Charming Shanghai and Water Town Tour
2-Day Shanghai and Zhujiajiao Water Town Tour
If you are a first-time visitor, don't miss this tour! With new ways to explore Shanghai's most popular and representative attractions, you will have a better understanding of this huge city.
Explore old and new Shanghai, avoid tourist routes to explore unique points along the Bund, listen to anecdotes about the former French Concession, and relax in a rowing boat in Zhujiajiao Water Town.
Tour Highlights
- Insider's route — unique sites along the Bund that are difficult to find by yourself
- Eat like a local — learn the proper way to eat in a local restaurant
- Travel smart — avoid crowds and the rush hours in Zhujiajiao Water Town
- Listen to the stories about Yu Garden that you will never find in any guidebook.
- Save your time and energy — private transfers between your hotel and different sites




98.8% positive customer reviews among 10,000+
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Shanghai Tour with China Highlights
We recently had the pleasure of going on a tour of Shanghai with China Highlights, and our guide, Ryan! This experience was wonderful, we were able to visit some of Shanghai’s most iconic locations, such as The Bund, the French Concession, and even got to try some famous Xiaolongbao at Jia Jia Tang Bao. Overall, really recommend China Highlights. more
May 2023,
Francesco
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Shanghai 1/2 day Tour
Shanghai is a modern big city with some stand out architecture modern and from the past. Ryan was again my guide for Shanghai City tour. We started with Yu Garden which was already flocked with domestic tourists! Yu Garden is the highlight of my Shanghai tour. Ryan explained and pointed out what makes it so special.The next thing we did was go to the Bund and Ryan #chinahighlights, explained some of the prominent old banking buildings and the clock tower tgat was made by the same person that did Big Ben in London. Also pointed out and we entered in disguise, was Peace Hotel. That was another highlight being an Art Deco style original and the Old Men Jazz Band. Then we walked a bit and our driver took us to The Shanghai Tower. Before you go up there is a whole display of Skyscrapers so you can see how the Shanghai Tower ranks. Going up was easy and you would never know you were going so high. It was a rainy morning but visibility was ok. You can walk all the way around to get a view of Shanghai. There were locks you can buy, marketed a "lucky", so you can lock your wishes up there. There is also a metal tree where you can ties a wish ribbon. We then went to the French Quarter which are some old buildings now occupied by modern venues and shops. I was told the area was a night spot so things were just opening. Nanjing Rd is the Retail Heaven thoroughfare, pedestrian only traffic. If you are shopping for name brand you will find it there, just like any other major city. Chinese tourists were out and about, I know they are happy! more
May 2023,
JeanneC
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Speak about travel in China means speak about China Highlights!
Chris, in Shanghai; Alice, in Lijiang; Lee, in Dali; May, in Kunming; and others that we have previously known no less efficient and friendly. My greetings and respect to all of them and also to the drivers. They all have a very good command of the English language and strive to make one dedicate themselves to enjoying what China offers us. Thank you, China, and thank you China Highlights!! Just tell you: SEE YOU IN OUR NEXT TRIP!!! more
May 2023,
Horacio S
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Our consultant Roger Li did a wonderful…
Our consultant Roger Li did a wonderful job of making a great private tour plan for my husband who wanted to add on a few days in China. He incorporated everything my husband wanted to see and made a great tour based on our needs and wants.Roger Li was very easy to get in touch with and was always available and accessible when we had questions. more
Apr 2023,
Brian
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Shanghai's Best
My husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary by exploring China ; and first in our bucket list was Shanghai and Beijing.We booked this trip via China Highlights, and we had a tour guide , named Ryan, who made our trip memorable by not only sending us to Shanghai's best spots but most of all his rich knowledge on all these places. One of the best part is that he communicates very well, fluent in English, made us understand China's culture, its stories behind those buildings and sceneries. No doubt will recommend this travel site to our friends, "High Five" to China Highlights and again kudos to our tour Guide, RYAN, see you again !! more
Mar 2023,
Jocelyn So G
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Experience Tour in Shanghai
Tour guides under this agency are very well experienced, and questions are always answered in great detail. Definitely will recommend to anyone who would like to go on a flexible tour with guidance. more
Mar 2023,
David A
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Roger Li has been AMAZING....
