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Shanghai/Changning

Changning is a district on the west side of Shanghai, largely residential but with attractions such as the Shanghai Zoo and several large shopping malls.

Get in
Coming from outside Shanghai, you will find that Changning is home to one of Shanghai's biggest transport interchanges, with (mostly handling domestic flights) and  (offering high speed rail connections to other cities), connected to each other.

The district is well served by Metro from other parts of Shanghai. Lines and  run east-west from downtown to the airport and railway station, while lines   and  run north-south across the eastern part of the district.

Get around
is a major hub where lines, and  meet; it also gives access to the park and a large shopping mall. Line also runs through the district, roughly parallel to line 2 but a bit south of it. Lines 2 and 10 go to Hongqiao railway station and airport.

Eat
Several restaurants are available at Brilliance West Mall. You can also do grocery and household shopping at Century Mart. There is a large selections of good restaurants in the Cloud Nine shopping center, concentrated on the upper floors, very popular with the locals, most have menus with pictures of dishes and basic English text.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Shanghai/Changning


text:
Shanghai/Chongming

Chongming (崇明区 Chóngmíng Qū) is a region of Shanghai Municipality consisting of three islands; from largest to smallest: Chongming Island, Changxing Island and Hengsha Island. These are alluvial islands located where the Yangtse River reaches the sea and drops its silt, low-lying and quite fertile.

Chongming is the least urban area of Shanghai Municipality and has the largest land area. It was the last administrative division to be classed as a county rather than a district (explanation of terms), though it was promoted to district status in 2017. Population was about 640,000 as of the 2020 census. There are development projects going on; Chongming was used as a resettlement area for people displaced by the Three gorges dam project. A new "eco-city" called Dongtan has been proposed for the south end of the island, but the project has encountered various complications and delays. It has had both some awards and some pointed criticism.

In Amy Tan's novel The Kitchen God's Wife the leading character's mother is sent to live with relatives on "Tsungming Island" for part of her childhood. She describes it (pre-World War II) as distinctly rural and quite unpleasant for a Shanghai urbanite.

Even earlier, in the bad old days of the 19th century, Hengsha Island was the main anchorage for opium hulks in the Shanghai region. These were heavily-laden and heavily-guarded ships parked outside the reach of Chinese law but close enough to be convenient for local smugglers.

Get in
There is a highway using a combination of bridges and tunnels running from the Pudong district of Shanghai to Changxing Island then to the main Chongming Island, and over to the North bank of the Yangtze where the highway continues to cities in Jiangsu province. Nantong is the first major town upstream on that side of the river and the road goes all the way to the provincial capital, Nanjing.

There are ferries connecting all the islands, and connecting the islands to both sides of the Yangtze. One goes to the Baoyang Road terminal in Baoshan District, Shanghai; this is next to the Baoshan Road station on metro line.

This area is not yet connected to the Shanghai metro system.

Chongming Island also has its own small airport, but it is not used for any scheduled passenger flights. There are a number of small ports, used mainly for ferries and fishing boats.

See
The island also has a wetlands reserve and another nature reserve.

title: Shanghai/Chongming


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Shanghai/French Concession

The French Concession is the area of Shanghai that the French government administered from 1849 until 1946. The tree-lined avenues and the many fine old houses in the area still retain an air of the "Paris of the East". In particular, the many wrought iron fences and stair railings will look familiar to anyone who knows Paris or Montreal.

This has been a fashionable area for well over a century and is now very developed as well. There are plenty of large buildings, mainly upmarket residential and office towers, quite a few hotels and a number of enormous shopping malls. At the same time, many of the picturesque older buildings — even whole neighbourhoods — have been renovated. There are a huge number of boutiques, galleries, bars and cafes scattered through the area.

For many years after the French left, the area was administered by the Chinese as two districts,Xuhui (徐汇区 Xúhuì Qū) to the west and Luwan (卢湾区 Lúwān Qū) to the east. Luwan is now administered as part of the Huangpu district, but we cover it here because for the traveller it has more in common with the rest of the old French Concession.

Orientation
In addition to the official administrative districts Xuhui and Luwan, the French concession area has some well-known streets and neighborhoods.

Xujiahui
Xujuahui (old spelling Zi-ka-wei or Siccawei) is an area to the south-west of the French Concession. It was largely owned by the Catholic Church and was effectively an extension of the concession, though it was not part of it.

The area has many buildings built by the Church during the French period and thereafter. The most prominent of these is St. Ignatius Cathedral, the neighbouring Bibliotheca Zi-ka-wei, a library built by the Jesuits; a number of preserved convent and school buildings; the Jesuit observatory; the T'ou-se-we Museum, housed in part of a former Jesuit orphanage with interesting displays on the history of Xujiahui, the orphanage and its workshop famed for producing works of Chinese and Western art; and the tomb of Xu Guangqi, an imperial official and famous Catholic convert whose family donated much of the land in Xujiahui to the church. This collection of buildings from Xujiahui's Catholic past is promoted as a themed walking tour called "Origin of Xujiahui", and boards with maps can be found near any of them with directions to visit the others.

Today, its central area is an enormous road intersection with a metro station (lines, and ) under it and much shopping around it. There is a large underground shopping area right in the station and at least half a dozen large malls or department stores nearby. From the station, you can get to most of them without going outdoors. Among other things, Xujiahui has Shanghai's largest cluster of consumer electronics vendors. It also has a lot of high-end residential and office space, and many restaurants.

There is a large road which starts by the cathedral and becomes an elevated road just beyond it. It leads to the Xinzhuang interchange and beyond that to Humin Road, the main route south into Minhang District for cars and buses.

Huaihai Road
When the French controlled the area, this street was Avenue Joffre. Today it is the main street of the Luwan area, and one of Shanghai's main shopping streets. In fact, Shanghai people seeking upmarket goods are at least as likely to look here as on Nanjing Road, which attracts more visitors from other parts of China than locals.

Many of the smaller streets nearby are also worth a look, especially when you want to get away from the busy streets. Explore the area between Julu Rd to the north, Huaihai Rd running through the center, and Jianguo Rd to the south. Pleasant tree-lined streets and local Shanghainese bustle, combined with a growing number of trendy boutiques and restaurants. Changle Rd and Xinle Rd are rapidly becoming the places to find small designer clothing shops. Interesting architecture built with French and Belgian money and showing mixed Chinese-European styles.

The trendy areas Xintiandi and Sinan Mansions described below are both near Huaihai Road (5–10 minutes walk away); Tianzifang is further afield, about 30 minutes walk, or a 15-minute taxi ride in normal traffic conditions.

Metro line runs under Huaihai Road through the main shopping area — stations, listed east-to-west, are South Huangpi Road, South Shaanxi Road and Changshu Road. Line also comes to Changshu Road, and lines  and  to South Shaanxi Road.

Further west, Huaihai Road becomes mainly residential. Line 's Shanghai Library and Jiaotong University stations are on the street and in this area.

Hengshan Road
Hengshan Road (old name Avenue Pétain) and nearby streets have what used to be Shanghai's largest cluster of dining and nightlife spots. It has since been surpassed by areas like Found 158 and Xintiandi. It is an upmarket area with few real bargains, but food and drink here are generally somewhat cheaper than in trendier and more touristy areas like Xintiandi. There are also a number of hotels and quite a bit of boutique shopping. For those interested in the history, the main points of interest are the former American College (no. 10), and the (still active) Community Church (no. 53), reminders of the large English-speaking community that also lived in the French Concession.

From Changshu Road, line swings south; the next two stops are Hengshan Road and Xujiahui. Hengshan Road and the smaller streets off it have mainly older two-storey buildings, many of them now bars and restaurants, though nearby areas such as Xujiahui and Zhoajiabang Road are largely highrise.

You can reach this area on foot starting from Changshu Road station (line  or ). At the cross street on the west side of the station, head south past the Starbucks. The first couple of blocks of this street are called Baoqing Road, but the name soon changes to Hengshan Road. Oscar's Pub, a block along on the left (corner of Fuxing Road) is a popular expat hangout.

Turning right at Hengshan Lu / Dongping Lu junction brings you to the terminus for the #816 bus to Minhang. Dongping Lu ends in a T junction; the US Consulate is across the top of the T. If you turn left instead of right at Hengshan Lu / Dongping Lu, you will pass a popular restaurant / upmarket grocery called Green & Safe. If you continue along Dongping Lu, you will reach a mostly-expats sports bar called The Camel. Continuing beyond those leads onto the west end of Fuxing Road, and into the area of smaller streets described under above. Staying on Hengshan Road and walking towards Hengshan Road Metro Station, you will get to a large complex of restaurants on the south side of the street, mostly quite good food at mid-to-high prices with Western, Chinese and mid-Eastern styles on offer. The Brazilian all-you-can-eat barbeque is excellent if you are hungry and carnivorous. Some have patios out front which are quite pleasant. There are no bars in that complex but most of the restaurants serve drinks.

There are some large disco-style bars and nightclubs on the north side of the street. Phebe is probably the biggest club. There is also a busy bowling alley next to Phebe nightclub. Going south from Phebe brings you to another cluster of bars near the junction of Hengshan Lu and Gao'an Lu. These bars are quite tacky and are best avoided. Continuing south, there are also at least two high-class hotels within a few blocks.

Continuing several blocks south on Hengshan Road gets you to Xujiahui.

Xintiandi
Xintiandi is an area of old shikumen houses, two-storey buildings on narrow lanes. It has been extensively redeveloped and now has new shopping malls, trendy bars and restaurants, and much tourism. It is sometimes considered a sanitized, touristy and upscale "Disneyland" version of the original old neighborhoods it displaced. It is certainly rather pretty, worth at least a look for any first-time visitor to Shanghai. Prices are generally on the high side, but there are some good deals to be had at off-peak times such as lunch specials in some restaurants and happy hour in bars. Although there are many shops here, most are international or Hong Kong-based chains.

Attitudes to Xintiandi among Shanghai's large expatriate community are quite mixed. The area certainly has many expat customers, and many consider some of its live music venues and dance clubs as among the best in the city. Others dismiss most or all of them as "poseurs' pubs", suitable only for a more-money-than-sense crowd.

There is a Xintiandi station on metro lines and ; walk north from there to reach the center of the area. Walking south from South Huangpi Road station on line is roughly the same distance.

Tianzifang
Tianzifang (The web site has links for pages in English, but as of September 2023 none of them work.) is another area of shikumen housing that has been redeveloped. It is newer than Xintiandi and emphasizes arts, crafts and boutique shopping where Xintiandi has more stress on brand-name goods and entertainment. Unlike Xintiandi, the shikumen residences in Tianzifang have been preserved, rather than knocked down and rebuilt. Slightly further from the central part of the French Concession, Tianzifang first gained fame when several prominent artists took up residence there, taking advantage of the cheap rent. There are still galleries and artists' studios here, although handicraft, souvenirs and cafes now dominate.

