Shanghai
China · East Asia
Two skylines, one river.
The Huangpu divides a preserved treaty-port waterfront from a Pudong financial district built in under three decades — both sides of a city of 24 million running simultaneously.
Shanghai runs at a pace that makes most global cities feel sluggish — construction cranes compete with neon towers in Pudong, the metro moves 13 million riders a day, and Nanjing Road does not quiet until well past midnight. The city's dominant architectural register is vertical and new: the 632-metre Shanghai Tower and its Lujiazui neighbours define the skyline far more forcefully than the Art Deco fragments of the Bund or the French Concession's plane-tree-lined lanes. Outside the handful of expat corridors in Jing'an and Xuhui, Mandarin is the operating language — menus, signage, and street vendors assume fluency, and even basic navigation requires WeChat Pay and a Chinese SIM to function smoothly. The commercial ambition is unambiguous: flagship stores from every global luxury house line Huaihai Road, and the city hosts the China International Import Expo annually, signalling its role as the country's commercial front door.
Essentials
The things every first-time visitor should know.
Deep cuts
What the locals know, and most visitors miss.
Day trips
Where to go when the city needs a break.