Shanghai with kids: what works, what to skip, and how to pace the days

Shanghai is a good city for children. It is safe, clean, full of playgrounds, and there is a dumpling within a hundred metres of wherever you are standing. The things that go wrong for families are pacing and logistics, not the city. This guide is written for Australian families, including the many where one parent speaks Chinese and the kids do not.

The three rules

1. One big thing per day. Not Yu Garden and the Bund and Shanghai Tower and the French Concession. One of those, plus a park, plus an early dinner.
2. Finish by five. Shanghai evenings are hot in summer and crowded year-round. Children who have been going since eight are done by five. So are parents.
3. Have a car on long days. Metro is cheap and fast but involves stairs, crowds and escalators with a pram. A 7-seat car with a driver changes the day.

What children enjoy

• Shanghai Natural History Museum. Dinosaurs, a rainforest walk, hands-on exhibits. Two to three hours. Book under your passport in advance; it is one of the most popular museums in the city.
• Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Bigger, further out in Pudong, with a robot zone and IMAX. Good for ages 7 and up.
• The Maglev. Eight minutes at 300 km/h from Longyang Road to the airport and back. A ride, not transport. Children remember it more than the skyline.
• Shanghai Zoo or, better, Shanghai Wild Animal Park on the outskirts, with pandas and a safari bus.
• Century Park in Pudong for bikes and open space. Zhongshan Park in Changning for a playground and a smaller lake.
• Dumpling-making class. An hour and a half, usually in someone’s kitchen or a cooking studio, and lunch is what they made.
• The ferry across the Huangpu. A few RMB, ten minutes, and the best view of the towers. Cheaper and more fun than the observation deck for anyone under ten.
• Shanghai Disneyland. A full day on its own, usually a separate day at the end of the trip. Book tickets in advance through the official app or let a guide handle it.

What to skip or shorten

• Yu Garden is beautiful but crowded and has a lot of “don’t touch”. Thirty minutes, early, is enough.
• The observation decks are expensive and the queue can be an hour. Do the ferry instead, or go at opening time.
• Full-day walking tours. Half-day, with a car, finishing at a playground.

Eating with children

Every Chinese restaurant will do plain rice, noodles in broth, steamed buns and stir-fried vegetables without chilli if you ask. Dumplings (xiaolongbao) are the universal child food. Western options exist everywhere in the French Concession and the malls. Supermarkets have familiar snacks. Tap water is not for drinking; bottled water is everywhere and cheap.

Prams, toilets and nappies

Footpaths in central Shanghai are good; the old town around Yu Garden is not pram-friendly. Shopping malls have clean toilets and baby change rooms; many public toilets do not. Nappies, formula and wipes are sold in every supermarket, but bring your brand of formula if your child is particular.

A sample family day

8:30 pick-up with car and guide. 9:00 Natural History Museum until 11:30. 12:00 lunch at a dumpling place near Jing’an Temple. 13:30 Jing’an Sculpture Park playground. 15:00 Maglev return ride. 16:30 back to the hotel pool. Dinner at 18:00 in the French Concession.

That is a good day. It costs one guide-with-car day, priced per group so a family of four pays the same as a couple.