The number one exit of Dapuqiao Station (line ) is just across the street from Tianzifang.

Sinan Mansions
Sinan Mansions is another redeveloped quarter, based around a dozen European-style villas dating from the early 20th century. This area is bounded by Fuxing Road to the north, Si'nan Road to the west, and Chongqing Road to the east. The villas have been renovated, and their front and back yards knocked through and paved over to become paths. The revamped villas now mostly house restaurants and bars. Shaded by tall plane trees planted by the French authorities 100 years ago, this is a pleasant area to stroll and perhaps stop for a coffee and some cake.

A group of buildings once belonging to the Catholic Church are near the Chongqing Road end, the largest of which is now an upmarket restaurant (Aux Jardins Massenet). Some of the villas in the same group are now an upmarket hotel (Hotel Massenet). (Sinan Road was Route Massenet in the French period.)

Only one villa, the former residence of Zhou Enlai, is preserved (as a museum) in a form which shows what these villas might have looked like when they were in residential use.

Wukang Road
Wukang Road (old name Route Ferguson) is one of the best preserved residential streets of the French Concession. Still lined by ornate villas and grand apartment buildings, it is a favourite for visitors interested in Shanghai's diverse architectural heritage. The road connects Huashan Road to the north with the western part of Huaihai Road in the south. The narrow road is lined with plane trees, and is popular in autumn when the golden leaves cover the ground. Unfortunately, very few of the historic houses can be visited. There is one small area of the road which has been developed to house cafes, bars and restaurants, and is popular with expatriate residents of the area.

Longhua
Longhua, formerly a suburban township and now part of urban Shanghai, was not part of the French Concession and is about a 30-minute walk or 10-minute cab ride further out from Xujiahui. Although close to the French and Catholic areas, until the early 2010s Longhua retained the look of a Chinese town. Much of the area has now been rebuilt in a fantasy-Chinese style.

By metro
Metro line runs through the area. along Huaihai and Hengshan Roads. Stations along Huaihai Road are S. Huangpi Road, S. Shaanxi Road, which is fairly central, and Changshu Road. Along Hengshan Road are Hengshan Road Station and Xujiahui, which is one of the biggest metro stations in Shanghai. Further north, this line goes past People's Park and on to Zhabei. Going South, it leads into Minhang.

Line comes in from the north, crosses line  at Jing'an Temple, intersects line  at Changshu Road, makes three more stops further south in the Concession, then heads east and crosses the river into Pudong.

Line runs west from Laoximen (the 'Old West Gate' of the old town), stopping in the French Concession at Xintiandi, S. Shaanxi Road, Shanghai Library and Jiaotong university. Further west, it goes to Changning and Hongqiao Airport. Going east, it crosses the Old Town, swings north via Nanjing Road East, and ends up in Yangpu.

Line runs along the southern edge of the French Concession, stopping at Dapuqiao (near Tianzifang), Zhaojianbang Road and Xujiahui along the way. Further west, it goes to Songjiang. Further east, it leads into the center of Pudong.

Line comes in from Nanhui across the river, goes to several stations in the French Concession, intersects lines  and  at Xujiahui, and goes off to Changning, Putuo and Jiading to the north. At its western extreme it already (late 2017) extends outside Shanghai as far as Kunshan, and plans call for it to eventually link up to the metro systems of Suzhou and Wuxi.

See
In general this is a pleasant area to wander about in. Explore the sylvan streets and admire Shanghai's Art Deco residential architecture, reputedly the world's largest group of such homes, although not the most well-kept. Most historic buildings have a bronze plaque that details their original use. The area sandwiched between Fuxing and Huaihai Roads is particularly interesting with a sprinkling of tucked-away shops and discreet cafes, a refreshing alternative to the city's generally manic streetscape.

Around Huaihai Road
Besides the large shopping area on the east of Huaihai Road, there are other attractions on and around the road:

Many of the consulates of foreign governments are also in this area; see the list in the main Shanghai article.

Political history
It seems a bit ironic that various militantly anti-imperialist Chinese lived in the French Concession and the Communist Party had its first national meeting here, but there were good reasons for this. For one thing, this area has always been one of the most pleasant and prestigious in Shanghai. Also, for revolutionaries — whether republicans opposing the Qing Dynasty before 1911 or Communists opposing the Kuomintang government later — an area under foreign law was considerably safer than one with Chinese law and police.

Chairman Mao's Shanghai house is now also a museum; it is outside this area, in Jing'an District in what was the British concession. The Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai Shek, who lost the civil war in 1949 and was driven off to Taiwan, also had a house in the French Concession (9 Dongping Road) but that has not been made a museum; it is now used as a Middle School attached to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

In Longhua
Longhua Cemetery and Temple are at the southern edge of the former French Concession, about a half hour walk or a CN¥20 taxi ride from Xujiahui. The easiest way to reach them is by metro.

West Bund
The West Bund (西岸) is an arts precinct on the banks of the Huangpu River.

Learn
The original campus of Shanghai Jiaotong University (Jiaoda) is in this area, though there are now several other campuses and the new main campus is in Minhang. The old campus has Chinese language courses for foreigners and an MBA program that is taught in the evenings, mainly for Chinese business people.

There are several schools offering Chinese cooking courses for visitors:

Buy
Lots of additions to this district, on a seemingly weekly basis. Check out the entire Xujiahui area and Times Square Huaihai Road for some of the larger malls. Creative boutiques can be found on Julu, Changle, Anfu and Xinle Roads throughout the French Concession, in addition to a high concentration of one-of-a-kind buys for sale in Tian Zi Fang northwest of the Luwan Stadium.

If you are looking for anything electronic, Xujiahui is the place to start. The Metro station is under the intersection of five roads (see photo). It has shops (mostly food or clothing) and there is at least one shopping mall on each of the five corners.
 * Pacific Digital Plaza Phase 2 (red building in lower right of photo, exit 10 of the metro station), has all sorts of consumer electronics — computers, digital cameras, game consoles, MP3 players, cell phones, memory cards, and computer accessories.
 * Pacific Digital Plaza Phase 1 (exit 9) is better for computer parts and for repairs or services like printer cartridge refills. The idea of shopping at "PDP-1" may appeal to hackers; that was the model designation of DEC's first computer. If you look like a foreigner then at quiet times you will probably find you are constantly called out to by shop owners, which makes browsing quite challenging.
 * Grand Gateway Mall (green dome between office towers, back and left in photo, exit 12) is the most upscale of these malls, and also the best-air conditioned in the summertime. The 5th and 6th floors offer a good selection of restaurants, and there are several more at ground level behind the mall. The 5th floor also has a large bookstore with a good selection of books in English. This mall is a lot larger than it looks in the photo; that dome starts above the sixth floor, and everything below it plus corresponding floors of both towers is shopping. The basement level has more shops including a large supermarket with a good, though pricey, selection of Western groceries.

Ruijin Second Road is a tree-lined boulevard in the heart of the French Concession, where you can experience the real Shanghai longtang (a narrow alley from house to house, which is a distinctive Shanghai architecture style). Don't forget to walk down Taikang Lu into Tian Zi Fang and burrow your way into the in process gentrification of the back alleys here. Old men air their magpies in spotless, tiny cages next to top flight restaurants and cafes. Shanghai T is a great place to buy a high quality T-shirt with a smart logo, "What recession?" Tian Zi Fang's renovation is still evolving and interesting shops and restaurants are opening and closing every day. The trendy stores exist side by side with the rhythms of "old school" Shanghai life—and any time you can catch a glimpse of that, you should feel lucky.

Other nearby areas:

Along Maoming South Road by the Jin Jiang Hotel there are designer shops and art galleries. Don't forget your platinum credit card.

Drink
Many bars, restaurants and nightclubs are clustered together in the Found 158 complex on Julu Lu. Xintiandi is another large bar anr dining complex. It's possible to find good bars throughout the French Concession area.

title: Shanghai/French Concession


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Shanghai/Hongkou

Hongkou is on the northeast side of Shanghai. The district is most known for Hongkou Stadium, Shanghai University's campus and Lu Xun Park.

Jewish Heritage
There have been Jews in China for a long time. The first synagogue was built in Kaifeng in 1163 and there had certainly been a small community of Jews (Silk Road traders) settled there for at least a few hundred years before that.

As Shanghai grew after it opened to foreign trade in the 1840s, Jewish traders arrived; by the early 20th century, Shanghai had a substantial Jewish population and many of them lived in Hongkou. More Jews, and quite a few White Russians, arrived fleeing Russia, before or shortly after the 1917 revolution. Then when the Japanese took Manchuria in 1931, many people from the fairly large Jewish community in Harbin fled south. Also, as life in Germany became untenable for Jews in the 1930s, many more Jewish refugees came to Shanghai.

After the Japanese took the city in 1937, a ghetto was created in Hongkou. The sign in the photo commemorates that period.

After the end of the Second World War came a Chinese Civil War, ending with the Communist victory in 1949. Most of the Jews left Shanghai in this period, mainly going to either Hong Kong or Israel, but some remained.

Get in
The district is served by metro lines, , and. Line 4 has a roughly circular route around downtown Shanghai; from Hongkou it goes west to Shanghai Railway Station in Zhabei or east and south to central Pudong. Going north from Hongkou, lines 3 and 8 both extend into the northern suburbs. Going south, line 3 runs next to line 4 around the western edge of downtown, then veers off to end at Shanghai South Railway Station. Line 8 goes right to the center of town at People's Park then across the river into the southwestern part of Pudong, and it ends in Pujiang, a part of Minhang that is east of the Huangpu river.

Buy

 * 1933 Shanghai, listed under, has many artists' studios and some galleries with various works available for purchase.

title: Shanghai/Hongkou


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Shanghai/Huangpu

Huangpu (黄浦区 Huángpǔ Qū) is an administrative district of Shanghai, the traditional center of the city, with People's Square, the Bund, the East Nanjing Road pedestrian mall and many other attractions.

From around 1000 CE until the 1840s, Shanghai was a prosperous but not remarkably important Chinese town, and a walled city. Then China lost the First Opium War and was forced to open up five treaty ports in which the Western powers who had won the war were granted concessions, areas that they administered and where Chinese law did not apply. Shanghai was one of those, and it grew amazingly fast after that, quickly becoming China's most important commercial center. See Shanghai for details.

The official Huangpu District includes the Old City, the area that was a walled Chinese city before the modern city developed, Today the walls are long gone, replaced by the Renmin Lu ring road, there are many new buildings, and several metro stops are near the edges of the district. Wikivoyage has a separate article for the Old City.

