Cultural Journey上海 · Shanghai
Old lanes, soup dumplings and one of the world's great skylines
Two journeys available/Small group/English-speaking local guide
Shanghai is the only city in the world where a hundred-year-old stone alleyway and a hundred-storey skyscraper share the same view. Two journeys — one through each.
Our first journey follows the flavours and neighbourhood rhythms of old Shanghai — from morning park life to a hands-on xiaolongbao class, through the shikumen lanes, and onto the Huangpu River as the city lights up. The second steps into modern Shanghai: the Bund at sunrise, high tea above the skyline, and a tour of the districts where China's urban future is being invented.
Both journeys are guided by locals who read this city the way only those who live it can.
A journey through local life, cuisine & riverside Shanghai
Visit a local neighbourhood park and join residents in the lively morning rituals that have marked Shanghai's community life for decades — tai chi, dancing, music and conversation. This is the city as locals know it: social, unscripted, and deeply communal.
Join a hands-on cooking class to master the art of xiaolongbao — the delicate soup dumplings that define Shanghai's food culture. Learn the folding technique, the filling ratios, and the stories behind this beloved dish, then sit down to eat what you made.
A journey through China's most dynamic city
Walk the Huangpu River promenade and take in the sweeping contrast between the colonial grandeur of the Bund and the vertiginous towers of Pudong across the water. Your guide unpacks the layers — the trading history, the architecture, the ambition — behind this iconic view.
Enjoy an elegant high tea experience high above the city — panoramic bird's-eye views that showcase the ambition and scale of modern Shanghai. From here, the journey continues into one of the city's vibrant modern districts, where contemporary architecture, creative urban spaces and cutting-edge technology reflect China's role as a global centre of innovation.
Tell us which side of Shanghai you want to discover first — or spend two days and see both. No deposit to enquire.
