The best things to do in Shanghai this Golden Week

Booze-filled brunches, art exhibitions, all-night parties and more to fill your days this October break

By Rupert Hohwieler Posted: Wednesday September 30 2020 5:54PM

The PRC is turning 71 and that means Golden Week is finally upon us. This year, we're looking at an eight-day break as National Day coincides with Mid-Autumn Festival on Thursday 1 October, with the rest of the days off extending to the next Thursday (October 8).

While many might be jetting off to destinations all around the country, plenty of us will be sticking in Shanghai for the holiday. From booze-filled brunches and all-night parties to art exhibitions, family-friendly activities and more, here are the best things to do if you're staying in the city for the long October break.

Explore Shanghai from all angles these tours and trips

A national celebration is always an appropriate time to beef up your city smarts. Heritage society Historic Shanghai is happy to take care of that, offering five Golden Week Walks, including a special National Day tour that visits all the key sites which set China on its path to revolution. For a different type of cultural lesson, get clued up on hairy crab season with the food and drink experts at UnTour. The three-hour tour takes you through the Old Town, where you'll get the opportunity to sample crabs in a variety of tasty forms (spaces for the public tour are almost sold out, but private tours are still going).

If the big smoke is starting to suffocate, head out for a weekend of bucolic bliss at the Dianshan Lake area, where lifestyle curators Together are putting on an activity-filled Camping Carnival weekend – think caricature painting and floral arrangement classes to kayaking, beach volleyball and more.

Do brunch (lots of brunch)

While jet-setting overseas is currently not an option, there are silver linings to every cloud – like Shanghai’s favourite pastime... every day of the week. Do it fancy at Bund stalwarts M on the Bund and POP who are offering brunch with a view for the duration. If you want the unlimited booze, hot spots like The Bull and Claw (Thursday 1 to Sunday 4), The Rooster, Funkadeli and Tacolicious (Friday 2 to Sunday 4) are at your service.

As for the weekenders: on Sunday (October 4) party brunch vibes can be found at the W Shanghai's Social Retox at The Kitchen Table and Liquid Laundry is launching a new Brunch & Beats session (equipped with a new menu feat a bloody Mary bar). Then there are the specials... Heritage by Madison is doing a truffle brunch from Thursday 1 to Thursday 8, plus there will be pop-ups like the Thai Brunch courtesy of the Curry Gaeng at Perch from Monday 5 to Thursday 8 and Area 501's Caribbean takeover at Tomatito on Saturday 3 (as part of the Spanish home-style tapas restaurant's 11-day brunch stretch from Thursday 1 to Sunday 11).

And then eat some more...

It can be a bit of a challenge keeping up with Shanghai’s endless production line of new dining spots that tempt us with their shiny new menus and spiffy concepts. Use the eight days off to get up to speed on what’s good to eat around town. If you’re in the dark on where to start, check out our list of ten restaurants and bars for your radar this autumn. There's Japanese-inspired American diner fare at Lucky Diner (from the team behind highball hangout Lucky Mart), Thai crowdpleasers at Hidden Thai Bistro, creative plant-based dishes at DuLi and more.

By: Cat Nelson Posted: 4:51 pm, 22 September 2020

Dance all night, every night

Holidays lend themselves well to parties and the hangovers are unavoidable, so embrace them as there’s a lot going on in the nightlife world this week. Kick it off with a psychedelic sensory overload/warm-up tonight (Wednesday 30) courtesy of Asian Dope Boys x Antigen at ALL. On National Day itself, it's Alter.'s Golden Week Special, held in the super-luxe Kee Club Gardens. There’s also Kuai Le Da at Elevator, for those wanting to carry things into the next day. On Friday 2, head to Found 158 and jam to your own tunes at Café des Stagiaires' jukebox party La Kitsch.

Take things to greater heights with a couple of stellar rooftop parties. On Saturday 3, Kartel plays host to the City Beats BBQ – an afternoon rooftop bash complete with a barbecue, free-flow drinks, DJs and the bright lights of Jingan encompassing you. Then, Space Panda returns to TOPS at the Banyan Tree Hotel for the fifth chapter of the Sunkissed series on Monday 5. Other than that, join the party specialists at 3ntry who are taking their expertise to Dianshan Lake for a weekend of pool parties, yacht trips, sailing and more for Towards the Sun.

