About this tour
Shanghai is like an enormous treasure box: old lanes, bright towers, legends of dragons and secret ways across riddle-bridges. In four hours we do more than walk the city — we live a small adventure, cheerfully, at your family's pace.
On the way we make a welcome stop at a café with a menu you can actually read, where you can eat, rest, recharge and count up how many dragons you have found. If you like, we can add something sweet — our secret finale for the most observant travellers.
What you will see
The Bund — and we will work out what the old buildings look like (castles, perhaps?), then look across the river at the city of the future
The towers of Pudong — we can go up one if you like, where all of Shanghai lies below you and you can survey it like a superhero
The old city — we look into the tea house on the pond, cross the zigzag bridge (it keeps evil spirits away) and hunt for dragons on the rooftops
The French Concession — with its snug lanes, hidden cafés and a good stop for lunch, to catch our breath and talk over what we have seen
What you will learn
- Why the Chinese build bridges that zigzag, and what the dragons are doing on the roofs
- Where spies used to hide, who spent two hours over tea, and how Russians lived in Shanghai
- What an ancient garden and a modern skyscraper have in common
- Why Shanghai was called “the city of contrasts” — and how it became so particular
- And we will learn to notice details, imagine things and see a city as a living story
Who it suits
- Children from 4 to 18 — we have gathered the city's most improbable secrets, its best views and its tastiest pauses
- Parents for whom it matters that the children are interested rather than simply enduring a tour
- Families who want to spend a day together — calmly, enjoyably, kindly to themselves and each other
- Anyone who loves learning new things without burying themselves and their children in information they do not need
How to prepare
- Wear comfortable shoes (we will walk, but not to exhaustion)
- Bring water and a hat if it is hot
- Bring your curiosity — it will definitely come in handy
- A phone or camera — for the dragon hunt
Book a tour
Leave your phone number and we will call back and find a date.
