City Atlas
Where to go, how to cope there, what to eat
Eight cities, one volume each. Pick a city for its decision pages and what to eat this month; questions that apply everywhere are one section down.
The atlas — 8 of 8 openEvery city wears its own colours
8 cities open now · free · no accountMore cities are being painted
Getting by in China
Where China trips you up
Payments, visa-free transit, real-name booking and cash work the same everywhere. Each answer leads with a verdict, then its sources and the date we checked.
By city
Pick a city
Shanghai上海
1930s poster deco · 8 districts
What to eat in OctoberThe best eating month: female crabs for roe, mooncakes still warm, cool enough for a long benbang lunch.
Open the city →- Read firstDecision pageThe Bund in Half a Day: Which Buildings You Can Actually EnterDecide which Bund buildings you can actually enter, not just which façades to photograph.
- Read firstDecision pageWhich observation deck?Shanghai has three everyday paid observation decks a few minutes' walk from each other in Lujiazui — Shanghai Tower, Jin Mao and the Oriental Pearl — plus the former SWFC observatory, which is now an event venue that sells tickets only when an exhibition runs there.
- Decision pageWhich Shanghai Museum?Choose the Shanghai Museum building by the collection you want, because the People’s Square and Pudong sites are not interchangeable.
- Decision pageThe three museums on People's SquareChoose among the three People’s Square museums by subject and access, not proximity.
- Decision pageHow to Cross the RiverChoose whether crossing the Huangpu is transport, entertainment or the evening’s main event.
- Decision pageThe Former French Concession in Half a DayChoose one continuous Former French Concession walk rather than collecting disconnected landmarks.
- Decision pageYu Garden and the Old Town in Half a DayDecide what is worth paying for around Yu Garden and the old town.
- Decision pageThe North Bund and Tilanqiao in Half a DayLink Tilanqiao, the North Bund, the Postal Museum and nearby industrial heritage without backtracking.
- Month by monthWhat to eat this monthShanghai eats by the calendar: knife-fish in February, spring-shoot soup and green rice balls before Qingming, cold noodles and wine-lees dishes in the heat, meat mooncakes and hairy crab in autumn, sticky-rice treats for the New Year.