North of the old city is most of what was once the British Concession. The Bund (a Hindi word for riverside embankment), once the center of seaborne trade with many trading firms' offices, is now a scenic boulevard and major tourist attraction. Nanjing Road, running inland from the Bund and once the main street of the British area, is now a very busy and fashionable pedestrians-only shopping street. What was once a horse racing track on the edge of the British area has become People's Park, a popular recreational area with a busy metro station underneath.

In 2011, the district of Luwan was merged into Huangpu for administrative purposes. However, this article covers Huangpu only within its pre-2011 border. Luwan is covered in the French Concession article. The green area on the map shows what this article covers, with both the Old City and Luwan excluded though both are officially part of Huangpu District.

Huangpu was Shanghai's fastest-growing district in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The more recent surge of growth — from the "reform and opening up" starting around 1978 to the present, with no sign of slowing down anytime soon — is much more broadly based, affecting not only all districts of Shanghai but the whole East China region and indeed most of the country. The fastest growth this time is in newly developing areas such as Pudong (across the river from Huangpu) and the SIP area of Suzhou. However, Huangpu is by no means being left out; several of Shanghai's main metro lines pass through it and it is well supplied with large new buildings and roads.

Understand
This whole area is full of historic buildings. Some of the oldest are in the old city, which we cover in a separate article. Outside of that, the main areas are the Bund, Nanjing Road East (Nanjing Road West is in nearby Jing'an District) and the area around People's Park. The contrasts in the area are fascinating, with centuries-old buildings in traditional Chinese styles in the Old Town, 19th and early 20th century styles through much of downtown and especially on the Bund, and a number of new skyscrapers as well.

The Bund
The Bund (外滩 Wàitān) is Shanghai's stately street of old colonial-era buildings and the first port of call for many visitors. The Bund was part of the British and American concessions, the financial center of the Far East until the 1930s. It has been referred to as "a museum of buildings", as many different styles of European buildings can be found here.

The Bund extends along the West bank of the Huangpu River and offers an excellent view of Pudong's skyscrapers on the East side. Photos of that view are very common, perhaps the best-known image of Shanghai. We have one in the Pudong article. Shanghai's Old Town (南市 Nanshi) is located next to the southern part of the Bund. Nanjing Road, a major shopping street, heads west from the Bund's centerpoint at the Peace Hotel.

There are no Metro stations on the Bund. However, East Nanjing Road station (lines and ) is only a 5-10 minute walk west of the Bund and many bus lines including #20 (from Zhongshan Park, following W. Nanjing Road to People's Sq., then Jiujiang Road to the Bund) and #37 will get you here. There is also a ferry terminal at the southern end of the Bund (well-signposted) with one ferry every ten minutes to and from Pudong (Dongchang Road on line ).

The area around the Bund, while touristy, is not traditionally a shopping area like nearby Nanjing Road. This has changed a bit in the early 2000s with the successive restoration and opening of No.3 and No.18 on the Bund. Each houses top-of-the-line couture houses, spas, expensive bars & restaurants and art spaces. They have become something of a destination in and by themselves, especially with the newly rich jetset. Dress well or expect curt service. See the buy section below for listings of some of these shops.

Nanjing Road East
Nanjing Road (南京路  Nánjīnglù) is the most important commercial street in Shanghai, with hundreds of shops, many with a rich history. In the 1930s it was named one of the World's Seven Great Roads, and it is now making a comeback after decades of Maoist austerity. The road starts at the Bund, goes a long way West, and has upmarket shopping most of the way. It is the world's longest shopping district, around 6 km long, and attracts over a million visitors a day.

The road has two sections, Nanjing Road East (南京东路 Nanjing Donglu) — running from the Bund to People's Square, and fully pedestrianized — which we describe here and Nanjing Road West (南京西路 Nanjing Xilu) — from People's Park West through Jing'an District — which we describe in the Jing'an article. There are metro stops named Nanjing Road East (lines and ) and Nanjing Road West (,  and ), with the People's Square Station (,  and ) between them and Jing'an Temple Station (,  and ) to the west. At Nanjing Road West the lines are not connected with each other yet, so you may have to exit the paid area and re-enter to the other line; an additional ticket will be required unless you are travelling with either a metro card or a one or three day pass. For more details, see Nanjing Road,

Both parts of Nanjing Road are mostly upmarket, both have many international brands and high-end Chinese products like good silk, but the East part has more of the flavour of historic Shanghai while the West is more brash and modern, catering more to the status-conscious luxury shopper.

The Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street is a car-free section from the Bund to People's Park. Among other things, it is known for its stationery and book stores. One of the largest is the Shanghai Book City which is all Chinese language. The Foreign Book Store just down the street caters more to Western tastes, but the other foreign language bookstore on Fuzhou Road (parallel to Nanjing Road, a couple of blocks South of it) is more popular with local expatriates.

People's Park
People's Square (人民广场 Rénmín Guǎngchǎng) is located in the heart of the city, and is in many ways the center of the city. A horse racing course in the colonial era and the place where one million Red Guards gathered in 1966, today's park is a comfortable place to spend an afternoon with many pigeons and lots of fresh air.

Underneath People's Square is a metro station that is one of the largest and busiest in Shanghai, where the most important North-South line, line, intersects the main East-West line, line. Line comes to this station as well. Next to the station and directly connected to it is a fairly large underground shopping area, good for clothing and souvenirs. See Shanghai for discussion of this area and other places with similar stuff.

By metro
Shanghai's first two metro lines were line running north-south and line  east-west. They intersect at People's Square station in Huangpu, and line now comes there as well; People's Square may be the busiest subway station on Earth. Line also runs through the district and line  runs along its southern edge. See Shanghai for more on metro lines in Huangpu and nearby areas.

By car
There are good roads into the area, notably Yan'an Elevated Road coming in from the west, a road running north-south along the river front — Zhongshan Road coming in from the south, a tunnel that runs under the central part of the Bund, and a bridge going into Hongkou at the north end — and a bridge going east to Pudong.

As a general rule, unless you have accommodation which includes parking it is not worth bringing a car into the area. If you have parking, park the vehicle and walk or take the metro for most trips. Driving in China is often difficult, though generally less so in Shanghai than in smaller cities. Also, Huangpu is the most central area in a city of well over 20 million; traffic jams are common and parking is nearly always very difficult.

Buy
In the tourist shops in this area some bargaining is definitely required to get a reasonable price. With the street vendors, it is generally required even to get close to reasonable.

Nanjing Road and the smaller streets off it have extensive shopping and many "husband daycare centers" (see ) where less enthusiastic shoppers can be amused for hours at fairly moderate cost.

There are a few shops along the Bund.

Fuzhou Road, running East-West parallel to Nanjing Road but two short blocks South of it, has a good foreign language bookstore, several other bookstores including one that specialises in art and architecture, and half a dozen shops selling artists' supplies.

There are two antique markets in the area, one with an entrance to your right off Fuzhou Road if you are walking away from the Bund, several blocks along, and another nearby in a basement accessible from one of the side streets between Fuzhou and Nanjing roads. Neither is well-marked (or at least not in English) so you may have to hunt for them, and some prices are outrageous, but they are worth a look. These places are more upmarket than most others in the city; if you want to buy, or just look at, things like jade carvings that might actually be worth a few thousand dollars, this is where they are. For more mundane antique markets, see Shanghai.

Splurge

 * Huanghe Rd (黄河路, next to Park Hotel) has an assembly of good but fairly expensive seafood restaurants in the Chinese style, geared more for larger groups and featuring fish tanks, meters of red plush and golden dragons encrusted on all available surfaces.
 * Huanghe Rd (黄河路, next to Park Hotel) has an assembly of good but fairly expensive seafood restaurants in the Chinese style, geared more for larger groups and featuring fish tanks, meters of red plush and golden dragons encrusted on all available surfaces.

All the major hotels do a large, high-quality, high-priced buffet breakfast which is available to anyone; you need not stay there to enjoy it.

Drink

 * (There are a Subway, a Mister Donut and a Cold Stone Creamery on the same side street.)
 * (There are a Subway, a Mister Donut and a Cold Stone Creamery on the same side street.)

Mid-range

Stay safe
This is a major tourist area and all sorts of people that prey on tourists are active here, especially around the Bund and Nanjing Road; you need to take precautions against common scams and pickpockets; see those articles for details.

There are also beggars, prostitutes and some rather aggressive sales people working the area. In general, these are best ignored, though you might try bargaining one of the sales people down to a reasonable price.

In the Nanjing Road area, never get taken in by the offers made for massage and follow the girls. A few might actually do massage, but many are prostitutes and some are just bait; they will take you to a secluded area where a group of men will threaten you, rob all your cash and take out money on your credit cards.

title: Shanghai/Huangpu


text:
Shanghai/Old City

The Old City is the area inside the ancient walled city of Shanghai; it is one of the most picturesque areas of the city, with many buildings in traditional Chinese style. Administratively the old city is part of Huangpu District, but it has its own distinct character and many tourist attractions so we treat it in a separate article.

Understand
The city began as a walled medieval town at least 1000 years ago. The walls, built mainly for protection against Japanese pirates, ringed the city around what are today Renmin and Zhonghua Roads. The walls have been demolished, but many locals still refer to localities by the names of the city gates - some of these have even become modern metro stops — Laoximen (old West gate) on lines and, and Xiaonanmen (little South gate) on line.

During the era of foreign concessions (1842–1937), the International Settlement and the French Concession developed North and West of it, but the old city remained entirely Chinese and foreigners seldom ventured there; these days there are more foreigners since the area has become one of Shanghai's main tourist attractions. The "Old Town" is not exclusively old; tall modern buildings have started shooting up around the two main streets of the area, but you still have a chance to take in the atmosphere if you wander into the quaint side streets.

The center of the area is around the City God Temple and Yuyuan Garden. Apart from the temple and the garden itself, the neighborhood has a large pond well-stocked with enormous and quite photogenic goldfish, a pretty teahouse in the middle of the pond, many interesting old buildings, and extensive tourist-oriented shopping.

Get in
City God Temple is near the center of the Old Town, and is surrounded by the central commercial area. If you speak Chinese or have the name written down, telling any cab driver either "Cheng Huang Miao" (城隍庙, "City God Temple") or "Yu Yuan" (豫园, "Yuyuan Garden") will get you to the central commercial area around the temple, though the immediate surroundings are a pedestrian-only area. If you are going anywhere else in the Old City, asking for "Nan Shi" (南市, "Nanshi", the former district that covered the Old City) will get you to the vicinity.

The area is now well served by the metro. Line Yuyuan Garden station, at the north end of the Old City, is not actually at the garden, but it is only a short walk and the area between is interesting, with several large markets selling knick-knacks and souvenirs. When it is completed in 2020, Line will also come here.