Listen to loads of live music

For those looking to venture off the beaten path of Golden Week parties, start with the Zhujiajiao Water Village Music Festival. Happening over the weekend in its blissful water-town setting, connect with your alternative side and wise up on some top local artists (take a look at the bill). Long-running Jazz fest JZ Festival is also back and covering the most of the holiday with a strong lineup high on Jazz, blues, hip-hop, flamenco, big band and more across JZ Club, JZ Live and Wooden Box.

Catch the city's biggest art exhibitions

There are loads of awesome exhibitions that you’ve probably been meaning to check out but haven’t yet because of other commitments like… work. Well, the time off is as good an excuse as any to get cracking. Start by wandering over to the Yuz Museum to see a collection of works from German painter André Butzer . Check out Claude Monet's 'Impression, Sunrise' painting alongside some of his other masterpieces in Shanghai for the first time on loan from Paris' Musée Marmottan Monet. See M/M Paris' first retrospective in China M/Made in Shanghai at the PSA, get a blast from the past at MoCA's Snoopy 70th Anniversary show, or catch the final days of Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams, that brings together 270 designs from the luxury fashion house through the ages (last day October 4).

Take a stroll in the autumn air

Put that spare time to good use and make the most of the warm weather days while they’re still here at some of Shanghai’s most scenic city parks. In Puxi, there’s Changfeng Park famed for its massive lake (where the Chinese Olympic rowing team once trained), Zhongshan Park with its classical Chinese gardens and Fuxing Park for peace and quiet. East of the river there’s Century Park, the largest in central Shanghai and with beautiful green spaces perfect for admiring fall foliage.

Kick back in front of the big screen

Rather just kick back and grab some popcorn? That’s okay too – be it in a dive bar, outdoors on a patio or in the cinema itself, there are no shortages of places to get your film fix this Golden Week. Specters is hosting a Lord of the Rings marathon screening all three of Peter Jackson’s classics (the extended versions, of course) back-to-back on Monday 5. Or you can unwind on Abbey Road’s terrace at Second Chance Animal Aid's screening of Catch Me If You Can on Wednesday 7, proceeds from which will go towards the animal rescue group. For the classic cinema experience, catch Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood and Disney's live-action remake of Mulan – both being shown in theatres around town.

Eat all the mooncakes

Mooncake season might be quickly drawing to a close, but whether you're in it for the flaky meat-filled Shanghai variety, contemporary riffs or just the A+ packaging, if you act fast you can still get your fill of the love-it-or-hate-it seasonal snack. Keep things upscale with versions from Michelin-starred restaurants like Yi Long Court's trio of traditional egg custard mooncake, black truffle and durian (available from the Peninsula Shanghai's mooncake booth in The Lobby until Thursday 1) or Ultraviolet's first foray into the world of yuebing-riffs, 'Ultra-Lune' – a selection of soft-centred French sablés from celebrity chef Paul Pairet. There's also Shanghai-style mooncakes with crab roe from Fu 1015 (call 5237 9778 to order) and a vegan selection from Z-Rou and Wow Sugar! (available today and October 6-7). Alternatively, pop mini pork pie renditions from the British pie slingers at Pie Society (available through the holiday).

Keep the kids entertained

Looking for ways to keep the kids entertained over the break? Bring the family to the Jing An Kerry Centre and do dog-friendly things (maybe even adopt one) at Spare Leash x Shake Shack's week-long adoption event. Get down to Sinan Mansions for a world food market featuring over 40 vendors and lots of merry spirit (October 1-3). Or, to really help your little ones blow off some steam, Z&B Fitness has added a bunch of extra kids classes to its usual roster – think Zumba, Bootcamp, aerial yoga and more. If your hands are tied and the babysitter's busy, sign your children up to some of Shanghai’s best holiday camps like a three-day art one from Craft'd or a sports camp run by Multisport that features football, swimming, gymnastics and more.