Yu Garden and the Old Town in Half a Day
Decide what is worth paying for around Yu Garden and the old town. The garden is a timed ticketed sight, while the bazaar, temple area and waterfront are separate experiences, so do not treat the whole district as one attraction.
The short answer
Only the garden itself: Yu Garden is 40 yuan in April-June and September-November, 30 the rest of the year. The bazaar, the Nine-Bend Bridge and the pond are free; Huxinting charges for a seat (68-88 yuan downstairs), not entry; the City God Temple may charge a 10 yuan incense ticket - unconfirmed.
Do Yu Garden first: it stops admitting people at 16:00, and in peak season it is full by late morning. The City God Temple keeps similar hours (08:30-16:30); the Huxinting teahouse is open to 21:00.
Yu Garden is closed unless it is a public holiday. Take the 10 yuan Monday-morning tea at Huxinting instead - 8:30-10:00, a pot of tea and a vegetarian bun - and walk the free bazaar and bridge.
The Shiliupu night cruise is 150 yuan in peak season (26 February-25 November) and 120 after; buy at the window at 131 Zhongshan East Road No. 2 with a passport. For 2 yuan, the public ferry crosses the same water - after 18:30 from the Fuxing East Road pier, 10 minutes east of Yu Garden, open to 22:00 from May to October.
The bazaar's snack streets are right there and priced for visitors. For Shanghai classics with Chinese-English menus, go north to the new old-brands street on Shanxi South Road, a block south of Nanjing East Road - Xiaoshaoxing's white-cut chicken is 55 yuan to eat in, and Xianlaide stays open to 1:00.
Side by sideEach cell ends with the date of the notice it was checked against
Swipe sideways; the first column stays put
Yu Garden
豫园Open the place →- What you see & how long
- A Ming classical garden hidden in the old town: rockeries, ponds and zigzag galleries packed tightly together. Time on site: not published · 2026-09-10
- Ticket / price
- Peak (April-June, September-November) 40 yuan, off-peak (July-August, December-March) 30; half price for 6-18s, students and over-60s on documents. The lantern festival around Spring Festival is priced separately · 2026-09-10
- Hours & closed days
- 9:00-16:30, last entry 16:00. Closed on Mondays except public holidays · 2026-09-10
- Booking & ID
- Online on the 'Shanghai Yuyuan' mini-program or Trip.com (whose English guide says a passport number works); or the ticket windows at the north and south gates. Half-price and free tickets need 'an ID card or other valid document' - whether a foreign passport counts is not stated · 2026-09-10
- Getting there
- 218 Anren Street; ticket gates at 168 Fuyou Road (north) and 279 Yuyuan Old Street (south, just past the Nine-Bend Bridge). Metro Line 10 Yuyuan station · 2026-09-10
- What to eat on the way
- Nothing inside; the snack streets of the bazaar outside are free to walk · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- Not the Yu Garden Bazaar: the shops, snack streets and Huxinting outside are free; the paid garden is behind the gate at 218 Anren Street. Look for the sign that says 'Yuyuan', not 'Yuyuan Bazaar' · 2026-09-10
City God Temple
城隍庙Open the place →- What you see & how long
- A small, busy, working Taoist temple to Shanghai's city god in the middle of the old town - the place the whole shopping district is named after. Thirty minutes · 2026-09-10
- Ticket / price
- Unconfirmed: a 10 yuan incense ticket bought at the gate, or free (the city's 2025 list says free, with no notice of a change) - have 10 yuan ready. Children under 6 or 1.3 m free; no senior or student discount · 2026-09-10
- Hours & closed days
- 08:30-16:30 on the city tourism site's heritage page; the temple's own site, down when checked, has listed summer and winter hours and early opening on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month · 2026-09-10
- Booking & ID
- No booking, open all year; the incense ticket is bought by scanning a code at the gate - the barrier is payment, not booking · 2024-01-23
- Getting there
- 249 Fangbang Middle Road, in the middle of the Yu Garden bazaar; the nearest metro given in our entries is Line 10 Yuyuan · 2026-09-10
- What to eat on the way
- What comes up as the 'City God Temple food street' is the bazaar outside, not the temple · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- Not Yu Garden and not the bazaar - 'City God Temple' on a map means the whole area; the temple is one separately ticketed building. On the 1st and 15th of the lunar month it is packed with worshippers - avoid those days · 2026-09-10
Huxinting Teahouse & Nine-Bend Bridge
湖心亭茶楼 · 九曲桥Open the place →- What you see & how long
