Jing'an travel guide

Jing'an, China

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Jing'an

Getting there

< p > The straightforward way into Jing'an is by metro: take Line 2 or Line 7 to Jing'an Temple station, which sits at the heart of the district. From there the network opens up the surrounding area — east on Line 2 is Nanjing Road West station, also in the district and on the main shopping road, while north on Line 7 are Changping Road and then Changshou Road stations. Heading south, Line 7 carries you into the French Concession. < /p > < p > You can also arrive on foot, walking west along Nanjing Road from Huangpu District or north along various roads from the French Concession. If you are connecting to or from a flight, note that the Shanghai Airport City Building (Shanghai City Air Terminal) occupies one of the malls above Jing'an Temple metro station at 1600 NanJing West, with buses running to and from both airports. < /p >

Getting around

Jing'an sits immediately west of Huangpu and north of the French Concession, which makes it easy to reach on foot from either direction as well as by public transport. The metro is the backbone of visitor movement here, and Jing'an Temple station is the natural hub to aim for, since two lines meet there. Line 2 runs through Jing'an Temple and continues east to Nanjing Road West station, which is also in the district and sits on the main shopping road. Line 7 also calls at Jing'an Temple; heading north it stops at Changping Road and then Changshou Road, and heading south it leads into the French Concession. In practice this connects the district in three useful directions: east toward the Huangpu riverfront and the shopping streets, south into the French Concession, and north along Line 7.

Beyond the metro, buses serve the district and the wider city, including services linking Jing'an with the airport city terminal, so they work for local hops and the airport connection rather than only for sightseeing. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are a normal way to move around Shanghai and are useful for trips that do not line up neatly with the metro, or for door-to-door journeys with luggage; the airport city terminal is a convenient fixed pickup and drop-off point if you are meeting a car. Walking is often the simplest way to enter the district: from Huangpu, walk west along Nanjing Road, and from the French Concession, walk north along the connecting roads. Once inside, the metro stations, the main shopping road and the temple area are close enough together that a combination of walking and short metro hops covers most visitor needs.

Where to stay

Jing'an has a range of places to stay, from hostels to luxury hotels, mostly clustered around the Jing'an Temple area and the main roads running through the district. The Shanghai Hilton sits two blocks south of Jing'an Temple station, on the other side of the Yang'an elevated road, while a number of decent but less expensive hotels line the side streets north of the station.

Food & drink

The mall above the Jing'an Temple metro station holds around twenty small restaurants, among them a good Japanese-style curry place and a Korean option. The small street along the north side of the temple has several restaurants, mostly Chinese, plus a Burger King. For budget eating, Saizeriya at Jing'an Temple station is a Japanese chain of Italian restaurants with English menus, and CoCo Ichibanya sits on the B1 level of the Jiuguang department store, serving seafood, meat and vegetarian curries with a spice rating from mild to hot. The Reel Food Court in the basement of the Reel Shopping Mall offers fried dumplings, larger rice dishes and hotpots, and can get very busy. Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant, a branch of the famous xiaolongbao spot from the Old City with shorter lines, and Yang's Dumpling, known for its shengjianbao and other Shanghai specialties, both sit on the second floor of the Huangpuhui shopping mall. Mid-range choices lean international. An Indonesian place a block north of Nanjing Road, off the side street by the westernmost Temple metro exit, is excellent though somewhat pricey, while Bali Laguana serves standard Indonesian food overlooking a small pool that is particularly pretty at night. Lavazza Coffee on West Nanjing Road has outdoor seating, free wifi and pasta, and is a good spot for language exchanges. Tonkatsu Qitiao in the Reel Shopping Mall is a more upmarket Japanese tonkatsu restaurant than CoCo Ichibanya. Mr Harry offers an English breakfast or fish and chips with pub-style decorations and English beer; Dos Locos serves large portions of burritos and tacos; Beef and Liberty sells premium burgers; Sumerian Coffee roasts beans on site, including beans from southern China, and serves wrap sandwiches; and Wagas, Pizza Express and Baker & Spice round out the familiar Western options, with Baker & Spice opening early. For drinks, a strip of bars sits directly across from the Hilton on the street along the west side of the park by Jing'an Temple, and the bar on the left as you face them has an excellent Indian restaurant upstairs. Continue south beyond the Hilton toward the French Concession for a better class of bar, with places scattered along the road and its side streets. Just Grapes is a wine bar and store with an upstairs restaurant serving salads, pasta and pizza, Dr Wine offers a relaxed European wine-bar atmosphere with Italian antipasti, and Uva Cafe is a wine bar aimed at a younger crowd.

