Shanghai Food and Travel Guide for First-Time Visitors

Shanghai is loud, glamorous, and ridiculously delicious. Its native cooking, called benbang cài (本帮菜, "local-style" Shanghainese cuisine), leans sweet, soy-rich, and comforting. Here is how to eat well and move around the city without stress.

What to Eat

• xiǎolóngbāo (小笼包) — delicate soup dumplings filled with pork and hot broth. The signature Shanghai dish.
• shēngjiān bāo (生煎包) — thick-skinned, pan-fried pork buns with crackly bottoms and juicy centers. A breakfast favorite.
• hóngshāo ròu (红烧肉) — red-braised pork belly, glossy and caramel-sweet. The clearest taste of benbang cooking.
• cōngyóu bàn miàn (葱油拌面) — scallion-oil noodles, simple and savory, often a quick lunch.
• dàzháxiè (大闸蟹) — hairy crab, prized for its roe. Strictly seasonal, best in autumn (October to November).

Where to Go

• The Bund (外滩): the riverside promenade with colonial-era buildings on one side and the futuristic Pudong skyline on the other. Best at dusk.
• Yu Garden & the old city (豫园): a classical garden ringed by snack stalls and teahouses. Come hungry for dumplings and sweets.
• The French Concession (法租界): leafy plane-tree streets, cafés, boutiques, and excellent small restaurants.
• Tianzifang (田子坊): a maze of converted lane houses (shikumen) packed with craft shops and street snacks.
• Local breakfast spots: look for neighborhood stalls selling shengjian bao, soy milk, and youtiao (fried dough sticks).

Practical Tips

• Eating xiaolongbao: don't bite straight in. Lift the dumpling, nip a small hole, sip the broth, then eat the rest. The soup inside is scalding.
• Menus are almost always Chinese-only, so photographing the menu and translating it on your phone is by far the easiest way to order what you actually want.
• Wet markets are great for fruit and a glimpse of daily life; point and gesture, and a translation app helps with prices.
• Metro: clean, cheap, and signed in English. Buy a rechargeable transit card or use a QR-code app to skip ticket lines.

Eat slowly, wander the lanes, and let Shanghai surprise you.