上海

ShanghaiTravel Budget Guide

Tier 1·IATA: PVG

When to visit

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Super-peak (national holiday)PeakShoulderOff-season
Holiday surges
  • extremeSpring Festival· Lunar Jan 1–7 (late Jan / mid-Feb)
  • highQingming (Tomb-Sweeping)· Apr 4–6
  • extremeLabor Day· May 1–5
  • highDragon Boat Festival· Lunar May 5 (~Jun)
  • highMid-Autumn Festival· Lunar Aug 15 (~Sep/Oct)
  • extremeNational Day Golden Week· Oct 1–7
  • highChina Intl Import Expo (CIIE)· Early Nov
Taxi flag-drop:¥14starting fare

Attractions

Oriental Pearl Tower东方明珠5A$29.41 (CN¥199)
Shanghai Wild Animal Park上海野生动物园5A$24.39 (CN¥165)
The Bund外滩Iconic$0.00 (CN¥0)
Shanghai Disney Resort上海迪士尼度假区Iconic$58.97 (CN¥399)
Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park上海海昌海洋公园4A$23.50 (CN¥159)
Shanghai Museum上海博物馆4AHeritage Site$0.00 (CN¥0)
Yu Garden豫园4AHeritage Site$5.91 (CN¥40)
Shanghai Ocean Aquarium上海海洋水族馆4A$22.91 (CN¥155)
Shanghai Tower Observation Deck上海之巅观光厅4A$26.60 (CN¥180)
Shanghai Zoo上海动物园4A$5.91 (CN¥40)
Shanghai Happy Valley上海欢乐谷4A$26.60 (CN¥180)
Shanghai Astronomy Museum上海天文馆—$4.43 (CN¥30)
Huangpu River Cruise (Shiliupu Wharf)黄浦江游览(十六铺码头)—$15.81 (CN¥107)
Huangpu River黄浦江—$0.00 (CN¥0)
Shanghai Tower上海中心大厦—$26.60 (CN¥180)
Shanghai Maglev Train磁浮列车—$7.39 (CN¥50)
Shanghai Through the Ages (Show)上海千古情—$41.09 (CN¥278)
City God Temple Area城隍庙旅游区—Heritage Site$0.00 (CN¥0)
Disney Town迪士尼小镇—$0.00 (CN¥0)
Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street南京路步行街—$0.00 (CN¥0)

Hotels

Budget

$23.06 (CN¥156)
/night

Standard

$38.43 (CN¥260)
/night

Comfort

$86.76 (CN¥587)
/night

Tiers are grouped by hotel star rating — Budget ≈ 2★, Standard ≈ 3★, Comfort ≈ 4★ and up. Figures are citywide average nightly rates, so an individual hotel may sit above or below its tier.

Food

Budget meal

$3.84 (CN¥26)
/meal

Mid-range

$12.27 (CN¥83)
/meal

High-end

$45.82 (CN¥310)
/meal
Must try:
  • Soup dumplings
    小笼包 · Xiǎolóngbāo
  • Pan-fried pork buns
    生煎包 · Shēngjiānbāo
  • Shanghai-style braised pork belly
    本帮红烧肉 · Běnbāng hóngshāoròu
  • Scallion oil noodles
    葱油拌面 · Cōngyóu bànmiàn
  • Crab roe soup dumplings
    蟹粉小笼 · Xièfěn xiǎolóng
  • Pork and bamboo shoot soup
    腌笃鲜 · Yāndǔxiān
  • Pork chop with rice cakes
    排骨年糕 · Páigǔ niángāo
  • Honey-glazed Jinhua ham
    蜜汁火方 · Mìzhī huǒfāng
Styles:Street snacks · Fast food · Noodle house

Culture & Heritage

Time-Honored Brands (7)

MOFCOM-certified · cultural background, not a business endorsement
Lao FengxiangBatch 1
Est. 1848
A Shanghai jewellery house dating to 1848, celebrated for its refined Shanghai-style goldsmithing and jade-set ornaments.
XinghualouBatch 1
Est. 1851
A Cantonese-cuisine house founded in 1851, famous for its Cantonese mooncakes and dim sum, woven into Shanghai's Mid-Autumn memories.
Shen DachengBatch 1
Est. 1875
A Shanghai dim-sum house dating to 1875, known for its rice cakes and qingtuan and other Jiangnan glutinous-rice sweets.
Wang BaoheBatch 1
Est. 1744
A time-honoured house styled "ancestor of wine, king of crabs," said to date to 1744, famed for Shaoxing wine and hairy-crab banquets.
Shao WanshengBatch 1
Est. 1852
A southern-goods house founded in 1852, known for its wine-cured delicacies and cured-meat provisions.
Lei YunshangBatch 1
Est. 1734
A traditional-medicine house founded in Suzhou in 1734 and later rooted in Shanghai, famed for remedies such as Liushen Wan.
Tong Hanchun TangBatch 1
Est. 1783
A Shanghai traditional-medicine house dating to 1783, a shop-front-and-workshop dealing in herbal preparations and pills.

