54 Best Sights in Shanghai, China

In the days of Old Shanghai, the Lyceum Theatre was the home of the British Amateur Drama Club. The old stage is still in use as a concert hall. On the third floor is Candor, an intimate cocktail bar and stage outfitted in plush red velvet. The atmosphere draws on the 1920s era, with cabaret and burlesque-style shows.

This cluster of art galleries and artist studios, inside a sprawling former textile mill and slated for even more renovation and development in the near future, sits beside Suzhou Creek. The galleries are filled almost exclusively with work by Chinese artists, but a few showcase foreign work. There are also a few shops selling music and art supplies and a couple coffee shops. Don't be shy about nosing around—occasionally artists will be up for a chat.

Mind the weather, as some galleries lack heating and cooling systems.

Built by Swedish shipping magnate Eric Moller in 1936, this massive villa resembles a fairy-tale castle. It's a surprising sight when you come down from the pedestrian bridge that leads from Jing'an into the Former French Concession. Inside is a rather gaudy hotel.

The Old City used to be completely surrounded by a wall, built in 1553 as a defense against Japanese pirates. Most of it was torn down in 1912, except for one 50-yard-long (40-meter-long) piece that still stands at Dajing Lu and Renmin Lu. You can walk through the remnants and check out the rather simple museum nearby, which is dedicated to the history of the Old City (signs are in Chinese). You can also stroll through the tiny neighboring alley of Dajing Lu for a lively panorama of crowded market life in the Old City.

Looking like a stucture straight out of The Jetsons, the Oriental Pearl Tower was built when much of Pudong was still farmland. It's especially kitschy at night when it flashes with colored lights. A museum in the base recalls Shanghai's pre-1949 history. Each with its own observation deck, the three spheres are supposed to represent pearls (as in the city's nickname, the "Pearl of the Orient"). Go to the top sphere for a 360-degree bird's-eye view of the city, or grab a drink in the tower's revolving restaurant (skip the food).

Built in 1933, the Paramount was considered the finest dance hall in Asia. Until 1949, the so-called "Gate of 100 Pleasures" was the place for very late, very wild nights. After the Communist Revolution, Paramount closed and reopened as Red Capitol Cinema, showing propaganda films. In the past two decades, it underwent a series of renovations, openings, and closings before re-opening yet again in 2017 as a glitzy, retro, multistory nightclub, with a fourth-floor ballroom and plenty of private karaoke rooms.

This art deco structure overlooking People's Park was once the tallest hotel in Shanghai. Completed in 1934, it was known for its luxurious rooms, fabulous nightclub, and chic restaurants. Today the lobby is the most vivid reminder of its glorious past. It was an early inspiration for architect I.M. Pei (creator of the glass pyramids at the Louvre).

This hotel at the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Dong Lu is among Shanghai's most treasured buildings. If any establishment will give you a sense of Shanghai's past, it's this one. Its high ceilings, ornate woodwork, and streamlined fixtures are still intact. Following a renovation in 2010, the hotel reopened as the Fairmont Peace Hotel, with the jazz bar, tea lounge, restaurant, shopping arcade, and ballroom all restored to their original glory, evoking old Shanghai cabarets and galas. On the mezzanine level is a small but fascinating gallery chronicling the hotel's past.

The south building, formerly the Palace Hotel (and now the Swatch Art Peace Hotel), was built in 1906. The north building, once the Cathay Hotel, built in 1929, is more famous. It was known as the private playroom of its owner, Victor Sassoon, a wealthy landowner who invested in the opium trade. Sassoon lived and entertained his guests in the copper penthouse. The hotel was rated on a par with the likes of Raffles in Singapore and the Peninsula in Hong Kong. It was the place to stay, see, and be seen in old Shanghai. Noël Coward wrote Private Lives here.

In colonial days this park was the northern half of the city's racetrack. Today the 30 acres of flower beds, lotus ponds, and trees are crisscrossed by a large number of paved paths. It's also home to the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

The marriage market, held in the park weekends noon–5 pm, is not to be missed.

Desperately seeking spouses for their children, the parents and grandparents of unmarried adults post flyers advertising their child's height, job, income, Chinese Zodiac sign, and more.

Although this park along the Huangpu River has a sterile atmosphere, it offers the most beautiful views of the Bund. As you stroll on the grass and concrete, you get a perspective of Puxi unavailable from the west side.

This 200-acre urban garden is best visited during spring, when it's covered in roses, azaleas, bamboo, and orchids. Do visit the penjing garden; penjing translates as "pot scenery" and describes the Chinese art of creating a miniature landscape in a container. More than 2,000 bonsai trees line the penjing garden's courtyards and corridors. The Chinese cymbidium garden has more than 300 varieties. Within the Grand Conservatory are towering palms and more than 3,000 varieties of tropical plants.

Covering more than 14,400 square feet, Shanghai's first state-owned modern art gallery wraps around a metal spiral staircase that's a work of art in itself. The frequently changing exhibits are cutting-edge for Shanghai. They've showcased electronic art from American artists, examined gender issues among the Chinese people, and featured musical performances ranging from Chinese electronica to the dombra, a traditional Kazak stringed instrument. A tiny shop sells art books.

