China
Shanghai
Match
54
- Beach first51
- Culture first54
- Food & nightlife52
- Family trip59
- Nature first53
- Good weather53
- On a budget58
The nine measures
Each scored 0 to 100 against fixed anchors, so a score means the same thing on every page. Open a row for the figures behind it.
Beaches & swimming. Scores 17 out of 100.17
| Score | 17 |
|---|---|
| Swim season months | 5 |
| Beaches 10 km | 0 |
| Coast distance | 18 km |
| Water distance | 18 km |
Sea reaches 21 °C or more in 5 months, 0 beaches lie within 10 km, and the water is 18 km away.
Museums & heritage. Scores 45 out of 100.45
| Score | 45 |
|---|---|
| Museums within 10 km | 108 |
| Museums within 2 km of centre | 28 |
| Share of museums within 2 km % | 26 |
| Unesco sites within 50 km | 0 |
108 museums mapped within 10 km, 26% of them within 2 km of the centre, and 0 whole UNESCO inscriptions within 50 km.
Nature & day trips. Scores 42 out of 100.42
| Score | 42 |
|---|---|
| Protected land share 50 km % | 9 |
| Landscape blanket share 50 km % | 0 |
| Land share of disc % | 82 |
| Park area within 2 km | 83 hectares |
9% of the 50 km disc around the city is protected land, and there are 83 hectares of park within 2 km of the centre.
Good for families. Scores 81 out of 100.81
| Score | 81 |
|---|---|
| Tourist attractions within 2 km | 86 |
| Park area within 2 km | 83 hectares |
| Theme parks within 30 km | 10 |
86 tourist attractions within 2 km beside 83 hectares of park, and 10 theme parks within 30 km.
Sights concentration. Scores 51 out of 100.51
| Score | 51 |
|---|---|
| Notable places within 2 km | 73 |
| Min wikipedia languages | 5 |
73 notable places within 2 km of the centre, counting places with a Wikipedia presence in at least five languages.
Value for money. Scores 79 out of 100.79
| Score | 79 |
|---|---|
| Price level global | 49 |
| Daily budget | — |
National price level of 49 against the United States at 100, scored on a fixed scale from 20, the cheapest countries anyone travels to, to 160, the most expensive.
Year-round weather. Scores 65 out of 100.65
| Score | 65 |
|---|---|
| Monthly daytime high | 8.5 °C to 33.2 °C |
| Monthly rainfall | 43 mm to 216 mm |
| Dry months | 0 |
Daytime highs run 9-33 °C across the year, with 0 month(s) at 40 mm of rain or less.
When should you go?
The figures behind each month, shaded against this city's own year: the deepest cell is its best month for that measure and the palest its weakest.
Temperature and rainfall are thirty-year climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).
Getting there
| Flying from | Shanghai |
|---|---|
| ChengduTFU, CTU | 2 h 35 m €216-247 PVG · 33 km |
| TokyoHND, NRT | 2 h 45 m €326-382 PVG · 33 km |
| ChongqingCKG, CQW | 2 h 25 m €175-196 PVG · 33 km |
| BeijingPEK, PKX | 2 h 0 m €150-154 PVG · 33 km |
| GuangzhouCAN | 2 h 5 m €127-144 PVG · 33 km |
| ShenzhenSZX | 2 h 5 m €170-179 SHA · 14 km |
| LondonLHR, LGW, STN, LTN +2 | 11 h 30 m €528-630 1 stop PVG · 33 km |
| Los AngelesLAX, BUR, SNA, VNY | 12 h 55 m €606-798 1 stop PVG · 33 km |
| Buenos AiresEZE, AEP | 23 h 45 m €1,545-1873 2 stops PVG · 33 km |
| DubaiDXB, DWC | 8 h 15 m €508-557 1 stop PVG · 33 km |
The busiest departure cities for Shanghai, with a place kept for each other part of the world. Busiest means arriving passengers where an official count exists, and where none does, the number of non-stop services flown: official route statistics are published by the European reporting countries and by nobody else, so a table ranked on them alone would offer a reader in New York or Tokyo ten European cities. Flying times are estimated from the distance between airports, and every row is a city flown non-stop. Where the typical offer connects anyway, the stops are shown. Under each figure is the airport the flight lands at and how far that is from the centre, because the nearest airport is not always the one a route is flown to. Typical return fares for 2026-09 to 2026-10, cached market data up to 7 days old. The figure is the middle half of the offers found, so a single price means they agreed and a range means they did not; for a typical route that middle half spans about a quarter of the median, and for the least settled routes rather more than the median itself.
Before you go
| Measure | Shanghai |
|---|---|
| Official language | Putonghua |
| Currency | Yuan Renminbi (CNY) |
| Sockets | ACI220 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+8 |
| Emergency number | Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119 |
| Elevation | 4 m |
| Main airport | Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre200 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 6 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Shanghai |
|---|---|
| City population | 24,870,895 |
| People per km² | 3,922 |
| Museums within 10 km | 44 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 0 |
| Distinct cuisines in the centre | 64 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | 5 months |
Compare Shanghai with
Every comparison with a written verdict behind it.