Roger Li has been AMAZING and deserves to win this advisor competition! He answers e-mails promptly, addresses my concerns, and guides me through the process. He has organized tours for me and my husband for both China and Taiwan, and we are excited to go! I have been thoroughly satisfied with his work in every way. more
Mar 2023,
Brian Lewis
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Chinese lantern festival and Sophie Lee. Actually March 2018 not Feb 2022
When we were there, one of the highlights was the Chinese Lantern Festival in Old Shanghai, which is both colourful and has an excellent festivalatmosphere. She bought us a Chinese desert item that was small sweet sticky balls that were very good. more
Jan 2023,
Dave H
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Fun couple days in fantastic Shanghai!
Our family trip to China ended with a couple of days in historical Shanghai. We loved seeing and visiting the historic centers, traveling up the Shanghai Tower, eating delicious dumplings, and visiting the best Chinatown we have ever experienced. Our guide, Quing Quing, and driver Ken were fantastic, informative, professional and fun. Quing Quing even took us to experience the marriage market where Chinese parents try to help their children find potential mates after we expressed that it would be an interesting thing to see. Quing Quing, her American name is Clair, is an excellent and vivacious tour guide. Ask for her when you book with China Highlights you will be in good hands. --Inspire819460 more
Dec 2019,
Inspire819460
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Awesome Shanghai tour with Mary
With other two friends I have visited Shanghai in October 2018 and our tour guide was Mary, who has been wonderful with us.She had the smart idea to adapt the schedule of our planned tours in order to visit the city centre with few crowds, even if we were visiting Shanghai right during the Chinese national holidays. Besides the city centre with the panoramic towers, we visited the old French district, the Bund, the old city with the market and Tonglizhen, a water village just outside of Shanghai. Mary gave us also very nice suggestions about restaurants and hotels with panoramic terrace to visit in the evenings during our free time. In the end Mary was so kind to give us some Chinese salty pastries as lunch for our long train journey back to Beijing. Totally recommended!!! ---Vittorio C, Germany more
Nov 2019,
Vittorio C
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Lovely girl Candy
We have been in China 2 weeks and our last day was spent in Shanghai! Our guide Candy Shao was the best...Candy was so helpful in planning the highlights of the city and what we absolutely needed to see and do on our last day. Her English was great and she was young and fun...seemed more like we were hanging out with a friend. Candy also took some great photos of us to capture our experience! I would definitely recommend Candy and China Highlights to all my friends! --Vody, USA more
Nov 2019,
Vody
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Thank you Daniel for hospitality & impressive touring!
First of all, Daniel is a very friendly, entertaining & knowledgeable tour guide.Not only had he brought us to places in the schedule, but also helped in bookings when we went around the city on ourselves. He is online 24/7 and provided immediate responses for all the questions and inquiries. In addition, he ensured our safety not only during the trip with him, but also texted us to make sure we were back to hotel safely after our own schedule.Overall, he is more than excellent for us, as not only he had fulfilled his duty to guide us as scheduled, but more of providing us hospitality, help and knowledge beyond our exceptions and beyond what we have booked with the tour. Therefore, I would 100% recommend Daniel if any of you are planning for a trip to Shanghai. ---Catherinenodnod more
Oct 2019,
Catherinenodnod
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Can't wait to go back, Sophie is an A+ Tour Guide!
