Be Picky Shanghai: Selected Tips From Insiders

The Suzhou is known as the mother river of Shanghai, on whose banks the city’s 1,000 years of cultural and economic history has unfolded. To discover the many facets of Shanghai from the water, I recommend a 30- to 90-minute boat tour on the Suzhou. The longest tour runs from the Changfeng Park Docks to the Waitanyuan Docks, just a few meters from the Bund waterfront. 

The boats pass countless bridges (which is why some call the Suzhou the Seine of Shanghai), as well as parks, green jogging trails, and cycling routes. The journey takes you past gigantic modern residential complexes, but towards the end the picture changes. Buildings with the historic architecture typical of the Bund, a mixture of European and Chinese styles, line the banks. Incidentally, the tours on the Suzhou are far less touristy than the large cruises on the Huangpu River and one of the best ways to get to know the real Shanghai.

As chief editor of World Traveller Magazine, travel journalist David Feng usually provides his Chinese readers with tips for destinations in Europe and Australia. Here, he does it the other way around, introducing us to his home city of Shanghai.