Except for the windy, chilly winter months, Shanghai teems with tourists and business travelers, most notably May through October. July and August are unpleasantly hot and humid as a rule; Shanghai's busiest tourist periods coincide with its mildest weather in the spring and fall. September and October are really the ideal times to visit, but they're also popular times for meetings and conventions, leading to high hotel occupancy and uncompetitive room rates. To avoid the big crowds and still enjoy decent weather, the ideal time to visit is in late March or late October/early November.

• Evening Cruise of Huangpu River
• Oriental TV Tower
• Shanghai Acrobatic Show
• Shanghai Museum
• Temple of Jade Buddha
• The Bund
• Yuyuan Garden & Baz

Shanghai does not have a definitive cuisine of its own, but refines those of the surrounding provinces (mostly from adjacent Jiangsu and Zhejiang coastal provinces). What can be called Shanghai cuisine is epitomized by the use of alcohol. Fish, eel, crab, and chicken are "drunken" with spirits and are briskly cooked/steamed or served raw. Salted meats and preserved vegetables are also commonly used to spice up the dish.
The use of sugar is common in Shanghainese cuisine and, especially when used in combination with soy sauce, effuses foods and sauces with a taste that is not so much sweet but rather savory.
"Beggar's Chicken" is a legendary dish of Beijing origin, called "jiaohua ji" in the Shanghainese dialect, wrapped in lotus leaves and covered in clay. Though usually prepared in ovens, the original and historic preparation involved cooking in the ground. The lion's head meatball and Shanghai-style nian gao are also uniquely Shanghainese, as are Shanghai fried noodles, a regional variant of chow mein that is made with Shanghai-style thick noodle. Lime-and-ginger-flavoured thousand-year eggs and stinky tofu are other popular Shanghainese delicacies.
Facing the East China Sea, seafood in Shanghai is very popular. However, due to its location among the rivers, lakes, and canals of the Yangtze Delta, locals favor freshwater produce just as much as saltwater products like crabs, oysters, and seaweed. The most famous local delicacy is Shanghai hairy crab.

Sheng Jian ("Sangji" - in Shanghainese)
Breakfast is commonly bought from corner stalls which sells pork buns, for the best xiaolongbao (small steamer bun). These stalls also sell other types of buns, such as Shengjian mantou, literally "fried bun") and Guo Tie (fried jiaozi), all eaten dipped in black vinegar.
A typical breakfast combination is youtiao, a dough-like food that is deep fried in oil until crisp and is eaten in all parts of China, wrapped in thick pancake, accompanied by soy milk.

Typical Shanghainese breakfast
In Shanghainese cuisine, cí fàn tuán is sometimes consumed together with soy milk as breakfast.

Crispy chicken
One of the local favourites in Shanghai is Shanghai crispy chicken. Crispy chicken is made by first boiling the body of a chicken until its flesh is tender, then roasting it for long periods of time or until the skin goes dry and crispy.

By air
Shanghai has two airports: Hongqiao International and Pudong International, the latter of which has the third highest traffic in China, following Beijing Capital International Airport and Hong Kong International Airport. Pudong International handles more international traffic than Beijing Capital however, with over 17.15 million international passengers handled in 2006 compared to the latter's 12.6 million passengers. Hongqiao mainly serves domestic routes, with a few city-to-city flights to Tokyo's Haneda Airport and Seoul's city airport. If you are "connecting" through Shanghai, check which airports your flights operate from ("SHA" is Hongqiao; "PVG" is Pudong).
A bonus if you arrive at, or depart from, Pudong airport is that you can travel to and from the airport in Shanghai's new MagLev (magnetic levitation) train, which peaks at over 400 km per hour!!  Its inner terminus is still a 30 minute taxi ride from the city centre. Note that the MagLev only operates in daylight hours, and if you present your airline ticket showing an arrival or departure that day, you are entitled to a discounted fare.

By bus
Public and private buses and taxis are the common mode of transport to get to Shanghai by road. Getting to Shanghai by road is a unique experience and an adventurous journey to reach the city.

By sea
The city of Shanghai is connected by sea to the rest of the world through Shanghai Port. Ships sail to Shanghai Port from about four hundred foreign ports all around the world. But owing to the slow pace of the ships traveling in the sea, voyages to some of the long distance sea routes have been discontinued.

By rail
About seventy pairs of trains connect Shanghai with various cities across the country. Some pairs of trains owned by Shanghai West Railway Station operate from Shanghai to Chengdu, Ganzhou, Hengyang, Zaozhuang, Yantai and so on. Eleven pairs of trains run daily trips from Shanghai South Railway Station to Jinshan, Jiashan, Hangzhou and others.