What to see and do

Jing'an Temple is the district's anchor: a large Buddhist temple whose name translates as Temple of Peace and Tranquility, traditionally said to date back to 247 CE. It sits right by Jing'An Temple Metro Station (lines 2 and 7, Exit 1). Nearby, tucked between the main Kerry Centre and the Shangri-la hotel, is the former residence of Chairman Mao Tse Tung — a small traditional-style house preserved as a very small museum, its once humble setting now surrounded by one of Shanghai's most expensive shopping malls. For open space, head to Jing'an Park, a public park with a lake and walkways where you can watch older Chinese people practice their dancing; if you play Chinese chess (xiangqi) or Go (weiqi), games often happen in the park's southeast corner. Jing'an Sculpture Park, across Beijing Lu West at Shimen Lu, is another option. The Shanghai Natural History Museum, on Beijing West Road close to the metro station of the same name on Line 1, is closed on Mondays except during Golden Weeks. Further out on Wanrong Road stands the EVA Unit-01 statue, a 25-metre-tall free permanent landmark modelled after the mecha from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Note that the Jade Buddha Temple, a small temple with remarkable statues, is often reached via Jing'an and sometimes described as being in this district, but it actually lies just across the border into Putuo. For entertainment, the Shanghai Acrobatics Show at 1376 West Nanjing Lu, inside the Ritz-Carlton hotel building, packs the impressive acts of a Chinese circus into a 90-minute performance — the theatre is hidden inside the hotel, so it is easy to walk past, and tickets are best bought in advance, especially for weekend shows. The good acts are up right from the start, so don't be late. The Shanghai Circus in Zhabei is an alternative. You can also take in the Shanghai Exhibition Centre, also known as the Sino-Soviet Friendship Building, a 1950s landmark built as the tallest building in Shanghai at the time.

Three days in Jing'an

Day one: Start your three days in Jing'an by orienting yourself around the Jing'an Temple area, then walk west along Nanjing Road West to take in the commercial heart of the district. From there, head to Changping Road and Changshou Road to see how the neighbourhood shifts from busy arterials to quieter residential streets. If you are arriving directly, note that the Shanghai Airport City Building and the Shanghai City Air Terminal are useful arrival points, and taxis are readily available to bring you into Jing'an.

Day two: Spend the day exploring the French Concession edge of Jing'an, where the street grid rewards walking rather than riding. Once you have had enough of the main roads, branch off onto Jiaozhou Road and Taixing Road for a slower pace. For overnight options in this part of the district, you will find the Shanghai Hilton, the Letour Traveler Rest Youth Hostel, the YHA Travel Center, the Shanghai Haigang Hotel, the Brightel All Suites Shanghai, and the Howard Johnson All Suites Hotel Shanghai, all within Jing'an.

Day three: Use your final day to move between the district's edges and its connections to the wider city. Head toward Nanjing Road and the Huangpu District side to see how Jing'an meets the riverfront core, and use Shanxi North Road and Yan West Road as your north-south and east-west anchors. Beyond the immediate centre, taxis make it easy to reach the Shanghai Airport City Building or the Shanghai City Air Terminal for your onward journey.

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