Line / Laoximen (old West gate) station and line Dashijie station are fairly close to the western part of the district (Dajing Tower). Line Xiaonanmen (little South gate) station is close to Dongjiadu Cathedral. There are also numerous bus routes that serve the Old City.

From the southern part of the Bund, the City God Temple / Yuyuan Garden area is only a 10-minute signposted walk. You can also take a ferry from Dongcheng road (near the line station) in Pudong to Jingling road south of the Bund and follow the above-mentioned signs. At Dongcheng Road Pier, the ferry departs from the right side - the other one goes to Fuxing Road which is less convenient.

Driving to this area is generally not a good idea since the streets are narrow and parking quite hard to find. There is a parking area quite close to the center, but it is only for tour buses.

Buy
There are a range of shops here, from quite large places on some of the main streets to groups of smaller shops along the alleys. The specialties are souvenirs and tourist trinkets, arts and crafts, and clothing. There are also a few large shops for upmarket jewellery.

If you plan to shop for antiques or Mao-era kitsch, the best route may be to take metro line or  to Laoximen, walk a bit North to the Dongtai Road market (see Shanghai), then head East into the Old City. The two bits of walking — metro stop to antique market then from there to Yuyuan Garden — are both fairly short; total distance is under 400m (a quarter mile).

See Shanghai and Shanghai for other places to shop for similar goods.

Eat
There are also a range of restaurants, including a few well known historic restaurants specializing in Shanghainese cuisine. The Old City is however best known for its diverse offering of snack foods or dianxin - tour the old city like a local, picking up snacks from stalls and stopping at bun restaurants and tea houses along the way.

For a historic Chinese area, Western fast-food chains are also surprisingly well represented; there is a very busy Starbucks right opposite the teahouse in the pond, a large KFC on the second floor above one of the larger shops, and various side streets have a Dairy Queen, another Starbucks and a couple of McDonalds.

Sleep
The old town has few hotels, but Huangpu District and the eastern part of the French Concession are within easy walking distance and are well-provided with hotels. You might also go further afield to more suburban areas with a better choice of moderately-priced accommodation and food; the Hongmei Lu area in Minhang or the area around Tongji University in Yangpu are both readily accessible from the old town via metro line.

title: Shanghai/Old City


text:
Shanghai/Pudong

Pudong (Chinese: 浦东 Pǔdōng) is a district of Shanghai on the eastern side of the Huang Pu River, an ultra-modern business hub full of high-rise buildings including several of the world's tallest.

Understand
The term "Pudong" is somewhat ambiguous:
 * This article covers the highly developed central area.
 * Officials and media often use it for the much larger administrative district Pudong New Area. This includes the large suburban area Nanhui to the south, which has a separate article.
 * Taken literally, it just means "east of the Huang Pu". West of the river is Puxi.

As part of Deng Xiao Ping's "Reform and Opening Up" program starting in the late 1970s, China introduced a program of Special Economic Zones to encourage development and foreign investment. The program has been quite successful and all those zones have seen rapid development. Pudong New Area may be the most successful of the lot; in particular, the pace of development in the downtown Pudong area which this article covers has been absolutely phenomenal. Until about 1990 Pudong was mostly farmland and low-rise residential or factory areas. An urban planning site has "Pudong Miracle" photos showing the same view in 1990 and 2010; the contrast is incredible. They also have an interesting critique of the urban design.

The most highly developed area of Pudong is Lujiazui, a peninsula sticking out into the Huang Pu directly across from Downtown Shanghai, the older center of town on the Puxi (west) side. The banner photo at the top of the page is within Luziajui; the photo on the right is a view of Lujiazui from the Bund, a riverside boulevard in Puxi. This is a view that is photographed a great deal.

Century Avenue is the main drag of Lujiazui and extends inland beyond there, ending at Century Park. It is about 5 km (3 miles) long. Most of Pudong's tourist attractions are on or near that street, either in Lujiazui or a short way inland. The first four stops east of the river on Metro line are on the street, while the fifth, Century Park, is on the other side of the park.

Get in
There is no bridge for pedestrians to cross, so if coming from the west side of the Huangpu River, your options are metro, taxi, ferry, sightseeing tunnel or bus. The cheapest way is to take the ferry from the Bund, near Yan'an Donglu, at the price of ¥2. Using the metro costs only a bit more.

By metro
Many lines of the Shanghai metro serve Pudong. Four of them meet at Century Avenue Station: Lines, , , and  also go to both Puxi and Pudong.

By sightseeing tunnel
A much more expensive way of crossing the river is the Bund Sightseeing Tunnel (north of the Peace Hotel), basically an overpriced 647 m underground travelator featuring several minutes of blinking lights at ¥45 a pop. (This "ride" lacks creativity or exhilaration, but toddlers who like to move at slow speeds and witness a few harmless props might enjoy it.)

By car
Yan'an Tunnel is the main road in and out of the district for cars. Expect a long line of cars throughout rush hours (also 17:00-21:00 on weekends) where you can get stuck up to 30 min. If you need to cross by taxi at these hours, try to talk your driver into using Renmin Lu Tunnel further south.

By plane
Coming in from Pudong Airport, the choices are taxi at around ¥150, Metro Line which runs until 21:00, or a magnetic levitation train. The Maglev runs only at 300 km/h since 2021 (some trains did run 430km/h till then). The in-town terminus is Longyang Rd Station with connections to metro lines, and. Travel time is around 10 minutes. It finishes running at about 21:30. Maglev tickets cost ¥50 single (¥40 with flight ticket for the same day), or ¥80 return.

By foot
Many tourists will just take Metro Line to Lujiazui Station and walk from there.

There is an elevated walkway that runs over the roads from the station to the Pearl Tower and the World Financial Centre via the Super Brand Mall and the IFC Mall. Some attractions can also be reached via tunnels from the station.

Metro Line 2
Line is the main east-west line through Shanghai and the city's busiest line, averaging 1.5 million rides a day.

On the Puxi side it runs under Nanjing Road through downtown and out to Hongqiao Airport and Hongqiao Railway station near its western end. In Pudong it runs through downtown under Century Avenue, and extends to Pudong Airport at its eastern end.

Metro Line 4
Line is another important one for Puxi-Pudong connections. It is a circular line which encompasses most of central Shanghai. Most of it is in Puxi, but it also comes into Pudong. Century Avenue Station, mentioned above, is the main connecting point, but there are other stations in Pudong.

Other metro lines
Lines, , , , , and  also cross the river and provide Puxi/Pudong connections.

Lines and  are both entirely on the Pudong side of the river and both run roughly north-south. Line runs near the river, from the northern edge of Pudong through the center then southwest. Line runs south from Longyang Road Station into Nanhui, all the way to the southeast corner of Shanghai.

The ultra-fast (over 400 km/h, 250 mph) magnetic levitation train (the maglev) is also entirely on the Pudong side of the river; it runs from Pudong Airport to Longyan Road Station.

See
Many of the sights of Pudong are the large buildings of Lujiazui, all built since 1990. As of mid-2017 the area has three buildings on Wikipedia's list of the world's 50 tallest, including two in the top ten. Counting the Pearl Tower — which does not make that list because it does not have floors all the way up — there are four buildings over 400 m, a quarter mile high.

The area also has other attractions.

Sleep
Hotels in Pudong cater mostly to the business traveller. For a wider range of choices or to be closer to the main tourist sights, look in Puxi instead.

Mid-range

 * Historic 1934 Hotel Shanghai Mansions or Broadway Mansions just over the bridge from the north-end of the Bund, have reasonable rates and great views from the river-view rooms.
 * Historic 1934 Hotel Shanghai Mansions or Broadway Mansions just over the bridge from the north-end of the Bund, have reasonable rates and great views from the river-view rooms.
 * Historic 1934 Hotel Shanghai Mansions or Broadway Mansions just over the bridge from the north-end of the Bund, have reasonable rates and great views from the river-view rooms.
 * Historic 1934 Hotel Shanghai Mansions or Broadway Mansions just over the bridge from the north-end of the Bund, have reasonable rates and great views from the river-view rooms.
 * Historic 1934 Hotel Shanghai Mansions or Broadway Mansions just over the bridge from the north-end of the Bund, have reasonable rates and great views from the river-view rooms.

Entry and Exit Bureau
The main Shanghai office of the Entry and Exit Bureau is located in Pudong.

Nearest metro station is Science and Technology Museum on Line. Leave via exit 3 and you will be facing east as you come off the escalator; continue east along the sidewalk. It is two fairly long blocks, about a 5 minute walk. At a big intersection after the Pudong Expo building you will see the bureau (a sort of oval-shaped building) to the right. The office faces on the other street, Ming Sheng Rd; cut diagonally through the parking area to reach the entrance.

Take the escalator up to the third floor for the area that serves foreigners. (First floor issues Chinese passports, second is for Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan residents.) Take a number from the ticket machine. There are different series of numbers for different services; an English-speaking staff member is at the machine to ensure you get the right one.

Everyone will need a photo to put on the visa form and a photocopy of the main page of the passport; for an extension, you also need a photocopy of the current visa. Photocopies can be obtained on the third floor (back left hand corner of the room, as seen by someone facing the service counters) and photos on the ground floor (under the escalators).

Be prepared for a bit of a wait; this is a large office and quite efficient but there were over 200,000 foreigners in Shanghai as of the 2010 census. If each of them renews their visa once a year, that works out to over 750 people per working day. Expect to wait for anything from 30 minutes to three hours to submit an application and anything from three days to two weeks for them to process it. For the shortest wait, arrive around 08:30, queue until 08:45 when the doors open, get a number and hope to be served shortly after the counters open at 09:00.

When you submit an application, they will give you a form with date and cost for pickup of your passport with the new visa. Pickup is on the ground floor, off to the right as you enter the building. You need to queue twice, first (with the form in hand) to pay and then (receipt in hand) to get your passport.

This office (third floor) also issues a form which many consulates require if you apply to replace a lost or stolen passport; you need a police report for the loss or theft to get that form. Once you have the new passport you need to return here to get a new visa. The process as a whole is remarkably tedious and annoying.

Go next
The obvious place to go is the rest of Shanghai, especially downtown Puxi which is right across the river and has most of the city's tourist sites and facilities. Shanghai also includes several quite scenic water towns.

Nanhui is just south of central Pudong, and has some beaches popular as a weekend getaway for Shanghai residents. It also has the Shanghai Disney Resort.

For possibilities outside Shanghai Municipality, see the Shanghai article,.

title: Shanghai/Pudong


text:
Shanghai/Putuo

Putuo (local government) is a district in Shanghai.

