Private Shanghai 4-Hour City Tour by Car

The Bund

Most private Shanghai tours start at the Bund, and for good reason. This curved boulevard along the west bank of the Huangpu River is lined with banks, trading houses and offices built from the late nineteenth century to the 1930s, a living catalogue of neoclassical, Gothic revival and art deco architecture. Look for the old Customs House with its clock tower and the domed former bank buildings beside it.

From the promenade you see the other face of the city across the water: the Oriental Pearl TV Tower, the Jin Mao Tower, the bottle-opener-shaped Shanghai World Financial Center and the twisting Shanghai Tower. Your guide explains how a trading port became a global financial centre, and finds the best spots for photos. About 30 to 45 minutes is ideal.

Old Town Bazaar and the Zigzag Bridge

A short drive south brings you to the Old Town, the oldest part of Shanghai and once enclosed by its own city wall. Its heart today is a bustling bazaar of Qing-style buildings with curved roofs and red lanterns, filled with craft shops, calligraphy brushes, silk, tea and snack stalls selling Shanghai dumplings.

In the middle of a pond stands the Huxinting Tea House, reached by the Zigzag Bridge, whose angles were traditionally believed to stop evil spirits that could only travel in straight lines. Your guide helps you navigate the lanes and bargain politely if you wish to buy souvenirs. Muslim travellers may like to know that the historic Xiaotaoyuan Mosque stands nearby in the Old Town.

Yu Garden

Hidden inside the bazaar, Yu Garden is a classical garden laid out in the Ming dynasty in the sixteenth century by an official as a retreat for his parents. Within its walls you find a tall yellow-stone rockery, carp ponds, pavilions, moon gates and whitewashed walls crowned with undulating dragons, all arranged so that every few steps reveal a new composed view.

Your guide explains the ideas behind Chinese garden design and the history of the halls. Plan about one hour for Yu Garden. Entrance tickets are not included in this tour and are bought on the day, and the garden asks for passport details for entry, so bring your passport.

The Jade Buddha Temple

If you choose the temple route, your driver takes you to the Jade Buddha Temple, a working Buddhist monastery founded in 1882 to house two white jade Buddha statues brought from Burma. Its yellow-walled halls, rebuilt in 1928 in classical style, surround incense-filled courtyards where local people come to pray.

The seated jade Buddha, almost two metres tall and set with gems, and the smaller reclining Buddha are the treasures of the temple. Visitors should cover shoulders and knees, and photography is not permitted in the jade halls. A visit takes about 45 minutes and gives a calm contrast to the busy bazaar, and your guide explains the rituals you see around you.

Pudong, Nanjing Road and Other Choices

Prefer modern Shanghai? Swap the temple for Lujiazui in Pudong, where an elevated pedestrian skybridge links the towers and, on a clear day, you can go up to one of the observation decks for a bird's-eye view. Other favourites include Nanjing Road, the city's best-known shopping street, and the plane-tree avenues of the former French Concession.

Returning visitors often ask for Tianzifang, a maze of lanes turned into small studios and shops, the Shanghai Museum on People's Square, or the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall with its giant city model. Tell your guide what interests you and the four hours are built around it, within the city centre. Because the driver stays with you, moving between distant districts takes minutes rather than a long metro ride.