- The pavilion teahouse in the middle of the Yu Garden pond, reached over the Nine-Bend Bridge - Shanghai's oldest teahouse and the most photographed scene in the old town, reopened in July 2025 after nearly two years of restoration. The photo from the pond's edge takes minutes · 2026-09-10
- Ticket / price
- No entry ticket - you pay per seat. Ground floor 8:30-10:00 68 yuan (a pot of tea and a snack), then 88; Monday morning 10 yuan; upstairs tea-art sets from 188 yuan · 2025-07-11
- Hours & closed days
- 8:30-21:00 (city tourism site, October 2025) · 2026-09-10
- Booking & ID
- No booking for ground-floor seats; the 1,288 yuan upstairs set needs booking. The bridge is free and outside the paid garden · 2025-07-11
- Getting there
- 257 Yuyuan Road, in the pond at the end of the Nine-Bend Bridge; Metro Line 10 Yuyuan station · 2025-04-17
- What to eat on the way
- The seat is the meal: tea with a snack; the Monday 8:30-10:00 set is a pot of tea and a vegetarian bun for 10 yuan · 2025-07-11
- Don't get this wrong
- Not inside Yu Garden: the teahouse and bridge are on the pond in the free bazaar, no garden ticket needed. During the lantern festival the bridge becomes a one-way queue · 2026-09-10
Shiliupu Wharf & Huangpu cruise
十六铺码头 · 浦江游览Open the place →- What you see & how long
- The main pier for Huangpu river cruises at the south end of the Bund: the standard 45-minute loop past the Bund and the Pudong skyline; the night sailing is what people come for · 2026-09-10
- Ticket / price
- Classic cruise: peak (26 February-25 November) 120 yuan by day, 150 at night; off-peak 100 / 120; public holidays 150. Under 1.3 m free, 1.3-1.5 m and over-70s half price. This is the 2023 price list - check the operator's account · 2023-01-16
- Hours & closed days
- Pier No. 1 sailings from 11:00, No. 2 from 18:00, until the day's last sailing; the building 10:00-22:00. Last sailing per the operator's WeChat official account · 2023-01-16
- Booking & ID
- The operator's online channels need WeChat or a Chinese phone; the ticket window at 131 Zhongshan East Road No. 2 is the surest route with a passport. Shanghai Pass (an Alipay mini-program that accepts foreign passports) includes one cruise · 2025-05-26
- Getting there
- Pier No. 1 at 481 Zhongshan East Road No. 2, No. 2 at 551; the ticket office is at No. 131 - walk south from it to the piers · 2025-05-26
- What to eat on the way
- Not listed; the separate dining boats leave from Pier No. 3 at 99 Waima Road, from 320 yuan a head · 2026-09-10
- Don't get this wrong
- Three different things on the water: the 2 yuan ferry at 127 Zhongshan East Road No. 1, the Jinling East Road cruise pier at 142 Zhongshan East Road No. 2, and Shiliupu Pier No. 1 at No. 481 for the classic loop · 2026-09-10
The New Old-Brands Street
新老字号街Open the place →- What you see & how long
- Two side streets south of Nanjing East Road where old restaurant brands pushed out of Yunnan South Road reopened together in February 2026 - Xiaoshaoxing white-cut chicken, Xianlaide pork chop with rice cake, Dahuchun, Deda, Wufangzhai and more, all with Chinese-English menus · 2026-02-18
- Ticket / price
- Opening prices: Xiaoshaoxing white-cut chicken 55 yuan to eat in, chicken congee 3; Xianlaide pork chop with rice cake 15, shrimp wontons 20 · 2026-02-11
- Hours & closed days
- Each shop sets its own; Xiaoshaoxing to 22:00, Xianlaide to 1:00 - the two to remember when everything else has shut · 2026-02-11
- Booking & ID
- None - counter service and shared tables; the opening reports did not mention cash or foreign cards · 2026-02-11
- Getting there
- 177-211 Shanxi South Road and 342-358 Fujian Middle Road, between Nanjing East Road and Jiujiang Road: walk one block south from the Nanjing East Road pedestrian street along Shanxi South Road · 2026-02-18
- What to eat on the way
- This is the meal: queue-and-sit counters, busiest at lunch - come hungry and off-peak · 2026-02-11
- Don't get this wrong
- Not the old Yunnan South Road food street in older guides - these brands have traded here since February 2026. Dahuchun's Michelin Bib Gourmand shop is still at 136 Sichuan Middle Road · 2026-02-18
| Compare | Yu Garden | City God Temple | Huxinting Teahouse & Nine-Bend Bridge | Shiliupu Wharf & Huangpu cruise | The New Old-Brands Street |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you see & how long | A Ming classical garden hidden in the old town: rockeries, ponds and zigzag galleries packed tightly together. Time on site: not published · 2026-09-10 | A small, busy, working Taoist temple to Shanghai's city god in the middle of the old town - the place the whole shopping district is named after. Thirty minutes · 2026-09-10 | The pavilion teahouse in the middle of the Yu Garden pond, reached over the Nine-Bend Bridge - Shanghai's oldest teahouse and the most photographed scene in the old town, reopened in July 2025 after nearly two years of restoration. The photo from the pond's edge takes minutes · 2026-09-10 | The main pier for Huangpu river cruises at the south end of the Bund: the standard 45-minute loop past the Bund and the Pudong skyline; the night sailing is what people come for · 2026-09-10 | Two side streets south of Nanjing East Road where old restaurant brands pushed out of Yunnan South Road reopened together in February 2026 - Xiaoshaoxing white-cut chicken, Xianlaide pork chop with rice cake, Dahuchun, Deda, Wufangzhai and more, all with Chinese-English menus · 2026-02-18 |
