3 Days in Shanghai Itinerary: 13 Best Things To Do

No one trip to Shanghai is the same, but there are several places and experiences that one must do to see the best of Shanghai in 3 days.
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No one trip to Shanghai is the same, but there are several places and experiences that one must do to see the best of Shanghai in 3 days. Here are all the Shanghai travel tips you can’t leave without.

I first visited Shanghai when my friend was studying abroad in 2014. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was completely surprised when I fell in love with this modern yet still historic contemporary city. From it’s amazing food to its intricacies, cultural habits, shopping experiences, and way of life, it quickly made it’s way to one of my favorite cities in the world. When my mom and I decided to travel Asia together in 2018, I told her we HAD to go to Shanghai. So we built enough space in our Asia itinerary to travel Shanghai in 3 days. I wanted her to fall in love with the city as well and, let’s be honest, I just wanted to re-experience it all for myself.

DAY 1

FIRST STOP: SHOP AT THE FABRIC MARKET

Shopping in Shanghai: Best Shops at the Fabric Market

Travel light when you visit Shanghai. Of course, on the list of best things to do in Shanghai, shopping is at the top. If you plan on getting anything custom made during your time in Shanghai, then the first place you need to visit as soon as you land is the South Bund fabric market. Bring a picture of your favorite dress, jacket, pants, coat, whatever it is, and go have an identical on tailor made for you at a fifth of the cost at the Fabric Market. With so many options, it can be hard to decide on which vendor to work with. Although the stalls all look the same, the quality each one offers is very different. I was recommended by local expats to purchase from two of the best quality stalls at the Fabric Market—Jeanne & Peter Leather Jackets and William Optical. I didn’t come with any specific design in mind so left with already made items (which the Fabric Market also sells if you don’t want something to be customized from scratch). I left the Fabric Market with two new leather jackets and Moscot eyeglasses with a new prescription!

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SECOND STOP: SHOP AT AP PLAZA

Shopping in Shanghai: The Best Quality at the AP Plaza Fake Market

Since we started the trip off shopping, we decided to continue our shopping spree on our first day in Shanghai. We took a taxi and were dropped off at AP Plaza, home to the biggest and most famous fake market in Shanghai. Years ago, I had purchased a beautiful Louis Vuitton duffle bag from the largest fake market in Beijing. After that experience, I was thirsty for more quality handbags. AP Plaza sells shoes, clothes, tech, and more, but in my opinion what they excel at best is handbags. Bargaining and finding the best quality handbags can be hard, but after pushing my favorite vendor Mary’s Shop Bag’s & Scarfs, I walked out with the best quality Hermès Birkin Togo and Stella McCartney Falabella bags.

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LUNCH: BEST NOODLES IN SHANGHAI, SHANGHAI OLD STREET

Where to Find the Best Noodles in Shanghai

We were exhausted and hungry from our shopping spree. After dropping a couple of hundred dollars on bags, we were looking for a local and cheaper looking lunch option. To me, travel and food are synonymous. It’s the best way to experience a culture at it’s core. That’s why it’s critical to find the best things to do in Shanghai and local food spots. We walked towards Shanghai Old Street and found a small eight-seater hole in the wall restaurant. The employees only spoke Chinese and there were no English signs or menus. I pointed at what looked like an amazing beef noodle stew a woman was enjoying on the counter table and gestured for the same thing. The employee behind the counter began making fresh noodles in front of my eyes, added it to a couple of boiling broth with beef and added a few spices. To this day, these were the best noodles I have ever had in Asia. I could not tell you the name of the store since it was written in Chinese, but my article below pinpoints the location on Google Maps.

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THIRD STOP: YUYUAN GARDEN

5 Reasons to Visit Yuyuan Bazaar and Garden Day and Night

Visiting Yuyuan Garden is a right of passage for many first-time travelers in Shanghai, but even second timers like myself are attracted by it’s old school charm time and time again. During the day you can stop by for tea at Huxinting Teahouse where Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed a midday afternoon break, stroll through the bazaars in search of souvenirs and pearls, visit the City God Temple, or enjoy a quick lunch at one of the many stalls.