Drinking a cup of tea in a traditional tea-house on a late afternoon, meeting new travellers and locals in one of the bars or dancing sore feet away after midnight, Shanghai has plenty to offer of anything. Check out the tea houses, bars and the nightclubs.

Big Bamboo
Considered by many foreigners to be a better sports bar than longtime titleholder Malone's just down the street, this relaxed and friendly joint has your usual quotient of dart boards, foosball and pool tables, and two floors of big screen televisions broadcasting every major sport event you can think of (except perhaps synchronized swimming). It also helps that the ale is hearty and the food substantial. Daily 11am to 2am.
Type: Bars & Pubs
Address: Nanyang Lu 132   
Location: By Xikang Lu, Jing An   
Phone: 021-6256-2265

Malone's
Tongren Lu Canadian bar showing recreational sports events on the TV screens. Live music every night except Sunday by house band, Art 6.  Acoustical performance by Ged Cuff.  See www.malones.com.cn for more information.
Type: Casino

Paulaner German Beerhouse
A 3-storey bar, this beerhouse serves up home-brewed German beer with German prices! Also serves German food and a Filipino band plays hits from the 70s and 80s.
Type: Beer house
Tel: 64745700

Old China Hand Reading Room (Hanyuan Shuwu)
Shanghai's most charming coffeehouse, opened in 1996 by photographer Deke Erh, is also a bookstore, with hundreds of old and new, obscure and popular books and magazines on its shelves. Relax at a Qing Dynasty antique table by the window as you peruse your possible purchases over green tea or cappuccino. This is the best place to purchase the series of books on colonial architecture in China put out by Deke Erh and Tess Johnston. Daily 10am to midnight.
Type: Teahouse
Tel: 021-6473-2526
Address: Shaoxing Lu 27

99 Discos
Huge disco playing pop-techno. Channel V has regular parties here.
Type: Dancing
Tel: 62669999

Shanghai International Arts festival
The primary aim of the Shanghai International Arts festival is to absorb the best cultures that the world has to offer and also to promote traditional arts of China. The festival also aims to enhance cultural exchanges between China and rest of the world. Some of the activities organized at the festival include art program shows, art exhibitions, mass cultural activities and a trade fair of programs, arts and crafts.

Shanghai Film Festival
Usually held for eight days, the Shanghai Film Festival is one of the most important cultural events which is organized every year during the month of June. The Film Festival is a much looked after and popular event amongst the people of Shanghai who attend the festival in large numbers.
A number of world class international films are staged at the Shanghai Film Festival. Apart from the world cinema, the festival also showcases a number of Chinese films which are well appreciated by the audience. Some of the Chinese Films that have been screened during the previous editions of the Film Festival include "The Music Box", and "The Forest Ranger". The Jin Jue Award is the most prestigious award given out at the Shanghai Film Festival.

Shanghai International Magic Festival
Shanghai International Magic Festival has been held for more than 10 years and remains a popular attraction among the people of Shanghai. Numerous international magicians from more than 10 countries showcase their talent at this annual magic show. Most performers who come to the Shanghai International Magic Show are winners of international magic awards. Some of the programs held have never been conducted in China before. It is thus a treat for the local audiences. Magicians from other parts of China are also coming to watch the shows, trying to learn something from their overseas counterparts.

Shanghai International Tourism Trade Fair
Shanghai International Tourism Trade Fair is the largest of its kind to be held in the country. It attracts a large number of participants from around 40 countries of the world. Some of the leading countries that have participated in the previous editions of the fair include Australia, France, Germany, Japan, United States and Switzerland. Other countries that have participated before are Bahrain, Egypt, Indonesia, the Maldives and Vietnam. About 350 stands are booked by overseas participants every year.

Shanghai Tourism Festival
The Shanghai Tourism Festival is held every year from the third Saturday of September to the 16th day of October. The tourism festival is organized on a large scale and showcases all that the city has to offer to the visitors. The festival acts as a perfect event for locals and foreigners to discover the fascination of Chinese culture and history. A number of traditional as well as non-traditional entertainment programs are held across different venues across the city. Some of the events that can be seen during the tourism festival include a "rose wedding" ceremony, float parades and markets. During the festival you can take a tour of the Shanghai Lanes, attend the Chinese Festival at You Garden or be at the Century Park to witness the Music Fireworks Festival.

Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival
The Shanghai International Music Fireworks Festival is a traditional programme and a part of the Shanghai Tourism Festival. The Fireworks Festival has been held three times in succession and the new term "music fireworks" was brought to Shanghai for the first time. The term "Music fireworks" refers to a "symphony of fire", blending the rhythm, color, and composition of fireworks with the cadence and artistic conception of music.