Sophie was an amazing tour guide! She is very knowledgeable about the city, and more importantly, knows all the best places to get food! I was traveling with my wife, her dad, and her grandmother. Sophie did an amazing job at making sure all four of us traveled safely and created an amazing Shanghai experience for us! If you're considering booking through China Highlights I would strongly suggest you request Sophie if possible! She felt like a part of the family at the end of the trip! more
Oct 2019,
GokiburiTTV
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Wonderful trip to Shanghai, Suzhou and Tongli
Our guide Karen Wen made our trip to Shanghai, the garden city of Suzhou and the Water Village of Tongli very memorable and wonderful. Karen is very passionate with her job as a local guide. She has a lot of knowledge of every place that we visited which made us relate to and understand what we’re visiting. She took us to restaurants that served the best xialongbao and to an old restaurant in Suzho where we ate the best garlic shrimp and steamed fish. She also changed our itinerary when she saw how tired we were coming from Zhangjiajie. Our driver is excellent .I highly recommend you book your trip to China Highlights. It’s local guides are all excellent. ---oesca,USA more
Oct 2019,
oesca
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Super Sophie Shanghai Tour Guide
A great tour guide brings all these buildings, the river, and most importantly the history to life. Sophie gave us an in-depth tour of the Bund, then took us across the river early in the morning to the top of the Shanghai Tower before it got crowded. The river cruise in the evening was spectacular and such an easy way to see the ever-changing illuminated skyline from so many varied perspectives. more
Oct 2019,
takeaction
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Our tour escort, Sophie Lee, is a talented hospitality professional....our 3 generation family trip was engaged by Sophie due to her vast experience.....chosen out of some 40 applicants to escort US Ambassador to China Gary Locke or leading the LA Lakers Basketball Cheerleaders around town a couple of weeks ago....we chatted with locals on the street comparing our home cities....tasted the best Chinese breakfast burrito ever from a street side vendor. Sophie ensured the safe trek of my 86 yr old mother to the top of Tiger Hill in Suzhou, My mother who immigrated from Shanghai when she was 14 and a academic scholar was impressed with Sophie’s knowledge of Chinese history and literature..... The Garden Tour in Suzhou was more meaningful with the insights provided by her story telling (much better than audio tour you get at Versailles).....As far as the “value” of our custom tour... I would rate as excellent... our 4 star hotel was more than adequate.....good spa facilities, breakfast was very good, we had dinner in the Taiwanese Seafood restaurant and it was excellent....and relatively pricey....our tour included lunch - great stuff! We were able to select items, using advice from Sophie....sometimes we went over budget - may $6 or $8 extra .... it’s worth it to sample as much as possible... such high quality food! Getting hungry writing about food. Gotta go now ----Advntr18 Berkeley, California more
Oct 2019,
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Suggested Itinerary
Here is a suggested itinerary. We are happy to customize a tour according to your interests and schedule.
Your private guide will be waiting for you in the airport arrivals hall or in your hotel's lobby. A comfortable vehicle (non-smoking) with an experienced driver will be ready for you to explore Shanghai.
Visit Yu Garden, which is a delicate classical garden that is hidden among high buildings. You will hear interesting stories about its former owner, and learn why its dragon wall almost killed its former owner.
Walking along the Bund, you will learn about Shanghai's rise. Your guide will take you into historical buildings where you can touch the old items and he/she will tell you stories about their past.
Wander through alleyways to get a glimpse of the locals' lifestyles. Your guide will take you to a famous local restaurant to taste Shanghai's most typical snack — xiaolongbao (steamed buns). Learn the proper way to eat one or you will burn your mouth!
Be like a local as you hop on a public ferry among the crowds to cross the Huangpu River and slowly travel from old Shanghai to Shanghai's Pudong New Area.
Take the fastest elevator in the world and ascend the highest building in Shanghai — the Shanghai Tower. You can enjoy seeing the Oriental Pearl TV Tower below you and get a bird's-eye view of the entire city.
Hotel options:
Sunrise On The Bund
Les Suites Orient, Bund Shanghai, Bund view


Wander in the former French Concession where your guide will tell you stories about the buildings and the colonial history. Pass by the stylish buildings constructed a century ago and try to find a famous one.
Next, your guide will take you to a hidden treasure of art — the Propaganda Poster Art Centre. There, you will find exaggerated posters that record the history of the Mao era, and your curiosity about communism will be satisfied.
Enjoy a relaxing afternoon in Zhujiajiao Water Town. Walk over the bridges and by the river, and relax in a rowing boat. This lovely town will make you forget that you are next to a big city.
After Zhujiajiao Water Town, your tour guide and driver will escort you to the airport or train station and wave goodbye.

Trip Notes
1. Customizing the Tour — According to Your Needs
This tour is very flexible. You can alter the itinerary and extend or shorten it to suit your schedule.
For example, you can add activities in the first day or remove some attractions.
2. 144-Hour Visa-Free Transit Policy
A short stay (up to 6 days) in Shanghai and the surrounding cities is more convenient now as there is no need for a visa.
It's permissible to stay within the administrative areas of Shanghai municipality, Jiangsu Province, and Zhejiang Province for up to 144 hours. Contact us to find out more.
Tour Price
Price includes:
Start planning your tailor-made tour now. Your 1:1 travel consultant will reply within 1 working day.