Shanghai
Pudong & Lujiazui
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The skyline you see from the Bund — Shanghai Tower, SWFC, Jin Mao and Oriental Pearl, financial towers, Disneyland 20km east.
Pudong was farmland until 1990 — now it's China's most concentrated financial cluster. The Lujiazui pinwheel (Shanghai Tower 632m, SWFC 492m, Jin Mao 421m, Oriental Pearl 468m) makes the postcard skyline. Park Hyatt at SWFC has the world's highest hotel pool floor (87th); Ritz Carlton at IFC, Mandarin Oriental Pudong on the river. Outside Lujiazui, Pudong sprawls — Pudong Airport 40km east, Shanghai Disneyland 30km southeast, the West Bund Riverside cultural corridor along the Huangpu south. Best for skyline views and Disneyland family bases.
Scores
Walkability
Transit
Price
Local feel
Nightlife
Family-friendly
Centrality
What you gain
- ↑Park Hyatt 87th-floor pool — Asia's most spectacular hotel pool
- ↑Shanghai Tower observation deck (632m, world's 3rd tallest)
- ↑Closest base to Shanghai Disneyland — metro Line 11 direct
What you sacrifice
- ↓Lujiazui empties of locals after office hours — sterile evenings
- ↓Disneyland-area Pudong is suburban and characterless
- ↓Crossing to the Bund involves metro tunnel — feels distant
Best for
Avoid if
Other Shanghai neighbourhoods
The tree-lined former French Concession — plane-tree streets, art-deco villas, the city's cafe and indie restaurant heartland.
The 1.5km riverfront strip of 1920s European-style banks and trading houses with the iconic view of Pudong skyscrapers across the Huangpu.
Skyscraper-and-shopping mid-town district with the Jing'an Temple and Nanjing Road West as anchors — expat-heavy, polished.
Know where to stay — now find when to go.
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