This sleek museum is on the site of Shanghai's 2010 World Expo, which was held in areas along both sides of the river. It takes its name from its sponsor, Minsheng Bank, which opened it to showcase contemporary art in all mediums, from photography to sound, by artists from China and beyond. The museum is housed in the former French expo pavilion and is within walking distance from China Art Palace.

This impressive museum in the base of the Pearl Tower recalls Shanghai's pre-1949 history. Inside, you can stroll down a re-created Shanghai street circa 1900, or check out a streetcar that used to operate in the concessions. Dioramas depict battle scenes from the Opium Wars, shops found in a typical turn-of-the-20th-century Shanghai neighborhood, and grand Former French Concession buildings of yesteryear.

As you stroll through the aquarium's 120-meter (394-foot) glass viewing tunnel, you may feel like you're walking your way through the seven seas—or at least five of them. The aquarium's 10,000 fish represent 300 species, five oceans, and four continents. You'll also find penguins and species representing all 12 of the Chinese zodiac symbols, such as the tiger barb, sea dragon, and seahorse.

This family favorite has more than 100 hands-on exhibits in its sprawling galleries. Earth Exploration takes you through fossil layers to the earth's core for a lesson in plate tectonics. Spectrum of Life introduces you to the animal and plant kingdoms in a simulated rain forest. Light of Wisdom explains basic principles of light and sound through interactive exhibits, and simulators in AV Paradise put you in a plane's cockpit and on television. Children's Technoland has a voice-activated fountain and a miniature construction site. Two IMAX theaters and a "4-D" IWERKS theater screen larger-than-life movies, though some are in Chinese. All signs are in English.

The newest skyscraper in Lujiazui was completed in early 2017. At the time of this writing, it's the country's tallest structure and the second tallest in the world (beat out by the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). The 127-story building, with five additional levels below ground, rises more than 2,000 feet and houses a hotel, offices, restaurants, and shops. Its sky-high observation deck on the 118th floor is the world's highest, a few floors above that in the Burj Khalifa, and is reached by the world's fastest elevator. There is an excellent exhibit about the world's super-tall buildings in the basement floor on your way to the observation deck.

The iconic "bottle opener" has three observation decks, the highest of which is on the 100th floor. The Park Hyatt is housed on floors 79 to 93, giving it a loftier perch than its older sibling, the neighboring Grand Hyatt. The view from up here is a knockout; on a clear day, you can see far and wide; on an overcast day, you'll feel as though you're floating in the clouds.

Consider skipping the observation decks in favor of the hotel. Afternoon tea at the 87th-floor Living Room is a treat.

The secret meeting on July 31, 1921 that marked the first National Congress was held at the Bo Wen Girls' School, where 13 delegates from Marxist, Communist, and Socialist groups gathered from around the country. The upstairs of this restored shikumen is a well-curated museum detailing the rise of communism in China. Downstairs lies the very room where the first delegates worked. It remains frozen in time, the table set with matches and teacups. Ironically, the site today is surrounded by Xintiandi, Shanghai's center of capitalist conspicuous consumption.

A daughter of the prominent Soong family, Soong Qing-ling (also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen) was first a Nationalist and then a Communist. Her sister Mei-ling married Chiang Kai-shek, who was the head of the Nationalist government from 1927 to 1949. This three-story house, built in 1920 by a German ship owner, was Soong's primary residence from 1948 to 1963. It has been preserved as it was during her lifetime; in the study are her 4,000 books and, in the bedroom, the furniture that her parents gave as her dowry. The small museum next door has some nice displays from Soong Qing-ling and Sun Yat-sen's life, including pictures from their 1915 wedding in Tokyo.

Just a hop from the traffic-clogged roads surrounding Xujiahui metro station and its periphery of malls is this Neo-Gothic Roman Catholic cathedral, which opened in 1910. In 1966, with the start of the Cultural Revolution, its beautiful stained glass windows, the ceiling, and spires were destroyed by the Red Guards. The church spent the next 10 years as a State-owned grain warehouse. Finally, in the 1980s, the cathedral was restored; today it remains the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Shanghai.

If Xintiandi is the government's orderly, sanitized shikumen restoration project, Tianzifang is the opposite. The former residential district is a labyrinth of alleyways between redbrick lane houses. Restaurants, cafés, and a few galleries fill the spaces today, as do shops selling everything from kitschy souvenirs emblazoned with retro propaganda to leather journals and shoes, tea, and qipao dresses.

You can also enter Tianzifang from the back side, at 155 Jianguo Zhong Lu.

Expats flock to this tranquil spa, where the front desk staff speak English well and can help you choose one of their handful of massages. Body massages are done in private rooms; foot massages take place in a nook lined with plush recliners. Prices are very reasonable.

Just off Xintiandi's main thoroughfare is this beautifully restored shikumen (stone gatehouse) filled with furniture and artifacts collected from the other nearby shikumen (now turned shops). Exhibits explain the European influence on shikumen design, the history of the neighborhood's renovation, and future plans for the entire 128-acre project.