Sights

The Bund
外滩
Mainland China’s most iconic concession-era backdrop and a source of intense local pride (tinged with regret for its reverberating echoes of foreign encroachment and subjugation), the Bund is Shanghai’s standout spectacle. Coming to Shanghai and missing the Bund is like visiting Běijīng and by-passing the Forbidden City or the Great Wall. Originally a towpath for dragging barges of rice, the Bund gets its Anglo-Indian name from the embankments built up to discourage flooding (a band is an embankment in Hindi). It was once situated only a few feet from the water but in the mid-1990s the road was widened and a 771m-long flood barrier was built (the river now lies above the level of Nanjing Rd due to subsidence). The Bund offers a horde of things to do. Amble along the elevated riverside promenade beside the Huangpu River for visions of Pǔdōng and China’s tireless tourist boom: boisterous hawkers, toy sellers, the endless squawk of ‘Huanying Guanglin’ (‘Welcome’) and coin-operated telescopes aimed across the river. Otherwise take a boat trip on the Huangpu River and survey both the aristocratic architecture of the Bund and the brash steel and glass horizon of Pǔdōng, or simply cross the river by ferry. Evening visits are rewarded by electric views of Pǔdōng and the illuminated grandeur of the Bund’s majesty.
Zhongshan Road
中山东一路

Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei
徐家汇天主堂藏书楼
Among the several Jesuit monuments littering Xujiahui is the imposing St Ignatius Catholic Library, the Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei, established in 1847 by the local Jesuit mission. Home to 560,000 volumes in Greek, Latin and other languages, the edifice actually consists of two buildings, with the library itself housed in the lower, two-storey, east-facing building that partially arches over the pavement. The reading room upstairs in the adjacent four-storey building (the one with the verandas) is a blissful oasis of quiet amidst the consumer frenzy of the surrounding area. The best time to arrive is on Saturdays, when free guided tours of the highlight main library (Dàshū Fáng) are held. English guides are on hand to take you through a truly magnificent collection of antiquarian tomes, arranged in a beautiful historic library laid out on one floor with a gallery above. Wander past tomes on ecclesiastical history, Philosphica, Res Sinenses (Things Chinese) and other erudite branches of Jesuit learning. This is one of Shanghai’s top sights and the 15-minute tours are limited to 10 people, so it’s best to phone ahead to book your place.
80 North Caoxi Rd, Xújiāhuì
徐汇区漕溪北路80号
tel: 6487 4095
underground rail: Xujiahui
09:00 - 17:00 Mon-Sat, library tour 14:00 - 16:00 Sat

Jinmao Tower
金茂大厦
In a city of dubious contemporary architecture, the colossal Jinmao Tower stands out for its winning design, loosely inspired by a traditional Chinese subject, the pagoda. If you want to see Shanghai in a splendid nutshell, travel in the elevators (moving at 9.1m/second) to the 88th-floor observation deck, accessed from the separate podium building to the side of the main tower. Time your visit at dusk for both day and night views.
88 Century Ave, Pǔdōng
浦东区世纪大道88号
tel: 5047 5101
underground rail: Luijazui
08:30 - 22:00

50 Moganshan Road Art Centre
春明艺术产业园/莫干山路50号艺术中心
Chinese contemporary art has been the hottest thing in the art world for the last few years and there’s no sign of the boom ending, with collectors around the world paying record prices for the work of top artists like Yue Minjun. Traditionally it’s Běijīng that dominates the art scene in China. But Shanghai has its own thriving artistic community, centred on this complex of industrial buildings down dusty Moganshan Rd and edging up Suzhou Creek in the north of town. It is well worth putting aside a day to poke around the many galleries here. There's some challenging, innovative art, as well as work that won’t last, and there are places to sip a coffee alongside the gallery owners and the artists themselves. Most galleries are open 10am to 7pm. The most established gallery here, ShanghArt (www.shanghartgallery.com; Bldg 16 & 18) has a big, dramatic space to show the work of some of the 30 artists they represent.
50 Moganshan Rd
莫干山路50号
underground rail: Shanghai
most galleries open 10:00 to 19:00

Shanghai Museum
上海博物馆
Rocked slightly from its jealously guarded throne by the 2006 unveiling of Běijīng’s tip-top Capital Museum, this monarch of China’s museum world remains one of Shanghai’s highlight sensations. Expect to spend half, if not most of, a day here. A primer of Chinese civilisation recounted via 120,000 exhibits, the intelligently designed museum guides you through the pages of Chinese history. Before you go in, admire the exterior of the building. Designed to recall an ancient bronze dǐng (a three-legged food vessel used for cooking and serving), the building also echoes the shape of a famous bronze mirror from the Han dynasty, exhibited within the museum. The most famous collection of the museum is the Ancient Chinese Bronzes Gallery.
201 Renmin Ave, Renmin Square
人民广场人民大道201号
tel: 6372 3500
underground rail: People's Sq
last entry 16:00 Mon-Fri

Shanghai Zoo
上海动物园
As Chinese zoos go, this is just about the best. There's a decent selection of beasts – from woolly twin-humped Bactrian camels to spindly legged giraffe, gorillas, lions, lots of different monkeys, giant pandas and polar bears – but some of the enclosures they’re housed in are less than ideal. Shanghai folk flock here to enjoy one of the city’s most picturesque and well tended acreages of green grass. Picnic-goers dive onto the lawns for a spot of sun, while electric tour buggies whirr along shaded paths through old-growth woods every 10 to 15 minutes. There's a Children's Zoo, where the little ones can shower chubby piglets and billy goats with handfuls of grain, fish for goldfish or ride ponies.
2381 Hongqiao Rd
虹桥路2381号
tel: 6268 7775
06:00 - 17:00 Apr-Sep, 06:30 - 16:30 Oct-Mar. Elephant show 10:00 - 15:30 , every 30 mins