| Ticket / price | Peak (April-June, September-November) 40 yuan, off-peak (July-August, December-March) 30; half price for 6-18s, students and over-60s on documents. The lantern festival around Spring Festival is priced separately · 2026-09-10 | Unconfirmed: a 10 yuan incense ticket bought at the gate, or free (the city's 2025 list says free, with no notice of a change) - have 10 yuan ready. Children under 6 or 1.3 m free; no senior or student discount · 2026-09-10 | No entry ticket - you pay per seat. Ground floor 8:30-10:00 68 yuan (a pot of tea and a snack), then 88; Monday morning 10 yuan; upstairs tea-art sets from 188 yuan · 2025-07-11 | Classic cruise: peak (26 February-25 November) 120 yuan by day, 150 at night; off-peak 100 / 120; public holidays 150. Under 1.3 m free, 1.3-1.5 m and over-70s half price. This is the 2023 price list - check the operator's account · 2023-01-16 | Opening prices: Xiaoshaoxing white-cut chicken 55 yuan to eat in, chicken congee 3; Xianlaide pork chop with rice cake 15, shrimp wontons 20 · 2026-02-11 |
| Hours & closed days | 9:00-16:30, last entry 16:00. Closed on Mondays except public holidays · 2026-09-10 | 08:30-16:30 on the city tourism site's heritage page; the temple's own site, down when checked, has listed summer and winter hours and early opening on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month · 2026-09-10 | 8:30-21:00 (city tourism site, October 2025) · 2026-09-10 | Pier No. 1 sailings from 11:00, No. 2 from 18:00, until the day's last sailing; the building 10:00-22:00. Last sailing per the operator's WeChat official account · 2023-01-16 | Each shop sets its own; Xiaoshaoxing to 22:00, Xianlaide to 1:00 - the two to remember when everything else has shut · 2026-02-11 |
| Booking & ID | Online on the 'Shanghai Yuyuan' mini-program or Trip.com (whose English guide says a passport number works); or the ticket windows at the north and south gates. Half-price and free tickets need 'an ID card or other valid document' - whether a foreign passport counts is not stated · 2026-09-10 | No booking, open all year; the incense ticket is bought by scanning a code at the gate - the barrier is payment, not booking · 2024-01-23 | No booking for ground-floor seats; the 1,288 yuan upstairs set needs booking. The bridge is free and outside the paid garden · 2025-07-11 | The operator's online channels need WeChat or a Chinese phone; the ticket window at 131 Zhongshan East Road No. 2 is the surest route with a passport. Shanghai Pass (an Alipay mini-program that accepts foreign passports) includes one cruise · 2025-05-26 | None - counter service and shared tables; the opening reports did not mention cash or foreign cards · 2026-02-11 |
| Getting there | 218 Anren Street; ticket gates at 168 Fuyou Road (north) and 279 Yuyuan Old Street (south, just past the Nine-Bend Bridge). Metro Line 10 Yuyuan station · 2026-09-10 | 249 Fangbang Middle Road, in the middle of the Yu Garden bazaar; the nearest metro given in our entries is Line 10 Yuyuan · 2026-09-10 | 257 Yuyuan Road, in the pond at the end of the Nine-Bend Bridge; Metro Line 10 Yuyuan station · 2025-04-17 | Pier No. 1 at 481 Zhongshan East Road No. 2, No. 2 at 551; the ticket office is at No. 131 - walk south from it to the piers · 2025-05-26 | 177-211 Shanxi South Road and 342-358 Fujian Middle Road, between Nanjing East Road and Jiujiang Road: walk one block south from the Nanjing East Road pedestrian street along Shanxi South Road · 2026-02-18 |
| What to eat on the way | Nothing inside; the snack streets of the bazaar outside are free to walk · 2026-09-10 | What comes up as the 'City God Temple food street' is the bazaar outside, not the temple · 2026-09-10 | The seat is the meal: tea with a snack; the Monday 8:30-10:00 set is a pot of tea and a vegetarian bun for 10 yuan · 2025-07-11 | Not listed; the separate dining boats leave from Pier No. 3 at 99 Waima Road, from 320 yuan a head · 2026-09-10 | This is the meal: queue-and-sit counters, busiest at lunch - come hungry and off-peak · 2026-02-11 |
