Every sweets spot we've listed in Shanghai — with the Chinese name you can copy straight into Amap or Didi, and what locals actually order.
Cash only
Near A street-window shop; the queue is all locals
Metro Lines 3/4, Baoshan Road Station, ~600m walk
An old-school sticky-rice cake window. The signatures are 「条头糕」 (red bean roll) and 「双酿团」 (double-filled ball). Sweet and savoury both — locals grab these fo...
Read the entry →
Since 1945
Near Street-facing on West Nanjing Road, opposite Meilongzhen Plaza
Metro Line 2/12/13, West Nanjing Road Station, Exit 2, ~220m walk
Order at the glass counters like a local: 蟹粉汤团 (crab-roe glutinous balls) in winter, 虾仁两面黄 (crisp-fried noodles with shrimp) any time, and 素菜包 (vegetable bun...
Read the entry →
The mooncake queue
Near Street-front on Middle Huaihai Road; the permanent mooncake queue is the landmark
Metro Line 13, Middle Huaihai Road Station, Exit 1, ~320m walk
Two different reasons to come. The street window sells 鲜肉月饼 (fresh pork mooncakes) — eat one immediately, paper bag and all. Upstairs is a proper benbang din...
Read the entry →
Since 1875
Near On the Nanjing East Road pedestrian street, near Zhejiang Middle Road
Metro Line 1/2/8, People's Square Station, Exit 14, ~500m walk
A takeaway counter, not a teahouse. Regulars come for the 糕团 (sticky-rice sweets) sold by the piece — 双酿团 and 条头糕 are the old-Shanghai standards. In spring t...
Read the entry →
State-banquet dim sum
Near Beside the Zigzag Bridge inside Yu Garden
Metro Line 14, Yu Garden Station, Exit 7, ~680m walk
Famous for hosting world leaders over dim sum — go upstairs for the view of the Zigzag Bridge. Order the 桂花拉糕 (osmanthus rice cake) and 蟹粉小笼 (crab- and-pork ...
Read the entry →
The butterfly queue
Near At the Park Hotel, by People's Square, at the Huanghe Road corner
Metro Line 1/2/8, People's Square Station, Exit 8, ~130m walk
The 蝴蝶酥 (palmier / butterfly pastry) here is the benchmark of the city. Buy the 甜 (sweet) original and a bag of the 咸 (savoury cheese) version to compare. It...
Read the entry →
Since 1917
Near On the Nanjing East Road pedestrian street
Metro Line 1/2/8, People's Square Station, Exit 19, ~300m walk
An old state-run food hall: preserved meats, biscuits and the crowd- favourite 鲜肉月饼 (fresh pork mooncake) at the front window. A good one-stop shop for edibl...
Read the entry →
Since 1854
Near On the Nanjing East Road pedestrian street, near Zhejiang Middle Road
Metro Line 2/10, Nanjing East Road Station, Exit 4, ~360m walk
A 1854 shop best known for 鲜肉月饼 — flaky pastry around a juicy pork patty, eaten hot. The 熏鱼 (smoked fish) counter is the other reason locals queue.
Read the entry →
Bakery-counter sweets
Near B1 of the Jiu Guang department store
Metro Line 2/7, Jing'an Temple Station, Exit 2, ~120m walk
A modern 糕团 (sticky-rice cake) counter in the Jiu Guang basement. The 开运方糕 and 奶黄流心方糕 (custard-filled square cakes) are the orders; cheaper and easier than t...
Read the entry →
Russian-influenced bakery
Near On Middle Huaihai Road near Sinan Road
Metro Line 13, Middle Huaihai Road Station, Exit 1, ~320m walk
An old Shanghai bakery with Russian roots — the 蝴蝶酥 (palmier) and 杏仁排 (almond bar) are the classics. A good stop on a Huaihai Road walk; buy by the bag.
Read the entry →The long version — what to eat, when to go, and how to order it.
Food
The Bund's own restaurants speak fluent English and take every card. Walk fifteen minutes inland and you're in a different Shanghai: older, cheaper, better. A walking loop with five stops and a total budget under ¥150.
Read the guide →
Food
Nothing at an old-school Shanghai shop is sold by "a portion". Noodles come in liang, buns come in liang, dumplings come in long, pancakes come in zhang. The unit system nobody translates — decoded.
Read the guide →
Food
Hard noodles or soft. Soup on the side or in the bowl. Scallions held back or doubled. The words that change what arrives at your table — and the ones that just get you fed.
Read the guide →
Food
Not the ten fanciest, not the ten most famous — the ten places where the food is genuinely good, the price is genuinely small, and the experience is genuinely Shanghai. Ranked, mapped, and ordered in Chinese.
Read the guide →
Food
Yu Garden Bazaar is where the invention of the soup dumpling is genuinely worth seeing — and where the worst meal of your trip is genuinely possible to buy. Telling the two apart requires exactly one rule: look at who is eating.
Read the guide →
How-to
You don't need to speak Chinese. You need to copy, paste and point. The exact five moves that get food in front of you — plus the sentences that fix things when it goes wrong.
Read the guide →
Food
One bursts with scalding soup. One has almost none. Locals have been arguing about which is correct for a century — and most visitors only ever meet the wrong one.
Read the guide →
Food
Four breakfasts, four street windows you would walk straight past. What locals eat before nine, what it costs, and the Chinese words that get it in front of you.
Read the guide →Copyable Chinese names, address cards, and what to order — downloadable to your phone.
