Stand at the north end of the Bund on Zhongshan East 1st Road and the Huangpu River separates two versions of Shanghai: the early 20th-century waterfront behind you, the towers of Pudong across the water. That west bank is Puxi, the historic center of the city, and it is where most of the sights below are found.
Puxi suits travellers who want the old city, the former colonial waterfront, the former French Concession and the main museums within reach of each other, with the metro tying it together. Almost all Shanghai Metro lines pass through Puxi, and Lines 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 18 connect it to Pudong across the river.
This guide covers the places in Puxi that the source material names, grouped by area so you can plan a day around one part of the city rather than crossing it repeatedly.
Top things to do in Puxi
1. The Bund
The Bund is the waterfront complex on Zhongshan East 1st Road in Huangpu District, gathering early 20th-century buildings in Neoclassical, Art Deco, Gothic and other European styles that once hosted foreign banks, consulates and trading companies. It sits within the old International Settlement, built north and west of the Old City from the 1840s; in colonial-period Western books, "Shanghai" meant that settlement.
Walk it as part of a Huangpu day and combine it with the Old City and People's Square, which are nearby. The Bund Historical Museum is in a park at the north end of the Bund if you want the background to what you are looking at.
2. Yuyuan Gardens
Yuyuan Gardens is the center of the Old City, the original Chinese city going back about 1000 years, now a major tourist area. It is one of the classical gardens the city preserves, listed alongside Guyi Garden, Qiuxia Garden, Qushui Garden and Zuibai Pond.
Pair it with the rest of the Old City rather than treating it as a standalone stop, and keep the Bund for the same day since both are in Huangpu District.
3. People's Square
People's Square, also known as Renmin Gongyuan, was once the horse-racing track on the edge of the British district and is now a large and busy downtown park. The old track's clubhouse now houses a museum and a fine restaurant, and nearby are several large high-end malls and department stores.
Under the square at the edge of the park is a metro station where Lines 1, 2 and 8 meet, making it one of the hubs of the Shanghai system. Use it as your transfer point between the museum cluster and Nanjing Road.
4. Shanghai Museum and Shanghai Urban Planning Museum
Both museums are in Huangpu, on opposite sides of People's Square. The Shanghai Urban Planning Museum sits directly across the square from the Shanghai Museum, so the two can be taken in without moving far.
Build them into a People's Square stop rather than a separate trip, since the square's metro station puts you at the door.
5. Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road was the main street of the old British Concession and is now a major upmarket shopping street. Line 2 runs under it for some distance and has four stations along it; listed east to west they are Nanjing Road East, People's Square, Nanjing Road West and Jing'an Temple. The road extends across two districts.
Nanjing Road East in Huangpu District extends from the Bund to People's Park, and most of it is a very busy pedestrians-only strip. Nanjing Road West is the continuation into Jing'an District, and part of it runs along the north side of People's Park.
6. Jing'an Temple
A landmark beyond People's Park on Nanjing Road West, Jing'an Temple is a beautiful ancient building with a metro station named after it. It sits in Jing'an District, the area to head for if your taste runs to very modern architecture, remarkably tall buildings and enormous shopping malls.
Combine it with the western stretch of Nanjing Road, which runs past it, and use the metro station of the same name to get there.
7. The former French Concession
The former French Concession has always been a fashionable area, even in the colonial period, and remains so today with much of Shanghai's best entertainment and shopping. Overall it is the city's best area for boutique shopping, small galleries and craft shops, and interesting restaurants.
Give it its own half-day at least. Within it you will find Xujiahui, Huaihai Road, Xintiandi, Tianzifang, the garden villas and the West Bund, all described below.
8. Xintiandi
Xintiandi is an area of old shikumen houses in the former French Concession, redeveloped with shopping malls, trendy bars and restaurants, and a lot of tourism. Shikumen are unique Shanghai lane houses that blend Western terrace structures with traditional Jiangnan courtyard layouts, marked by their distinctive stone-framed gateways.
Xintiandi stresses brand-name goods and entertainment. If you want the arts and crafts side of shikumen instead, go to Tianzifang, which is newer and emphasizes arts, crafts and boutique shopping.
