Thinking of spending a few days in Shanghai in January, I have never been to the city.

Is it worth visiting Shanghai and the nearby water villages in January. I get the impression that there are virtually no tourists that time of year. My travel dates do not co-inside with Chinese New Year.

I was thinking of spending a maximum of 5 days (6 nights) in the area, is this too long?

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ttt

If you add the cities surrounding Shanghai, five days is not too long, quite the contrary.
Within a reasonably short distance of Shanghai you have Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing, all relatively large cities with their own characteristics. You also have smaller places that are worth a day trip such a Tongli or Wuzhen. I also like Yangzhou that relatively few tourists visit. All these places also have their own cuisine if you are into food.