| Don't get this wrong | Not the Yu Garden Bazaar: the shops, snack streets and Huxinting outside are free; the paid garden is behind the gate at 218 Anren Street. Look for the sign that says 'Yuyuan', not 'Yuyuan Bazaar' · 2026-09-10 | Not Yu Garden and not the bazaar - 'City God Temple' on a map means the whole area; the temple is one separately ticketed building. On the 1st and 15th of the lunar month it is packed with worshippers - avoid those days · 2026-09-10 | Not inside Yu Garden: the teahouse and bridge are on the pond in the free bazaar, no garden ticket needed. During the lantern festival the bridge becomes a one-way queue · 2026-09-10 | Three different things on the water: the 2 yuan ferry at 127 Zhongshan East Road No. 1, the Jinling East Road cruise pier at 142 Zhongshan East Road No. 2, and Shiliupu Pier No. 1 at No. 481 for the classic loop · 2026-09-10 | Not the old Yunnan South Road food street in older guides - these brands have traded here since February 2026. Dahuchun's Michelin Bib Gourmand shop is still at 136 Sichuan Middle Road · 2026-02-18 |
The Bund：Free and open at all hours, 1.5 km of riverside promenade; walk into the old town from it along the side streets off Renmin Road - Bund, Yu Garden, lunch in the bazaar is the standard first morning. The lights come on at 18:00 from October to April and 19:00 from May to September Start or finish here.
Huangpu River Ferry：The 2 yuan public ferry across to Pudong - no ticket office, pay at the gate by transit card, phone QR or cash. The Jinling East Road line stops at 18:30; after dark use the Fuxing East Road pier, about 10 minutes east of Yu Garden, open to 22:00 from May to October The same water as the cruise, for 2 yuan.
Dajing Pavilion & the Old City Wall：The only surviving stretch of the 1553 city wall - about fifty metres, with a Qing pavilion on top - at 269 Dajing Road. The city tourism site lists it as not open (draft entry); look from the Renmin Road pavement, and ignore the old 5 yuan price on platforms A glance on the way in.
Dongjiadu Cathedral：The 1853 Spanish-baroque cathedral at the old town's riverside edge, under long restoration with no reopening date and closed, grounds included (draft entry); only the facade is visible behind the hoardings. For an open old church, go to the one on Sichuan South Road or Xujiahui Not worth the detour for now.
One by one
Yu Garden
豫园The reason for the trip, and the one part with a clock: the garden opens at 9:00 and stops admitting people at 16:00, it is closed on Mondays, and in peak season it fills up by late morning. It costs 40 yuan in spring and autumn, 30 otherwise. The entrance is hard to find inside the bazaar - follow the sign that says Yuyuan, not Yuyuan Bazaar - and it is a different ticket from the City God Temple next door. For a morning visit, before the crowds and well before 16:00.
Open the place →City God Temple
城隍庙A thirty-minute stop at a temple that is still in use, and the reason the whole district has its name. The problem is not booking but paying: whether it charges a 10 yuan incense ticket or nothing is unconfirmed, and the gate takes QR payments, so test your phone payment somewhere first or carry a 10 yuan note. Skip the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, when worshippers fill it. For a short stop between the garden and the bazaar.
Open the place →Huxinting Teahouse & Nine-Bend Bridge
湖心亭茶楼 · 九曲桥The postcard, and free to look at: the Nine-Bend Bridge and the pond are in the public bazaar, not the paid garden. Sitting down inside is a seat charge, not a ticket - 68 yuan early on the ground floor, 88 later, far more upstairs - and staff who speak foreign languages were brought in when it reopened. The best deal in the old town is the 10 yuan Monday-morning tea, which is also the answer on the day the garden is closed. For a photo from the bank, or tea on a Monday morning.
Open the place →Shiliupu Wharf & Huangpu cruise
十六铺码头 · 浦江游览The pier, not a sight: what you pay for is the boat, and the night sailing is the one worth taking. The 45-minute loop is 150 yuan at night in peak season (26 February to 25 November) and 120 after that - one day later saves a fifth. With a foreign passport go to the ticket window at 131 Zhongshan East Road No. 2 rather than the WeChat channels, and remember the 2 yuan ferry nearby crosses the same water. For an evening on the river after the old town.
Open the place →The New Old-Brands Street
新老字号街The most useful place to eat for a first-time visitor, and it did not exist before 2026: the old Shanghai brands evicted from Yunnan South Road reopened together here with Chinese-English menus, and Xiaoshaoxing put an English-speaking waiter on the floor. It is north of the old town, a block south of Nanjing East Road - a lunch stop on the way back, not a sight. Come hungry and off-peak. For lunch or a late supper of Shanghai classics.
Open the place →