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FOURTH STOP: THE BUND AND EAST NANJING ROAD

4 Things To Do on East Nanjing Road, Shanghai

From Yuyuan Garden, we decided to walk along The Bund, or a beautiful boardwalk that stretches for 1.6 miles facing Pudong and lined with historical buildings that reflect the international influence conquerers had on Shanghai. The best view from The Bund is at the entrance of East Nanjing Road. Flashing lights will pull you left and right as soon as you step onto East Nanjing Road. This is a great place to shop, search for souvenirs, take in the long pedestrian avenue with restaurants and cafés, and stop by markets and stalls.

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DINNER: BUND FOOD TERMINAL

4 Things To Eat at Bund Food Terminal on East Nanjing

At this point jet-lag is either starting to set in and your hungry. You can choose to stop by one of the many restaurants along East Nanjing Road for dumplings, soups, peking duck, noodles etc. or you can choose to have a taste of everything at the Bund Food Terminal. The Bund Food Terminal has every Chinese and international food imaginable. Not only does it offer a variety of food options from Cong You Bin, or baked scallion pancake, to fresh squeezed juices, and Taiyaki, or fish-shaped waffles, but it’s also super entertaining. It almost feels like a food arcade.

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DAY 2

FIRST STOP: LAOXIMEN AND XINTANDI

What to do in Shanghai: Visit Laoximen and Xintiandi

On our second day, my mom and I decided to walk from the Laoximen neighborhood to the Xintiandi neighborhood and witness the evolution of shikumen housing in Shanghai. Laoximen is the one of the last and largest historic neighborhoods in Shanghai from the old walled city. As you stroll through, you can see the details and architecture of the old shikumen houses and how locals live and utilize them as stores today. From Laoximen you literally hit the old wall as you cross over into Xintiandi, a more modern neighborhood filled with cafés, shopping malls, boutiques, sport complexes and more. What makes Xintiandi unique is that although it has modernized, it has still kept its original shikumen housing on the exterior and just remodeled its interiors. While it may feel like you’re traveling through France, this is in fact Shanghai. Xintiandi is part of the French Concession neighborhood so you may see a lot of similarities. The walk from neighborhood to neighborhood shows an interesting evolution of how Shanghai has readapted its history with shikumen to this modern era.

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LUNCH: FRUIT ON THE GO

Unlike Korea where fruit was hard to find and super expensive, just a banana could cost you up to $2, in Shanghai fruit was plentiful, super delicious and ripe, and cheap. While walking from Xintandi to Tianzifang my mom and I walked by several fruit stands. We decided to grab some slices of already peeled and packaged fresh grapefruit to eat on the road for about .50 cents. We took advantage of the cheap fruit as much as we could during our trip, not only because of the price, but also because the fruit was fresher then anything I ever had in America.

SECOND STOP: TIANZIFANG

Exploring Tianzifang in the French Concession, Shanghai

We spent the afternoon exploring the maze-like streets of Tianzifang. This area of the French Concession was made popular by artists and is full of cute and small food stands, cafés, international cuisine, boutique and not large brand name shops, pop-up stores and more. It’s the equivalent of New York’s Soho mixed with the maze-like streets of Mykonos.

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DINNER IN XINTANDI: XIAONANGUO

On the second night we met up with some of my mother’s friends who lived in Shanghai in the Xintandi neighborhood. They took us to a very good dumpling restaurant called Xiaonanguo. Each table had a green revolving piece in the center so as they brought out the pork buns, vegetables, dumplings, Xiao Long Bao and rice, all we had to do was spin the table to pass the food to each other. The food was very good, but definitely on the pricier side than your typical street food.

DAY 3

FIRST STOP: HENGSHAN ROAD

Hengshan Road: An Expats Shanghai Getaway in the French Concession

Since we explored Xintiandi and Tianzifang yesterday, we had to finish our tour of the French Concession on our third day. My mom and I continued East towards the expat area near Hengshan Road. If you’re ever feeling nostalgic or homesick this is where you should “travel” to in Shanghai. The area is filled with young English speaking expats and students and is full of brunch spots, cafés, and bars.

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LUNCH: YANJI OLD BEIJING HOT POT

My First-Time Eating Hot Pot at Yanji Old Beijing Hot Pot

Although we were in the expat area, my mom and I were not in the mood to eat the typical food we always eat when at home—pasta, pizza, burgers, sandwiches etc. We wanted what we came to Shanghai for, local and authentic Chinese food. We made our way away from Hengshan Road and onto Wulumqui Road where we came across an amazing discovery—Yanji Old Beijing Hot Pot. My mother and I had never had Hot Pot before and had no idea what it was. It was such a local experience, I now recommend it to everyone who goes to Shanghai!

