai’s famous shikumen (stone gate) lane houses. The grey brick alleys, courtyards and terraces were re-imagined by American architect Ben Wood in 2002 pioneering a new model of urban regeneration that has since been replicated around the country. A fascinating mix of old and new.
Have a drink on the Bund:
The choices are endless like the fashionable Vue Bar which overlooks both sides of the Huangpu River or the Long Bar at the Waldorf-Astoria which brims with turn of the century glamour from its previous life. The views are memorable, illuminated sky scrapers reach the stars. This is the way to end a stay in China’s glitziest city…