By train
Shanghai West Station is located in this district and is served by a few daily trains from around the area. Sales of tickets for travel within the same city are no longer permitted, so going to Shanghai Station now requires use of the subway or bus.

By metro
This area is crossed by a few metro lines. With line, will get you into the south part and take you all the way to  in the north.

Caoyang Rd. metro station (lines, and ) is located in the district, but the main attractions in the area require a bus ride from the station. Line now runs further into this district, but taxis may be hard to find outside some of the stations (for example, going from Zhenru station to the nearest shopping center is a rather arduous journey on foot with no bus service while going the other way there are taxis and pedicabs which make the journey significantly quicker and easier; passengers going to the Meichuan Rd/Zhenguang Rd area are advised to take the subway to Shanghai West one stop over to aid in finding transportation). In addition, the new line extends into this district.

By bus
Bus #947 runs from Zhongshan Park Metro station (lines, and ) through the important points in the district. Bus #837 runs from the main train station (lines, and ), #827 from Beixinjing station (line ) and Shuicheng Rd (line ), and #876 from Songhong Rd (line ) and Caoyang Rd (lines ,  and ). Also, Bus #807 runs from Hongqiao airport. In addition to these, Changzhen line 1 runs from Shanghai West and Qilianshan Rd stations (both line ).

M50 art district
This is an area of studios in a former textile factory at 50 Moganshan Road, along Suzhou Creek. Like Beijing's 798 district it is one of the main centers of contemporary Chinese art.

It now has dozens of studios, most of them open to the public, over 100 artists, and many galleries:

title: Shanghai/Putuo


text:
Shanghai/Yangpu

Yangpu (杨浦区 Yángpǔqū) is one of the districts that comprise the city centre of Shanghai. It is located northeast of the downtown core and is predominantly made up of residential communities. It is also home to the main campuses of two of China's most prestigious universities, Fudan University and Tongji University. For shoppers, the commercial core of the district is near Wujiaochang (五角场 Wǔjiǎochǎng; literally Five Corners Square) with a large group of shopping centres, restaurants, and entertainment surrounding a major roundabout.

Get in
The best way to get into Yangpu District from downtown Shanghai is by taking Shanghai Metro Lines 8 or 10 northbound. Both lines connect important locations in downtown Shanghai (Line 8 from People's Square; Line 10 from East Nanjing Road and Yuyuan Garden) and traverse through the district, ultimately terminating in the northern reaches of Yangpu. In addition, Line 10 connects directly to Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station and Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, both important transportation hubs. Numerous bus services also connect Yangpu and the surrounding areas.

Metro Line 4
Metro Line 4, known as the ring line, straddles the southwestern boundary of Yangpu District with Hongkou District, traversing below Dalian Road (大连路). The only two stations that serve Yangpu District (near its boundary with Hongkou District) are Dalian Road station (大连路站) and Yangshupu Road station (杨树浦路站).

Metro Line 8
Metro Line 8 connects People's Square and destinations further south to important destinations north of the city in Yangpu District, as well as in neighbouring Hongkou District. It serves mostly residential neighbourhoods along the route, but stations of note are Siping Road station (四平路站), which serves as an interchange station with Line 10, the other major metro line in Yangpu District, and Huangxing Park Station (黄兴公园站), with Huangxing Park (黄兴公园) nearby. Navigation tip: When taking Line 8 from the downtown core to Yangpu District, follow signs to trains bound for Shiguang Road station (市光路站).

Metro Line 10
Metro Line 10 is the newest line into Yangpu District and serves many points of interest in Yangpu District. Two important locations served by this line are: Navigation tip: When taking Line 10 from the downtown core to Yangpu District, follow signs to trains bound for Xinjiangwancheng station (新江湾城站).
 * Tongji University (同济大学), a prestigious university in China, located just outside Tongji University station (同济大学站)
 * Wujiaochang (五角场), the primary commercial area of Yangpu District, served by either Wujiaochang station (五角场站) or Jiangwan Stadium station (江湾体育场站). Despite the former being named for the area itself, the latter is actually closer to much of the shopping and entertainment.

By train
If you are travelling to Yangpu District from Shanghai Railway Station, take Line 3 to Hongkou Football Stadium station (虹口足球场站), where you can transfer to Line 8 to continue your journey. Beware though that the interchange at Hongkou Football Stadium requires transferring from an elevated station to an underground station, which could mean many steps and a lengthy transfer. Alternatively, you can take Line 4 to Hailun Road station (海伦路站), where you can transfer to Line 10 to continue your journey. The platforms of both lines are underground at Hailun Road, so the interchange may be faster. The platforms of Line 3 and 4 are located in Shanghai Railway Station's North Square (北广场), so make sure you head toward the North Square and not the South Square, which hosts the platform for Line 1 only.

By plane
If you are travelling to Yangpu District from Pudong Airport, the journey by metro would involve taking Line 2 to Century Avenue station (世纪大道站) and transferring to Line 4, which takes you across the Huangpu River directly into Yangpu District. A transfer to Line 10 can be achieved at Hailun Road station (海伦路站). If your final stop is on Line 8, however, it may be more worthwhile to take Line 2 all the way to People's Square station, and transfer to Line 8 directly from there. Alternatively, you can take the Airport No. 4 bus (机场四线) from the bus terminal at Shanghai Pudong International Airport, which is an express bus that takes you directly to Wujiaochang. Depending on traffic conditions, this may be faster; in addition, the bus travels over the Yangpu Bridge (杨浦大桥), crossing the Huangpu River from Pudong New Area to Yangpu District.

See
Visit one of the many educational institutions that call Yangpu home. The two major, well-known universities in Yangpu District are Fudan University and Tongji University. Other smaller universities include the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and the Shanghai Institute of Physical Education.

Buy
Wanda Plaza (formerly Wujiaochang Shopping Center) is the favorite entertainment spot for university students and locals on the north side. A good selection of restaurants can be found in the plaza, along with box stores and a cinema.

Eat
Due to the large number of students, Yangpu is a budget-friendly location for food. A small and suspicious-looking alleyway off Wudong Road (武东路), near the main campus of Fudan University, is alive with friendly street food vendors nearly any time of day. They move to Fudan's north gate after 21:30.

title: Shanghai/Yangpu


text:
Shanghai/Zhabei

Zhabei (闸北 Zháběi) is a district in Shanghai, located North of Suzhou Creek. Although it lacks tourist attractions it is being developed into a modern commercial area.

Zhabei is now (since mid-2017) administered as part of Jing'an District to the south, but we still treat them separately on Wikivoyage.

See

Buy
There is a large group of photo equipment stores near the station; see Downtown Shanghai for details.

Eat
The area around Shanghai University (line to Yanchang Road station) has some cheap eateries for the student market. There are also several restaurants around the South Square outside the railway station; they include several Western fast-food places — McDonalds, KFC and Mr. Donut — as well as Chinese food places.

There are many restaurants in the Daning shopping area.

title: Shanghai/Zhabei


text:
Shanghai/Zhujiajiao

Zhujiajiao (Chinese: 朱家角; Pinyin: Zhūjiājiǎo Zhèn; Zhujiajiao means "Zhu Family Settlement") is a township in the Qingpu District of Shanghai. The population of Zhujiajiao is around 60,000. The town has a very vibrant ancient water village that is the focus of this article.

Formed 1,700 years ago, Zhujiajiao was an important trading hub for the surrounding countryside, and many of the buildings that can be seen there today date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. Traditionally, goods and people were ferried on the small canals from house to house, passing under the 36 ancient stone bridges that are all still in use by locals and tourists alike.

Understand
The settlement of Zhujiajiao dates back longer, but by the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) it was well established as an important marketplace for the surrounding countryside. It was granted township status during the reign of the Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. It's at the intersection of a number of local rivers, and it prospered through trade in rice and cloth, transported on boats from the surrounding countryside right to the houses of the Zhujiajiao merchants.

The ancient district of Zhujiajiao occupies about 3 km², and exploring it thoroughly will take you about two hours - more if you reserve some time for some of the numerous teahouses, coffeehouses, bars and restaurants. While a lot of streets have become very touristy, you may also find alleys which are still the home of local residents - mainly elderly people and even people of a slightly bohemian streak. Doors are often left ajar, and little distinction is made between the house and the alleyway as people go about their day.

Having been a pretty sleepy town in the past, Zhujiajiao is now in a new era. The tourists that stroll along the waterways are the main source of income for the inhabitants. Some young bohemian people from Shanghai and elsewhere have settled in Zhujiajiao as well. The ancient quarter sports a number of artsy bars, cafes and shops that make for great hideouts if you tire of the pushier merchants in the main streets.

By metro
The fastest way to get to Zhujiajiao is by using Shanghai Metro Line, colored light brown on system maps, which connects to the rest of the network at Hongqiao Railway Station. Take a Line 17 train bound for Oriental Land (东方绿舟) from Hongqiao Railway Station (be careful, during rush hours, some trains only go to Dianshanhu Avenue, which does not go to Zhujiajiao), and get off the train at Zhujiajiao station. The fare from People's Square is ¥9. The ancient town is still about 2 km away. You can walk north on Zhuxi Road (珠溪路) for one block (look for the large brown road sign that directs you to Zhujiajiao Ancient Town), and turn right (east) onto Xiangningbang Road (祥凝浜路). From there, you can either walk for 1 km or catch a quick bus ride (two stops) at the bus stop on the south side of the street using Zhujiajiao Bus No. 2 (朱家角2路) (fare is ¥1) to the south gate of the ancient town.

By bus
Another way to get to Zhujiajiao is to take a bus from the bus station at the Puanlu (普安路) bus station near People's Square or the bus station at Shanghai Ti Yu Guan Station (上海体育馆站) both in Shanghai. Make sure you take the bus line called Hùzhū Gāosù Kuàixiàn (沪朱高速快线) - they usually use pink buses. This should take around 1 hour and the fare is about ¥12. There are other bus lines, but they can sometimes take up to 2 hours. These cheaper options do not take the main highway, are much more crowded at peak hours and stop at every stop, filling the bus to absolute standing capacity. Don't worry about where to get off, Zhujiajiao is the end terminal. Also, make sure you don't miss the last bus back to Puanlu, which departs at about 21:00.

By taxi
You can get to Zhujiajiao by taxi, but it will usually set you back between ¥150-200.

See
The town is arguably the best preserved of the river towns in Shanghai's vicinity, and the main charm of the town lies in strolling its streets. There are however quite a few specific sights. Many of them require you to have a ticket, which can be bought at the main entrance and includes a map and guide pamphlet. About a kilometer long, Bei Dajie (North Street) is the main thoroughfare in old Zhujiajiao. Lined with old buildings, some many hundred years old, it makes for a nice stroll, from the Fansheng bridge in the northeast to the Handicraft Exhibition Hall and the Tongtianhe Pharmacy in the southwest.

