What's the must-see thing in Shanghai?

The Bund runs 1.5 kilometres along the west bank of the Huangpu River, from the old British Consulate at the north end to the Meteorological Signal Tower near Yan'an East Road. The 52 buildings on its west side were built between 1868 and 1937, when Shanghai was the financial capital of East Asia. At night the facades light up in warm gold. Across the river, the Pudong skyline, with the 492-metre Shanghai World Financial Center and the 468-metre Oriental Pearl Tower, reflects off the water in streaks of violet and blue. The best window is between 7pm and 9pm, when the nightly light show runs. The air carries the smell of river water and roasted chestnuts from vendors on Nanjing East Road, two blocks inland. No ticket, no reservation. Walk south to north so Pudong stays on your right the whole way.

Yu Garden sits in the Old City, a 10-minute walk south of the Bund. The garden covers only 2 hectares, but it was built in 1559 by a Ming dynasty official named Pan Yunduan, and the rockwork is still the most elaborate in the Yangtze Delta. The Exquisite Jade Rock, a 3.3-metre porous limestone boulder near the garden's centre, was originally meant for the imperial court in Beijing. Its transport barge sank in the Huangpu, and the stone ended up here instead. Entry costs 40 yuan (about $6 USD) in peak season, 30 yuan off-peak. Go before 9:30am. By mid-morning the surrounding Yuyuan Bazaar fills with tour groups, and the humidity in summer, which tends to hover around 80% through July and August, makes the tight corridors feel close and sticky. In early morning you might hear nothing but cicadas and the trickle of water over 400-year-old stone channels.

Shanghai Museum opened in its current People's Square building in 1996 and holds one of China's strongest collections of bronzes, ceramics, and calligraphy. The bronze gallery alone covers pieces from the Shang dynasty, roughly 1600 BC forward. The 3rd-floor calligraphy rooms tend to be cool, dim, and nearly empty, while the ground-floor ceramics hall draws the crowds. Free entry, but you need to book a timed slot on the museum's WeChat mini-program a day ahead. The building sits at 201 Renmin Avenue, directly above People's Square metro station on Lines 1, 2, and 8. That makes it the easiest high-priority stop in the city to reach by transit.

Skip the Oriental Pearl Tower. The observation deck at 263 metres costs 220 yuan ($33 USD), the queues run 45 minutes on weekends, and the views of Pudong's skyline are better from the Bund than from inside it. Shanghai Disneyland, out in Chuansha, is a 50-minute metro ride from the centre on Line 11 and draws families, but it is not a Shanghai experience. It is a Disney experience that happens to be in Shanghai. If you have a third day, spend it in the Former French Concession around Wukang Road and Fuxing Park. The plane trees there were planted in the 1920s and still shade the pavement. The cafes along Yongkang Road smell like fresh sourdough and espresso at 9am.