Famous Snacks (6)

Nanxiang Steamed Soup BunsFamous Snacks
Thin-skinned soup dumplings from Nanxiang in Jiading, prized for their juicy filling and delicate pleats—Shanghai's most famous dim sum.
Pan-fried Pork BunsFamous Snacks
A classic Shanghai street bun with a crisp base and fluffy top, juicy inside and dusted with sesame and scallion.
Crab-shell PastryFamous Snacks
A flaky baked pastry shaped like a crab shell and burnished gold, made in savoury and sweet versions—a traditional Shanghai tea snack.
Pork Chop with Rice CakeFamous Snacks
A Shanghai specialty of fried pork chop with chewy rice cakes—crisp outside, soft within, savoury with a hint of sweetness.
Scallion-oil NoodlesFamous Snacks
Home-style Shanghai noodles tossed in slow-rendered scallion oil and soy sauce—simple and deeply fragrant.
The Four Heavenly Kings (Shanghai Breakfast)Famous Snacks
The classic Shanghai breakfast quartet of flatbread, fried dough stick, soy milk and sticky-rice roll.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (9)

Huju OperaNational ICH · Batch 1
Shanghai's home-grown opera, sung in the Shanghai dialect, inscribed in the first national ICH batch in 2006.
Shanghai Benbang Cuisine Cooking CraftNational ICH · Batch 4
The traditional cooking craft of Shanghai's local cuisine, in the fourth national ICH batch (2014).
Shanghai-style Jade CarvingNational ICH · Batch 3
A Shanghai jade-carving school blending northern and southern styles, in the third national ICH batch (2011).
Jiangnan Sizhu (Silk-and-bamboo Music)National ICH · Batch 1
An ensemble music of silk and bamboo instruments centred on Shanghai and the Jiangnan region, in the first national ICH batch (2006).
Gu EmbroideryNational ICH · Batch 1
A painterly embroidery school created by the Gu family of Songjiang in the Ming dynasty, in the first national ICH batch (2006).
Wunijing Hand Cotton-textile CraftNational ICH · Batch 1
The hand cotton-textile craft taught and reformed by Huang Daopo, in the first national ICH batch (2006).
Chinese Garment Craft (Longfeng Qipao Hand-tailoring)National ICH · Batch 3
The hand-tailoring craft of the Shanghai-style qipao, in the third national ICH batch (2011).
Shanghai Woolen Needlepoint (Rongxiu)National ICH · Batch 3
The art of stitching pictures in coloured wool on canvas mesh, in the third national ICH batch (2011).
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Popular Routes Through Shanghai

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BEIJING → SHANGHAI · 15 Days
Beijing → Xi'an → Shanghai · 15 Days

Forbidden City and Great Wall in Beijing, Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an, and The Bund in Shanghai — 15 days backpacker for $1,684.

Stand on Badaling Wall as Beijing fades into the haze belowWatch the Terracotta Warriors mid-march, 2,200 years and still goingSample Shanghai's soup dumplings at a local eatery
$1,500est. $1,684BUDGETOCTOBER1 ADULT
SHANGHAI → SHANGHAI · 14 Days
Shanghai → Hangzhou · 14 Days

Shanghai's Oriental Pearl Tower and The Bund, then Hangzhou's West Lake Scenic Area and Thousand Island Lake, then Nanjing's Zhongshan Scenic Area and Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum — 14 days for $5,674.

Stand on the Oriental Pearl Tower's observation deckWalk the West Lake Scenic Area's islandsExplore the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum's stone carvings
$5,000est. $5,674COMFORTSEPTEMBER2 ADULTS · 1 CHILD
SHENZHEN → SHANGHAI · 10 Days
Shenzhen → Shanghai · 10 Days

Shenzhen Safari Park and OCT East in Shenzhen, then Oriental Pearl Tower and The Bund in Shanghai — 10 days for $1,350.

Visit Shenzhen Safari Park's animal enclosuresExplore OCT East's art galleries and night marketsWatch the skyline from Oriental Pearl Tower
$1,500est. $1,350STANDARDJUNE1 ADULT
GUANGZHOU → SHANGHAI · 10 Days
Guangzhou → Shanghai · 10 Days

Chimelong Resort and Mount Baiyun in Guangzhou, then Oriental Pearl Tower and The Bund in Shanghai — 10 days for $1,295.

Explore Chimelong Safari Park's enclosures in GuangzhouWatch the Oriental Pearl Tower's reflection at duskEat soup dumplings at Yu Garden in Shanghai
$1,500est. $1,295STANDARDJUNE1 ADULT
SHANGHAI → BEIJING · 10 Days
Shanghai → Beijing · 10 Days

The Bund and Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, then Forbidden City and Great Wall in Beijing — 10 days for $2,512.

Ride the high-speed rail from Shanghai to BeijingExplore the Forbidden City's halls at noonDine on Peking roast duck in Beijing's hutong
$2,000est. $2,512COMFORTJUNE1 ADULT
SHANGHAI → GUANGZHOU · 10 Days
Shanghai → Guangzhou · 10 Days

The Bund, Shanghai Disney Resort, and Yu Garden in Shanghai, then Chimelong Resort and Canton Tower in Guangzhou — 10 days for $2,426.

Ride the Shanghai Disney Resort's Space MountainWatch the Canton Tower lights at nightExplore Chimelong Safari Park's animal exhibits
$2,000est. $2,426COMFORTJUNE1 ADULT