There is a nominal ¥10 charge to even enter the old district, but you many not be asked to pay it - there are many ways into the old district, most of them without any formal entrance.

Different plans can be bought that include different number of attractions depending on how long you want to stay. The prices range from ¥35 (4 attractions) to ¥80 (12 attractions plus the boat ride). However, monitor your time closely as most of the buildings close at 16:30 sharp, and the tickets are only valid for a day.

Bridges
Bridges are something of a star attraction of Zhujiajiao, which sports no less than 36 stone bridges. Most are only a few meters long and broad enough for a pushcart. Many of them are very old, dating back as early as the Ming dynasty.

Boatrides
Two kinds of boat rides are available in Zhujiajiao.

 * Canal gondolas. These small gondolas are ubiquitous and are a nice way to get a view of the town from the water. Each gondola can seat 6 people, and they are available for two kinds of trips - short distance (¥60 per boat) and long distance (¥120 per boat). The short distance will only take you up and down the main canal, while the long distance basically takes you all over town and back. Tickets are available in the small wooden ticket booths that can be found next to all major tourist sites in town.
 * Lake trips. If you want to take a trip out on the lake, larger boats are available at No. 60 Dongjing Street. The tickets for these trips are charged per person, and will usually cost you between ¥40-60 for a trip, lasting either 30 minutes or and hour, depending on which boat you choose.

Cafes & Teahouses

 * Book Room (Books Tearoom 书房) 漕河街35号 (No. 35 Caohe Street) A Cafe with about 30,000 Chinese books and more than 7000 DVDs, just like a mini library.They also provide organic drinks and home made food, amazing place.
 * Time of China. 东湖街34号 (No. 34 Donghu Street) A nice little teahouse, next to "HEIMa bar" and "Cloth of the Centuries".
 * Bum Cafe (游民咖啡)  漕河街44号 (No. 44 Caohe Street). A good place to go if you have a craving for coffee or tea. It's a homey cafe on two floors that also stocks a selection of cookies and sweets.

Entertainment

 * Every year, usually the last week of October, there is a music festival in Zhujiajiao.
 * On 东湖街19号 (No. 19 Donghu Street) there is a fortune teller. He is a friendly and eccentric old man who dresses in traditional yellow silk clothing and a black top hat. You'll know that you are in the right place when you see the songbirds and parrots that he keeps outside his house.

Buy
There are countless little shops in Zhujiajiao, everything from the usual T-shirt salesmen to handmade textiles and antique carved wood sculptures and furniture.

Eat

 * You will find a cool restaurant next to the bar Zher close to the north entrance on No. 120 Xijing Street. They have two spacious rooms furnished old wooden chairs and tables in rustic old stone house. It's owned by a photographer, who showcases some of his work on the walls of the dining room. Compared to other places the menu is refreshingly selective. They also serve coffee, tea and cold beer. Price range is usually ¥40-60 per person.

Sleep

There is a hostel on Xijing street, ask for directions. Zher would be a good place, as the owner speaks some English. The owner of HEIMa bar also rents out an apartment for short term stay.

title: Shanghai/Zhujiajiao


text:
Shangli

Shànglǐ (上里) is a historical village located near Ya'an, Sichuan, China. It's a great, unspoilt place to stop between Chengdu, Leshan or Emei and Kangding.

Understand
Shànglǐ was once an important stop on the Silk Road (the Horse and Tea route) and during the Long March. Many slogans can still be seen around the town, carved into rock by the Red Army. Shànglǐ is also known for its 8 different stone bridges of varying style which cross the waterways surrounding the town on all sides.

Tourism here is picking up again after the Sichuan earthquake, but most of the tourists are predominantly domestic Chinese and foreigners are still somewhat of a novelty.

Get in
Minibuses bound for Shànglǐ can be caught from outside the tourist bus station in Ya'an which is a short rickshaw ride (¥6) away from the main bus station.

Get around
Walk! The town isn't large.

See
Exploring on foot is easy enough to do. Look out for:

the bamboo water wheel.

the eight stone bridges of varying style - in particular, look out for Erxian Bridge, made purely out of stone fashioned into a high arch.

the pagoda across the fields opposite town next to the pass through the hillocks which goes to Shànglǐ proper.

the Red Army stone carvings, a display of which can be seen on the riverbank pathway next to where you get down off the minibus.

the Han courtyard.

the semi-restored, ancient mill.

Do
Relax, and absorb the village's atmosphere.

Wander into the surrounding countryside.

Buy
A plethora of stores catering to the domestic Chinese tourists. Don't expect any English to be spoken!

Eat
Next to the square outside the Han courtyard, there is a little noodle shop offering the seemingly local specialty 大肉面 (dàròumiàn; pork fat noodle soup), but if you don't want the fat, go for the 牛肉面 (nǐuròumiàn; beef noodle soup) done in a similar way. The eatery has photos of the head chef with some famous person (I couldn't determine who) in a bigger restaurant which made it look more promising than others.

Drink
Relax in the large, comfortable bamboo chairs located right next to the streams. One restaurant has them situated right on the bank of the river but it is quite pricey. Another store, right next to the bamboo waterwheel, has chairs for customers seeking pricey tea, but they don't seem to mind if you buy cheaper refreshments from their store and drink them sitting there.

Sleep
Within the Han courtyard itself, there is a new, somewhat atmospheric, cheap hotel with great views - 银杏苑 (Yínxìngyuàn) offering ¥50 for a single with TV & ensuite (Ph: 08352316682 / 13980175152 / 13882439152). Definitely recommended!

Apparently, there is a cheaper place in town if you want to go out seeking it.

Go next
Take the minibus out of town that you used to get into town.

title: Shangli


text:
Shangrila

Shangrila (香格里拉, Xiānggélǐlā; སེམས་ཀྱི་ཉི་ཟླ, Semkyi'nyida; formerly Zhongdian 中甸 Zhōngdiàn in Chinese, and Gyalthang རྒྱལ་ཐང། in Tibetan) is in Yunnan Province. The second town with this name is in Sichuan, and known as the gateway to Yading National Park.

Understand
Historically, this area was part of the old Tibetan province of Kham but the Qing Dynasty made it administratively part of Yunnan Province in the 18th century. Today, the town is split between Tibetan and ethnic Han residents, as well as a fair smattering of Naxi, Bai, Yi and Lisu, with the surrounding countryside almost entirely Tibetan.

While the crass name change in 2001 was a sign of the desire for increasing mass tourism a la Lijiang, the town has nowhere near Lijiang's crowds, and it's still possible to experience the area's Tibetan heritage and see gorgeous countryside in near isolation.

Zhongdian was renamed Shangrila for marketing reasons, however, signs in bus stations still use Zhongdian. There is also a third name in Tibetan, Gyelthang. The original Shangrila, from James Hilton's novel The Lost Horizon, was a (fictional) hidden paradise whose inhabitants lived for centuries. Hilton (who never went to China) located his Shangri-La in the Kunlun mountains which form the border between Tibet and Xinjiang near the southern branch of the old Silk Road. The Hunza Valley in Pakistan claims to be "the original Shangrila".

Elements of Hilton's story were apparently inspired by National Geographic articles about various places in eastern Tibet, written by an American who lived in Lijiang, hence China's rationale for claiming the name. Local Khampa Tibetans claim that the name Shangri-la was most likely derived from their word for paradise "Shambala," by Hilton through exposure to Rock's writings on the region.

By bus

 * Lijiang to Shangrila - these days a fast 2½ hours on the expressway.
 * Dali to Shangrila is a 6-hour drive - both night and day buses do this run.
 * Kunming to Shangrila is a 12-hour drive - also serviced by both night and day buses.
 * Panzhihua to Shangrila takes 12 hours, passing through Lijiang. There seems to be one bus per day, leaving at 17:00. Cost is around ¥140.
 * Deqin to Shangrila is a windy 4-hour drive (April 2017) it used to be much longer but the road condition is great now. The town of Benzilan, which lies about midway is worth stopping off at in its own right, and breaks the journey up nicely.

Shangrila is the important stop for the journey from Yunnan to Tibet (G214), with regular buses to Lhasa and Chamdo. see also Overland to Tibet.

 * Lhasa - there are several buses to Lhasa from the bus station, you should ask at the bus station as it is not a daily schedule. You could choose the seat bus or the sleeper bus. The cost for the bus is around ¥550 and takes about 4 days for the trip. Although it is convenient for travellers, it misses much of the great views along the route.
 * Chamdo - there is also a bus to Chamdo, an important city in East Tibet. Unfortunately, this bus is even less frequent than the Lhasa bus so it is important to check at the bus station for the itinerary.

Contrary to what the Lonely Planet guidebook says, it is relatively simple to get to Chengdu from Shangrila. Firstly, a sleeper bus to Pan Zhi Hua (攀枝花) at 17:10, with dinner break, arriving at 05:00. A 25-minute taxi journey (¥70-80 for 1 to 4 people; which bus driver almost push you) to the train station to catch a midday train to Chengdu (there is a bus 64 stop near station but don't know if it allows to go to train station and at what time it starts). No 08:00 train, next 12:00. This arrives at 23:15 and costs ¥82 for a hard seat. All in all, 31 hours from Shangrila to Chengdu at a cost of ¥315. At Pan Zhi Hua, there are 2 internet shops, one opposite the police station (¥3/hr, no Wi-Fi), and one near the market with a metal platform (named something like 'lo san', 1st floor, ¥3/hr, no Wi-Fi).

Get around
The main area of town runs along the north–south running Changzheng Road. The old town is at the south end of Changzheng Road, and the bus station is at the north end of town.

By bus
The bus costs ¥2.
 * Number 1- From the old city to the Bus station and Continues north.
 * Number 2-
 * Number 3- Songzanlin Monastery.

By motorcycle
Turtle Mountain Gear & Outfitters offer motorcycle rentals (dirt bikes of 200 cc) as well as 110 cc minibike adventures. Another motorbike tours and rental service is available at Kersang´s Relay Station.

By bicycle
Renting a bike is a great way to see Shangri-La, the old town and the surrounding attractions. A decent mountain bike will cost ¥20-30 per day to rent. One warning to cyclists, some of the rental stores in the old town can be dangerous to rent from, as they refuse to provide tire repair kits and spare tires. If you get a flat tire they also will not pick you up, saying it is not their problem, then when you return they charge you to repair the flat. When asked to call for pickup they wanted to charge ¥200. Enjoy cycling but beware of the first rental store at the corner of Dawa Road, called 枫星户外 (FengXing Outdoor). The rentals from Yak Bar next door are a good choice though, and the boss there is quite friendly (just across from the Old Town parking lot and main entrance).