9. Tianzifang
Tianzifang is another area of shikumen housing that has been redeveloped, newer than Xintiandi and focused on arts, crafts and boutique shopping. It also has many galleries and studios.
Choose between Tianzifang and Xintiandi by what you want to buy: crafts and small galleries here, brands and nightlife there.
10. Huaihai Road
Huaihai Road is an upmarket shopping street in the former French Concession which many Shanghai people prefer over Nanjing Road.
It fits naturally into a French Concession day alongside the boutique shopping and small galleries the district is known for.
11. Xujiahui
Xujiahui is the center of Xuhui District, with a metro interchange on Lines 1, 9 and 11, major roads, huge malls including many electronics stores, and high-end residential and office buildings.
The interchange makes it a practical base for the western side of the former French Concession.
12. Garden villas on Wukang Road, Hengshan Road and the Sinan Mansions
Garden villas in the former French Concession were high-end residences built mainly in the 1920s–1940s, featuring spacious plans, private gardens and modern domestic facilities. Many of these well-preserved properties are former homes of famous historical figures.
The key sites are found on Wukang Road, Hengshan Road, and within the Sinan Mansions. Walk them as a route through the former French Concession rather than as single stops.
13. M50 art district
M50 art district is Shanghai's main center for contemporary Chinese art, with dozens of studios and galleries. It is in a former factory in Putuo District.
Note that the gallery areas are rather scattered, many of them away from the center and in former industrial buildings that have been renovated and re-purposed, so plan M50 as its own outing.
14. 1933 Shanghai
1933 Shanghai is in a former abattoir and has a theatre, shops, cafés and studios. It is in Hongkou District.
See the Hongkou district article for details before you go.
15. The Power Station of Art
The Power Station of Art is on the Huangpu River, in an old power plant converted first to a pavilion for Expo 2010, and then the first state-run contemporary art museum in China. It is in Huangpu.
Its riverside position makes it a natural pairing with the Bund, which is also in Huangpu.
16. Shanghai Propaganda Poster and Art Centre
The Shanghai Propaganda Poster and Art Centre is on the west side of the French Concession, with a fine collection of Mao-era posters and other memorabilia. It is a bit hard to find but worth the effort.
Allow extra time for locating it, and fold it into a French Concession day.
17. The West Bund and the West Bund Museum
The West Bund in the French Concession is one of the city's newest art districts. In 2019, French art museum Centre Pompidou established its first Chinese outpost here at the West Bund Museum.
Treat it as a newer counterpart to the scattered gallery districts elsewhere in the city.
18. Shanghai Gallery of Art
The Shanghai Gallery of Art is a commercial gallery in a shopping center called 3 on the Bund.
It is an easy add-on to a Bund walk, since it is in the same location.
19. Huju opera
Huju is Shanghai Opera, the most representative local opera of Shanghai, and a national intangible cultural heritage. It focuses on the daily lives of ordinary Shanghai people, with plots mostly about family stories, urban life changes and ordinary people's emotions; its melodies are soft and close to daily speech, and performers sing and speak in authentic Shanghai dialect.
You can watch Huju performances at small theaters in old Shanghai neighborhoods or special opera halls, such as the Shanghai Huju Theater, to feel the real life atmosphere of old Shanghai.
20. Shanghai-style Pingtan
Pingtan is a traditional narrative singing art that spread from Suzhou in the mid-19th century, combining storytelling without singing and storytelling with singing. Usually one or two artists perform on stage, accompanied by the pipa and the sanxian, telling classic Chinese folk tales, historical stories and daily life anecdotes in soft Shanghai or Suzhou dialect.
The performance atmosphere is quiet and elegant, and many local people like to listen to Pingtan in teahouses while drinking tea. You can find authentic Pingtan performances at Xiangyin Shuyuan, a famous Pingtan performance venue, and at cultural teahouses in Shanghai.
21. Yue opera
Yue opera is the second most popular style of traditional Chinese opera nationwide after Beijing opera, and the most popular style in Shanghai. It originated in the nearby city of Shengzhou.
If you are choosing one opera performance for an evening, this is the style most associated with the city.
22. Shanghai Zoo
The Shanghai Zoo is one of the cultural attractions in Puxi.
It is best treated as a separate outing rather than squeezed into a central Shanghai day.