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SECOND STOP: JING’AN TEMPLE

Just North of the French Concession is the unmissable gold roof top Jing’an Temple in the heart of the busy industrial center on West Nanjing Road. The temple is, or was, 780 years old. Like most ancient artifacts Jing’an Temple experienced a tragic mishap in 1972. It completely burned to the ground and was reconstructed to completion by 1990. It’s not free and requires you to pay about a $10 entrance fee, but if you’re going to see at least one temple in Shanghai in 3 days, it should be this one. It’s also home to the biggest Jade Buddha in mainland China. Once you’ve toured the Jing’an Temple, you can enjoy a beverage in one of the cafés in the park across from the Temple.

DINNER: YUYUAN GARDEN STREET FOOD

5 Reasons to Visit Yuyuan Bazaar and Garden Day and Night

Not in the mood for a big meal, we headed to Yuyuan Garden around the corner from our hotel from some street food. I had seen a ton of locals walking around with what looked like an enormous dumpling with a straw hanging out of it and I wasn’t sure what they were eating, so I decided to try it myself. It’s basically an enormous and amazing Xiao Long Bao, or huge soup dumpling with chicken fat and broth inside. It’s on the top of the list of best things to do in Shanghai, hands down. You use the straw to push the soup out of the dumpling so it can cool down (it’s scorching hot so let it cool!) and then drink the soup with a straw before eating the dumpling. I could not have asked for a better ending to this trip enjoying Xiao Long Bao surrounded by the twinkling lights of Yuyuan Garden. On our way home we stopped by another fruit vendor and bought some fresh fruit to eat on the way home.

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3 DAYS IN SHANGHAI ITINERARY MAP

WHERE TO STAY

Stay at the Waterhouse at South Bund, Shanghai

One thing Shanghai is great at doing is maintaining it’s history and fusing it with the current modernity of the city. That’s what the Waterhouse at South Bund achieved. It was once used as a 1930s WWII Japanese army barricade. Today it is a charming and contemporary 19-room boutique hotel. Each room is equipped with surround system, beautiful bathtubs and L’Occitaine products, views facing the Bund of the inner courtyard, and iPod docks and Nespresso Machines. But my favorite part? Had to be there incredible breakfast on The Bund.

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HOW TO GET AROUND SHANGHAI

If by now you know me, you know that I like to heavy up on walking when traveling. The best way to explore a place is by foot, not underground or in a car. That being said, I do realize that walking up to 9 miles everyday might not be feasible for everyone, so there are ways around this in Shanghai. Two of the best forms of transportation are the subways and taxis. Taxis are extremely cheap in Shanghai and can get you anywhere. The only problem is they don’t understand English, so be prepared to have your hotels address or your destinations address written in Chinese. The other form of public transportation is the subway. It’s clean, it’s cheap, and it’s fast. But there are times were you might as well take a taxi since it’s so cheap! Just make sure the driver doesn’t up charge you and take advantage of the fact that you are a foreigner so keep your eye on the meter.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW

Shanghai is probably one of the cities where you’ll expect the least amount of culture shock. Less then Hong Kong and Seoul anyway! Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Taxis are cheap, so take advantage of them! Just make sure to keep your eye on the meter and don’t let them up charge you for being a foreigner.
  • You will be asked to take a picture with a group of Asians. I don’t know if it’s because my mom and I were blonde or if it’s because we were foreigners, but we got asked on multiple occasions to have our pictures taken with Chinese people and also without! There were times when my mom was taking a picture of me and Asians started taking pictures of me as well on their phones. Who knows where my pictures are now living somewhere on the Chinese internet lol.
  • There is no such thing as a fixed price in Shanghai when shopping. Almost everything that is not sold in a physical big brand store can be bargained down to at least 50% of the price. More on bargaining tactics here.
  • Local food is super cheap here and super good so take advantage of it. And by cheap I mean the street food can cost you about $2.50 for lunch! The street food is almost always safe to eat and won’t give you any stomach problems, just be wary of raw vegetables like you would anywhere else.
  • Take advantage of how cheap fruit is here and buy it from stands whenever you can. Not only is it cheap, but it is super fresh as well.

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