Shanghai City Highlights
Beyond the checklist—the Bund and Rockbund, Yu Garden and the old town, your own wet-market lunch, a handmade Tian Zi Fang keepsake, and the French Concession.
The real Shanghai, the way a local shows it
This isn't the check-the-box Shanghai. It's the icons—plus the quiet alleys, the wet market, and the art studio—that turn a huge city into a place you actually understand.
You'll still see the landmarks—the Bund, Yu Garden, the French Concession—but along a route we've shaped ourselves, threaded with the stories most tours skip. Between them we slip into the emptying old-town lanes, a neighbourhood wet market where you choose your own lunch, and the coffee and milk-tea counters locals actually queue for.
The centrepiece is hands-on: in the art lanes of Tian Zi Fang you'll create a small Chinese craft to carry home. Fully private and paced entirely to you, it's a day that leaves you with stories, a keepsake, and a genuine feel for the city.
First-time visitors, couples, and families who want the essential Shanghai—plus the local, hands-on side guidebooks miss—without the logistics.
Built to feel like a day with a well-connected friend
Standard city tours march you between the same three photo stops in a coach of forty strangers. We built this route the way we'd show our own visiting friends: on foot and by private car, timed to dodge the crowds, threaded with the small, unglamorous places—a neighbourhood wet market, an emptying old-town lane, an art studio—that turn sightseeing into a genuine sense of the city. You leave understanding Shanghai, not just having photographed it.
What makes this day special
The Bund & Rockbund
The 1920s waterfront and its quietly restored back street—admired over a proper coffee, with the stories behind the facades.
Yu Garden & the Old Town
Learn to read a classical Chinese garden—then the city-wall ruins and quiet old lanes before they vanish.
Your own market lunch
Pick your favourite Shanghai dishes at a local wet market—scallion pancake, cold plates, and more (lunch not included).
Make a Chinese art craft
In the art lanes of Tian Zi Fang, create a personalised keepsake to take home.
Your day, hour by hour
A suggested flow—every element is flexible and shaped around you on the day.
The Bund & Rockbund
We begin on the waterfront, where the Bund's grand 1920s houses tell the story of Shanghai at its early-century peak. Then we slip around to Rockbund—the Bund's quieter back street, reopened in 2023 after an 18-year restoration by an international team of architects—and pause for a good coffee among the beautifully revived buildings.
A stroll along Suzhou Creek
We follow the revitalised creekside—leafy promenades, pocket gardens, and cosy cafés—while your guide points out the architectural treasures hiding in plain sight, from a century-old post office to grand old residential blocks.
Yu Garden & the vanishing Old City
Your guide teaches you to actually read a classical Chinese garden—unfolding its design one clever detail at a time—before we explore the old city-wall ruins and the quiet lanes nearby, catching the fast-disappearing old town in its final chapter.
Choose your lunch at a local wet market
We wander a neighbourhood wet market most visitors never see—stalls of vegetables, mushrooms, and river fish—and you pick your own Shanghai favourites: a crisp pan-fried scallion pancake, cold dishes, fried fish, sweet-and-sour ribs, whatever tempts you. Lunch isn't included, so you simply pay for what you love.
Make a keepsake in Tian Zi Fang
Once a century-old residential alley, Tian Zi Fang is now a maze of studios and cafés. Here you'll choose a Chinese art experience from our curated selection and make a personalised craft to carry home—the hands-on heart of the day.
The French Concession & its Parisian park
We finish among the plane-tree streets, grand villas, and hidden alleys of the former French Concession, stopping for a trendy milk tea the locals love. Last of all, a French-style park with sunken gardens and a fountain—where saxophones play, elders spin diabolos, and tai chi flows—leaves you wondering if you've slipped from Shanghai into Paris.
What's included
Included
- Private English-speaking local guide
- Private air-conditioned car & driver
- Chinese art-craft experience & materials (keepsake to take home)
- A local milk-tea or coffee stop
- Yu Garden & attraction entry tickets
- Hotel pickup & drop-off
Not included
- Lunch — choose your own at the wet market
- Hotel accommodation
- Gratuities (optional)
Optional add-ons
- Huangpu River evening cruise
- Acrobatics or jazz-bar evening
- Professional photographer
What travelers say
"Choosing our own lunch at the wet market was the most fun we had in China—our guide translated everything. The whole day felt genuinely local, not a bus tour."
Rachel & TomCanada"We made a little painted keepsake in Tian Zi Fang and drank the milk tea the locals queue for. So much more memorable than the usual icons-only tour."
Priya S.United Kingdom"Rockbund and Suzhou Creek were places we'd never have found alone, and the French park at the end felt like Paris. Seamless from pickup to drop-off."
Daniel K.Singapore