23. Shanghai Grand Theatre
The Shanghai Grand Theatre is one of the cultural centers in Puxi.
Check what is on before you build an evening around it.
24. Shanghai Railway Museum
The Shanghai Railway Museum is near Shanghai Railway Station in Zhabei.
It suits a stop on the way in or out if you are arriving or departing by train, since the Shanghai railway station is in Puxi.
25. Yuan-Dynasty Water Sluice Museum
The Yuan-Dynasty Water Sluice Museum is in Putuo District, an interesting example of medieval engineering.
Pair it with M50 art district, which is also in Putuo District.
26. Shanghai Natural History Museum
The Shanghai Natural History Museum is in Jing'an District next to the metro station named after it on Line 1.
Its position next to the metro makes it easy to combine with Jing'an Temple and Nanjing Road West in the same day.
27. Shanghai Urban Planning Museum
The Shanghai Urban Planning Museum is in Huangpu, on the opposite side of People's Square from the Shanghai Museum.
Take the two together; the square's metro station is the practical link between them.
28. Guyi Garden, Qiuxia Garden, Qushui Garden and Zuibai Pond
These are among the classical gardens Shanghai preserves, alongside Yuyuan. As a city known for its modern skyscrapers and vibrant energy, Shanghai keeps these gardens as examples of traditional Chinese garden art.
If you are short of time, see Yuyuan in the Old City first and treat the others as alternatives rather than additions.
29. Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport
Shanghai's older airport, Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, is located in Puxi. All international flights, including regional flights to Hong Kong and Macao, were moved to Shanghai Pudong International Airport when the latter opened in 1999; from October 2007, a limited number of international flights will commence from Hongqiao.
Confirm which airport your flight uses before you plan your arrival day, since the two are on opposite sides of the river.
30. Shanghai railway station and Shanghai South railway station
Both the Shanghai railway station and the Shanghai South railway station are located in Puxi.
If you are arriving by train, you are already on the west bank, and the metro will take you to the central sights.
If you only have one day
Morning. Start at Yuyuan Gardens in the Old City, then walk to the Bund on Zhongshan East 1st Road to see the early 20th-century waterfront buildings. If time allows, look into the Bund Historical Museum in the park at the north end of the Bund, and stop at the Shanghai Gallery of Art in the shopping center called 3 on the Bund.
Afternoon. Continue to People's Square, where you can see the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum on opposite sides of the square, then walk Nanjing Road East from the Bund to People's Park. Follow Nanjing Road West along the north side of People's Park to Jing'an Temple, and if the day is still going, add the Shanghai Natural History Museum next to the metro station named after it on Line 1.
Evening. Take in a performance. Huju is performed at small theaters in old Shanghai neighborhoods and at special opera halls such as the Shanghai Huju Theater, and Pingtan can be heard at Xiangyin Shuyuan and at cultural teahouses, where local people listen while drinking tea. Yue opera is the most popular style in Shanghai if you prefer a larger staged production.
Frequently asked questions
Which parts of Shanghai are in Puxi?
Puxi is the historic center of Shanghai and is distinguished from Pudong to its east, which is separated from it by the Huangpu River. Administratively it consists of a number of districts including Yangpu, Hongkou, Putuo, Changning, Xuhui, Jing'an and Huangpu.
How do I get between Puxi and Pudong?
Pudong and Puxi are connected by fourteen tunnels, four major bridges, and Lines 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 18 on the Shanghai Metro. Almost all metro lines pass through Puxi, with the exceptions of Lines 5, 6, 16, 17 and Pujiang.
Where are the main tourist sights in Puxi?
Many of Shanghai's main tourist sights are in Huangpu District, including the Old City and its center, Yuyuan Gardens, the International Settlement and the Bund, People's Square, and Nanjing Road East. Other major sights are in the former French Concession, which has its own article.
Where can I see traditional Shanghai performing arts?
Huju performances can be seen at small theaters in old Shanghai neighborhoods or special opera halls such as the Shanghai Huju Theater. Authentic Pingtan performances can be found at Xiangyin Shuyuan and at cultural teahouses in Shanghai. Yue opera is the most popular style of traditional Chinese opera in Shanghai.
Decide which side of the river you are basing yourself on, pick the districts that match your interests, and start building your days around the metro lines that link them.