Shanghai Bus Tour: Yuyuan Gardens French Concession Tianzifang and The Bund

Our English-speaking guide will pick you up at your hotel lobby in Shanghai city centre around 7:30 am depending on other customer’s hotel pick-up. The exact time will be informed by your guide a day before the tour starts, normally after 6:00 pm, by a phone call to your hotel.

First we will visit Shanghai Old Street and to the Yuyuan Gardens, which used to be a wealthy Chinese family’s traditional private garden over 400 years ago. The name of the garden can be translated as the Garden of Happiness from Shanghainese, and is located beside the City God Temple in the northeast of the Old City.

From here on we will head towards the Bund, where you’ll catch spectacular views of the dazzling cityscape. The Bund is lined with impressive neo-classical buildings, dating back to Shanghai’s grandest days. Many banks and trading companies from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Belgium built impressive offices here in the early 20th century when Shanghai was the financial capital of Asia. The boulevard was also home to the Masonic Club, the Shanghai Club, and the consulates of Russia and the United Kingdom.

Then we will go for traditional Chinese cuisine lunch, where you’ll be able to try real Chinese food. Following the lunch, you’ll visit the Old Shanghai Wax Museum, where you’ll gain a deeper understanding of Shanghai’s history through wax figures displaying scenes of everyday. After that, we’ll go to Pearl City, where you can do some shopping. Don’t forget to bargain! This is a great place to get some souvenirs for friends and family at home.

When you’ve finished your shopping, you’ll be taken to Tianzifang. Tianzifang is an arts enclave in Shanghai that is now home to boutique shops, bars, and restaurants, and gives a good idea as to how developed Shanghai is, and how international the city has become. This is also a great place to get some souvenirs.

The final stop on this tour is Xintiandi and the French Concession, a beloved tree-lined neighborhood, where you will be able to see some of Shanghai’s hippest bars and restaurants. At this point you can either decide to be taken back to your hotel by bus, or you can choose to stay out and check out the restaurants and bars and find your own way back.