Shanghai rewards a guide who knows which door to knock on. Ours are born-and-raised Shanghainese: they will walk you from the Bund’s skyline to the lane where they learned to ride a bike, price a bespoke suit on the Fabric Market, and order your xiaolongbao in the queue that never makes the guidebooks.
Rates: ¥990 for a full 8-hour day — the guide’s transport and meal allowance included, no surprise expenses. Add a private car with driver from ¥980/day and Zhujiajiao water town is inside one day’s drive. Travelling 11+ days? The guide fee drops 20% automatically; 21+ days, 40%.
Guides who cover Shanghai
Shanghai, properly
A skyline that resets every decade, wrapped around lane-houses older than the port. Shanghai is where China negotiates with the world — in French Concession cafés and Pudong boardrooms alike.
- The Bund at first light, when only locals are out
- French Concession walk: plane trees, delis, 1930s villas
- Yu Garden and the old town before the crowds
- Zhujiajiao water town by boat, 1 hour from downtown