See

 * The third floor of the Tsongkapa Temple has a small room with a resident Lama giving blessings to worshippers.
 * Away from the large Tsongkapa and Sakyamuni Temples are two smaller ones which are worth visiting. If you are facing the main temples, they are just to your left down the hill towards the large white chorten.
 * The one closet to the chorten is a Bon temple, the religion which predates Buddhism's acceptance in Tibet during the 9th century AD. Bon emphasizes the protective forces of nature, especially of mountains, and includes Shamanism and elements of black magic.
 * The second has some of the best artwork in the Monastery. From the second floor, you can access the roof for a commanding view of the area. There is a Bon temple on this floor as well with some fairly dark demonic images. In the courtyard lies a very old Tibeten Mastiff who has lived there since he was born in 1994!
 * The chorten is worth a walk to and is arguably one of the more important places for local people to worship on the Monastery grounds. It was built in 1981 in honor of the 10th Panchen Lama's visit to Shangri-la for the opening of the newly restored monastery which had been destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. For local Tibetans the 10th Panchen Lama is considered one of the most important religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism. You can see his portrait throughout the Monastery. Take a walk around it clockwise, spin its prayer wheels, and have a fabulous view of Shika Snow Mountain from its west side.
 * On the way down the long stairs leading to the main entrance/ exit of the Monastery are several smaller temples. They are quite interesting and few tourists visit them, especially the one to the right as you descend the stairs towards the entrance. Look for its beautiful rose garden.
 * Bus 3 goes direct to the Monastery, filled with pilgrims. For foreign passengers the bus driver will stop at the ticket office and gesture wildly for you to buy a ticket and may not let you continue onwards unless you do. Monks claim the ticket revenue goes to tourist company and not the Monastery.
 * Bus 3 goes direct to the Monastery, filled with pilgrims. For foreign passengers the bus driver will stop at the ticket office and gesture wildly for you to buy a ticket and may not let you continue onwards unless you do. Monks claim the ticket revenue goes to tourist company and not the Monastery.

Buy
The city is famous for Tibetan jewelry, yak tails, Nixi pottery, Yi lacquerware, Dried matsutake mushroom and Tibetan medicinal herbs. Very good Tibetan incense. For shopping the new town is better than the old, cheaper prices. There is no problem to find an ATM (one near the "entrance" of the old district).

Budget
Several budget guesthouses can be found in the old part of town, prices for a double should be in the region of ¥50 per night (low season). Heating is not provided even in the winter months, but additional blankets are happily provided and electric blankets are common.

Cope
Be aware of the risk of altitude sickness. Zhongdian is at 3,200 m vs 2,000 for Dali or Kunming. Plan your trip to allow time to acclimatise.

There is a cheap laundry service in dawa lu near old district. Costs ~¥2-3/piece.

Stay safe

 * Beware of local scam: men selling nuts and sweets by weight for an outrageous price.
 * Another tourist trap is the Tibetan medical man in a Tibetan herbal museum, which most of the guided tours will arrange to visit without informing you. The medical man in a private room, will look at your palm, and telling you that you suffer from certain health problems, and they can help you to cure it by their herbal prescription. If you are from overseas, they will suggested a 3 months prescription, costing hundreds to thousands of Reminbi. You may be facing undue pressure by their sometime health threatening talk or persuasion. If you are from the same religion, it will be added psychological pressure. An obvious tourist trap using medicine and religion.
 * Tangka painting - private tour will take you to a tangka exhibition, a form of Tibetan traditional painting. Tangka painting is linked to religion, not purely traditional painting. A guided tour will bring you to the exhibition, a lecture related to religion will take place in a room, after the talk, the speaker will give you a card with religion content, and pursue to buy tangka painting under undue pressure to buy linking with religion. It is ¥100 per tangka.
 * Herbal medicine, they will say it is better as it is grow in the higher attitude than Schechuan or other part of China. Unless you know the price and quality of the herbal medicine, it is better to avoid it as it is very expensive.
 * Oxygen - The tour guide will tell you that oxygen is a must in snow mountain tour, they will tell you the oxygen you buy at Lijiang or other place is of lesser quality, sometime they will tell you it led to poisoning. The oxygen you buy is of better quality, it is pure oxygen. Advise to take one tank before going to the snow mountain, and buy another tank to be used while at the mountain. Each bottle or tank is cost ¥50-55, ¥100 for 2 bottles. The tour guide that warned you of highland sickness will earn a commission on that as a little card issued by the shop will be given to tour guide to exchange with a bottle of mineral water. A little card determined how many oxygen bottles been sold. A bottle of oxygen will normally cost ¥15-20 per bottle. Oxygen requirement depended on the individual health condition, normally you do not need it, if you are fearful of the highland sickness, just buy one bottle. There will be unused oxygen bottle available as many may not need that.
 * Don't panic, just avoid large group organised travel, or hiring a guide through large agencies. Check first if guides run on a kickback basis (the norm and officially sanctioned throughout Yunnan.)

Go next

 * Chengdu, see get in/around

title: Shangrila


text:
Shannan (prefecture)

Shannan prefecture (山南地区; Shānnán Dìqū Tibetan: ལྷོ་ཁ་ས་ཁུལ་ Lhokha) is in Tibet.

Cities

 * . The regional headquarters of Shannon prefecture
 * . Location of the famous Samye Monastery.
 * . The regional headquarters of Shannon prefecture
 * . Location of the famous Samye Monastery.

Understand
Shannan prefecture is located south of Lhasa, covering an area between the Yarlung Tsangpo River and the Bhutan border. The prefecture lies at an average height of 3,600 meters above sea level, and with its mild climate and wide valleys is considered the most fertile place in Tibet. The region played an important role in Tibetan history, and many consider it be the birthplace of Tibetan culture. The prefectural headquarters, Tsethang, is located in the Yarlung valley, and it is connected to Lhasa by a paved and reasonably well maintained road.

See

 * Samye Monastery located in Samye. The first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.
 * Tombs of Tibetan Kings - traditional burial area which has the Tomb of Songtsan Gambo within it.

title: Shannan (prefecture)


text:
Shannon

Shannon is a town and airport in County Clare in the west of Ireland. The airport came first, as a stopover for early transatlantic flights, then an industrial zone and new town grew beside it. These are unattractive: don't worry, Ireland gets better once you drive clear of the airport, and Shannon is a good entry point to this scenic and historic region.

Understand
In 1946 commercial transatlantic flights re-started after the war, but aircraft range was limited and they faced stiff headwinds going west. Airports were therefore needed as far east as possible in North America, e.g., at Gander in Newfoundland, and as far west as possible in Europe, e.g., at Prestwick in Scotland and Shannon in Ireland. This was also important for military flights, and the airports were equipped with very long runways to handle the largest aircraft; they became hubs of local industry. From the 1950s aircraft speed, range and capacity extended, notably with the Boeing 707, and it was foreseen that these airports would be bypassed once Europe to USA non-stop flight became routine. The response here was to create Shannon Free Zone as a duty-free port and industrial zone. Shannon town itself was built in the 1960s to serve the airport and industrial park, but like other "New Towns" of that era, it was ugly and in parts shoddy. Over the following years its fortunes rose and fell along with the Irish economy, booming during the "Celtic Tiger" years of the 1990s, slumping when the dot-com, property and banking bubbles burst. In the 21st century budget leisure flights greatly expanded (Dublin airport benefited even more). So while Shannon is still a springboard to North America, it's nowadays more a portal for tourism into the scenic west of Ireland.

Shannon's other attraction for aviation is that it's virtually free of fog and snow, with mild sou'westerly winds off the Atlantic. Winter lows are 3-8°C with summer highs seldom much over 20°C. There is rain a-plenty in summer, even more rain in winter, and incessant rain if you venture out without a raincoat.

By bus
See Limerick for bus and train connections from Dublin and the rest of Ireland.

Bus 51 runs hourly from Cork via Mallow, Limerick and Bunratty to the airport (30 min from Limerick), continuing to Ennis and Galway. The last bus is around 1PM. Don't take X51, which runs nonstop between Limerick and Galway.

Bus 343 meanders hourly from Limerick via Cratloe, Bunratty, Sixmilebridge, Shannon town and airport (one hour), and Newmarket-on-Fergus to Ennis. The last bus out of Limerick is around 11PM, and from the airport towards Limerick is at midnight.

By car
By road from Dublin take M7 west, which bypasses Limerick to become N18 / M18, and join the spur road N19 into Shannon.

Get around
The town is all walkable, but it's nondescript and industrial. Bus 343 winds around the houses and industrial parks en route from Limerick to Ennis.

There are bike racks at the airport, but no bike hire facilities locally.

See

 * See for the Castle, Folk Park outdoor museum, and medieval banquets.
 * on the south bank of the estuary shows another aspect of Shannon's aviation history. From 1937 Foynes was the base for commercial transatlantic flying boats: this is how Sinatra, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara stepped down into Ireland to the pop of flash-cameras. It operated until 1946, by which time Shannon airport had developed on its present site, and wheeled land aircraft flew faster and further than flying boats.
 * on the south bank of the estuary shows another aspect of Shannon's aviation history. From 1937 Foynes was the base for commercial transatlantic flying boats: this is how Sinatra, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara stepped down into Ireland to the pop of flash-cameras. It operated until 1946, by which time Shannon airport had developed on its present site, and wheeled land aircraft flew faster and further than flying boats.

Do

 * If you can't get to Limerick's Thomond Park for a pro game, then watch rugby at
 * is a grassy area for strolling by the estuary just south of town.
 * If you can't get to Limerick's Thomond Park for a pro game, then watch rugby at
 * is a grassy area for strolling by the estuary just south of town.

Eat
Shannon's own restaurants are clustered around Skycourt Shopping Centre or along R471 the old main street towards Bunratty and Limerick.

See also Bunratty 5 km east, which has lots of good eating places. Noel's within Bunratty Manor Hotel is the standout.

Sleep

 * See also Bunratty, only 5 km east. You might also stay in Limerick (eg the Radisson, west edge of the city) or in Newmarket-on-Fergus or Ennis.
 * and are two small B&Bs in town 1.5 km from the airport.
 * Shannon Springs is a modern hotel 500 m east of Treaceys. Decent accommodation but you mostly come for Old Lodge Gastropub, see "Eat".
 * Shannon Springs is a modern hotel 500 m east of Treaceys. Decent accommodation but you mostly come for Old Lodge Gastropub, see "Eat".
 * Shannon Springs is a modern hotel 500 m east of Treaceys. Decent accommodation but you mostly come for Old Lodge Gastropub, see "Eat".

