Where to recover after 15,000 steps: The Peninsula and PuLi spas, English-guided TCM moxibustion and facial gua sha, plus our interactive Show-to-Therapist pressure & no-cupping card.
The Bund
Essays
No tourist buses, no filler. How to weave the Bund, the plane-tree lanes of the Wutong Quarter, soup dumplings, art corridors, and a symphony-and-vinyl night into seventy-two effortless hours.
Why Didi’s 3-minute waiting limit fails on a four-meeting day in Lujiazui, where to open a laptop in peace between calls, and how to exit Shanghai International Circuit or Qizhong Tennis Center without waiting two hours for a cab.
Shanghai holds one of the world’s greatest concentrations of 1920s and 1930s Art Deco architecture. Here is the insider protocol on how to legally walk past the brass doors.
Mesas y Bares
Two-Michelin-star Cantonese banquet craftsmanship inside Bund 18.
The pinnacle of Ningbo East China Sea seafood overlooking the Bund.
Two-Michelin-star Italian mastery from the Cerea family on the South Bund.
Paul Pairet’s enduring French brasserie at Bund 18 with iconic terrace views.
Wood-fired coastal Italian at Three on the Bund; order the black truffle pizza.
Since 1932: fluffy, fully leavened pan-fried buns (shengjian) steps from the Bund.
Hoteles
The Bund’s undisputed modern grand dame: Art Deco dressing rooms, Sir Elly’s rooftop terrace, and a Forbes Five-Star spa.
Victor Sassoon’s 1929 Art Deco masterpiece; stay for the octagonal rotunda and the nightly Old Jazz Band (average age 82).
Occupying the 1910 Shanghai Club heritage building; order oysters and a gimlet at the 34-meter Long Bar.
Ian Schrager’s seductive Bund outpost inside the former Power Building, crowned by the ivy-draped Roof terrace.