Connect
Shannon has a good mobile and 4G signal from all Irish carriers. As of Oct 2020, 5G from Eir has reached the town but not the airport.

Go next

 * North and west into County Clare is the reason you're here: head for the wild Atlantic coast at Mizzen Head and follow it by Cliffs of Moher and the Burren towards Galway.
 * Ennis just north is a pleasant market town. Its countryside is dotted with ruined abbeys; probably the ruined abbots are propping up the local bars.
 * Limerick to the east is an interesting Georgian city with a castle.

title: Shannon


text:
Shannon (disambiguation)

There's more than one place called Shannon:

Canada

 * Shannon Falls Provincial Park - near Squamish, in British Columbia

Ireland

 * Shannon - a town in County Clare, in Shannon Region
 * Shannon Region - a region of Ireland
 * Carrick-on-Shannon - a town in County Leitrim, in Northwest Ireland & Lakelands

United States of America

 * Shannon County (Missouri)
 * Shannon County (South Dakota)

title: Shannon (disambiguation)


text:
Shannon (New Zealand)

Shannon is a town of 1,600 people (2021) in the Manawatu region of the lower North Island of New Zealand. It is on SH 57 between Levin and Palmerston North.

By car
Shannon is 110 km north of Wellington. Follow SH1 to Levin and the take SH57 to Shannon.

By bus
Intercity buses call at Shannon from Auckland, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne, Tauranga and New Plymouth. The bus stop for north bound buses is the bus shelter at 6 Ballance Street, and for south bound buses it is outside toilets at 7 Ballance Street.

By train
Kiwirail runs a train once per day Monday to Friday (not holidays) from Wellington departing at 5:15PM, calling at Paraparaumu and Levin, arriving at Shannon at 6:57PM, and continuing to Palmerston North. The morning service to Wellington leaves Shannon at 6:38AM.

Get around
By car or on foot

Do

 * Go kayaking at the Mangahao White Water Park 300m slalom course.
 * Visit the Mangahao dams by trail bike.

Eat

 * Take a break from driving and have lunch or a snack at the local cafe or tea rooms.

Drink

 * Club Hotel, Ballance St.

Go next

 * Levin
 * Palmerston North

title: Shannon (New Zealand)


text:
Shannon Region

Shannon or Mid-West Region is a region of Ireland comprising County Clare, County Limerick and County Tipperary, with a population of about 505,000 in 2022. The area is mostly lowland, with small towns living on agriculture. There are many medieval abbeys (all ruined by the Dissolution and Reformation), with the big religious centre at Cashel. Castles and tower houses rear up here and there like stone fists of defiance, but were mostly smashed by Cromwell in the 17th century.

This region is part of the historic kingdom of province of Munster, which is the southwest quarter of Ireland.

Towns

 * , the only city in the region, is the transport hub and has the most amenities. It's a miniature Dublin with its Georgian street-grid, and has lots to see and do.
 * claims to be Ireland's prettiest village, but it lacks a bypass and is choked with traffic. It does have very upmarket accommodation and golf.
 * , the county town of Clare, is ringed by ancient abbeys, castles, and a recreated prehistoric village.
 * on the wild Atlantic coast is a good base for exploring The Burren.
 * : Loop Head is almost as impressive as the Cliffs of Moher, yet somehow not on the tourist circuit.
 * has an ornate cathedral, but the big draw is Holy Cross Abbey.
 * is near scenic Glen Aherlow.
 * has the Rock of Cashel, crowned with medieval sites.

Other destinations

 * is a bleak limestone plateau, but its unsuitability for farming has preserved many prehistoric sites.
 * are in County Galway, but geographically they're an extension of The Burren and all three can be reached from Doolin. They've many early religious sites.
 * stretch south of Doolin, 214 m at their highest point, and very touristy. Go further south towards Kilconnell to have them to yourself.

Understand
This area was all part of the Kingdom of Munster, which stretched east as far as Waterford. It became christianised from the 5th century, with St Patrick one of several early missionaries. The ruling dynasties warred with each other and with the Vikings, who were eventually bested by Brian Bóru (from Killaloe) in 1014. They kept the Normans at bay but a great falling-out in the 12th century saw the kingdom split into Deasmhumhain (meaning South Munster) or Desmond, and Tuadhmhumhain (meaning North Munster) or Thomond. The English gained the upper hand under King John, but only established firm control under the 16th century Tudors, dividing the area into the present counties.

The only town to develop into a big city was the port of Limerick at the mouth of the Shannon. There was little industry, and population drift away from the countryside became a desperate flood during the 19th century famines.

This means that much of the area remains scenic and unspoiled. It's easily reached from abroad and was a staging post for transatlantic flights, so "Shannon" came to mean the large airport near Limerick. Longer-range aircraft mean that travellers no longer have to set down here, but those that do and stay awhile will be well rewarded.

It's one of the eight regions of Ireland for statistical and planning purposes; it's not a unit of local government. Those statisticians and planners call it "Mid-West" or more romantically "IE051 - NUTS Level III" but tourist agencies somehow prefer to call it Shannon. Actually only the lower half of the River Shannon catchment is in this region, from Lough Derg down to the tidal estuary below Limerick.

By plane
near Limerick is a major portal of entry into Ireland. It has many flights from Europe, UK and the United States, with US border pre-clearance, and in summer from Toronto. The largest operators are Ryanair and Aer Lingus. There are several car rental agencies at the airport: you're likely to need a car to get around the region. The immediate surrounds of the airport are drab and industrial, but ten minutes drive gets you out of that. Bunratty has good accommodation and restaurants a few km east.

You might also fly in to Dublin Airport which has good flight connections, competitive fares, and excellent onward public transport: buses to this region start from the airport.

By train
Trains run every hour or two from Dublin Heuston via Thurles to Limerick Junction, which in spite of the name is near Tipperary town. They continue south to Cork, while connecting trains run from the junction to Limerick city. There are also regular trains along the line between Limerick, Ennis and Galway.

Two branch lines have a couple of trains a day: from Waterford via Clonmel, Cahir and Tipperary town to Limerick Junction, and from Limerick city to Nenagh, Roscrea and Ballybrophy, which is on the mainline.

By bus
Bus X12 runs hourly from Dublin Airport, downtown Busáras and Heuston railway station via Portlaoise to Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick.

Bus X8 runs every two hours from Dublin Airport, Busáras and Heuston to Cashel, Cahir and Cork.

Bus 51 runs hourly from Cork via Mallow to Limerick, Shannon Airport, Ennis and Galway. There's also a much quicker X51 between Limerick and Galway.

Bus 55 runs every 2-3 hours from Waterford to Clonmel, Cahir, Tipperary and Limerick.

By car
The major routes are:
 * - N7 / M7 from Dublin (the first section to Naas is not yet upgraded to motorway) past Kildare and Portlaoise. Stay on M7 for Roscrea, Nenagh and Limerick.
 * - Fork south onto M8 for Thurles, Cashel (turnoff for Tipperary), Cahir (turnoff for Clonmel), Fermoy and Cork.
 * - N18 from Limerick to Shannon Airport, Ennis, Gort and Galway.
 * - N20 from Cork and Mallow to Adare and Limerick.
 * - N24 from Waterford to Clonmel, Cahir, Tipperary and Limerick.
 * - N21 from Tralee to Adare and Limerick.

Get around
By car: you'll need one to explore the countryside. There are car rental offices at Shannon Airport and in Limerick city.

By bus: see Shannon for buses to the airport, and Limerick for routes within that city.

The inter-city routes described in "Get in" connect several towns in the region and are fairly reliable. All your patience will be needed if you venture onto the back-country buses, which only run two or three times a day.

By train is your best option between Thurles, Tipperary, Limerick and Ennis. It's a viable option M-Sa between Limerick, Nenagh and Roscrea, but there's only one train on Sunday.

By boat: The Shannon Ferry plies between Tarbert in County Kerry and Killimer in County Clare, both on Highway N67. It sails hourly Sep-May and every 30 min Jun-Aug. Fare is €20 for a standard car with all passengers, €5 for a foot-passenger, cyclist or motorbike. If you're touring the Atlantic coast, this saves a detour inland through Limerick. Watch for dolphins on the 20 min crossing.

See

 * Castles: lots and lots and lots, though many are nowadays private mansions. Choose from the imposing (like King John’s Castle in Limerick or Castle Desmond in Adare), the Victorian mock-medieval (like Knappogue), the picturesque (like Dunguaire), the tumbledown (like Newcastle West) and the frankly kitsch — yes, that'll be Bunratty.
 * Prehistoric sites: there's a remarkable collection clustered around Lough Gur in County Limerick, and another at Craggaunowen in County Clare.
 * Flying Boats in the 1930s and 40s were the mainstay of transatlantic commercial aviation, so it was at Foynes on the Shannon in County Limerick that the rich and famous stepped out to the pop of flash guns.
 * Natural sights: the Atlantic pounds against the Mizzen Head and the dramatic Cliffs of Moher.
 * Wildlife: there's a resident pod of dolphins in the Shannon estuary.

Do

 * Play golf: lots of courses across the region. In 2026 the Ryder Cup will be hosted by Adare.
 * Go to the races at Limerick, Tipperary or Thurles.
 * Gaelic games: all three counties have GAA teams, and there are just over 200 club teams across the region. The GAA was founded and the games codified at Thurles.
 * Watch Munster Rugby at Thomond Park, 1.5 km west of Limerick city centre.
 * On the water: explore the lakes, river and coastline by canoe, kayak or SUP.
 * Caves: descend into the Ailwee and Doolin caves of County Clare, and Mitchelstown Cave near Cahir.

Eat and drink

 * Limerick city has the widest selection, in all price ranges.
 * Adare and Bunratty have good upscale dining, though the "medieval banquets" are more about cabaret than cuisine.
 * The standout inland restaurant is Chez Hans in Cashel.
 * Lots of good pubs with food especially when there's live trad music: Milltown Malbay, Lahinch and Doolin are the trad centres.
 * In Fethard, McCarthy's Pub, Restaurant and Undertaker will sort you out one way or another.
 * Poitín (or Potcheen) is Ireland's traditional moonshine, but it's nowadays a legal product, and distilled at Bunratty.

Stay safe

 * As usual the main hazards are man-made - traffic, traffic, traffic! And the occasional damnfool drunk, or theft from parked cars.
 * Water safety: the Atlantic has the reputation, but never underestimate the large freshwater Lough Derg. The waves can really get up, and they've had to place lifeboats for lough-users who get into difficulty.

Go next

 * The obvious choice is south into County Kerry and towards Cork, or north into County Galway.
 * The Wild Atlantic Way is the tourist agency's name for the coastal route all the way from Cork to County Donegal.

title: Shannon Region