Yuyuan Old Street and Garden

The garden and district of Yuyuan, in Shanghai

The traditional district of Yuyuan, with its bazaar and its famous Yu Garden, plunges the visitor into the Shanghai of the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this maze of stalls and footbridges, its legendary steamed dumplings and this sumptuous Chinese garden of the sixteenth century, one of the finest of the town.

The bazaar, the xiaolongbao and the Yu Garden

Here, the atmosphere changes: the air is fragrant with incense, the roofs rise in elegant curves, and all around, the façades of Ming and Qing style plunge the visitor into another era. Here you are in the traditional district of Shanghai, called Yuyuan Old Street, or bazaar of Yuyuan, a maze of stalls and wooden footbridges that recreates the atmosphere of an ancient town. It is a place where history and gourmandise mingle: you find there sellers of silks, of jade and of rare teas, and above all the legendary Nanxiang house, famous for its steamed dumplings, the xiaolongbao. Their secret? A dough so fine that it encloses a burning broth, a classic of Shanghai cuisine that you taste with caution. It is one of the most lively places of the town, where the crowd presses in every season. On one side opens the Yu Garden, a sumptuous Chinese garden built in the sixteenth century by a high official for his elderly parents. Considered as one of the finest gardens of the region, it deploys over a few hectares a refined universe of rockeries, ponds, pavilions, galleries and walls in the shape of a dragon, designed according to the subtle art of the classical Chinese garden, where each perspective is composed like a painting. A stone's throw away also rises the Huxinting tea pavilion, set on the water in the middle of a pond, linked to the bank by a zigzag bridge. A classical garden and a district of yesteryear, Yuyuan is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

Here you discover the traditional district of Yuyuan and its bazaar, a maze of stalls and footbridges with Ming and Qing façades, where you taste the famous xiaolongbao, these steamed dumplings with burning broth of the Nanxiang house; nearby opens the Yu Garden, a sumptuous Chinese garden of the sixteenth century, with its rockeries, ponds, pavilions and walls in the shape of a dragon, and the Huxinting tea pavilion set on the water. Yuyuan is a jewel of Shanghai. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Yuyuan district lies in the old town of Shanghai, Huangpu district, near the Bund, reachable on foot and by metro. The bazaar is freely accessible, while the Yu Garden follows its own days and opening hours, variable, and its entry is subject to a fee. It is best to enquire before coming and to avoid the busiest hours.

What is the Yu Garden in Shanghai?

A sumptuous Chinese garden built in the sixteenth century by a high official for his elderly parents, considered as one of the finest of the region; it deploys rockeries, ponds, pavilions, galleries and walls in the shape of a dragon, in the heart of the traditional district of Yuyuan and its bazaar, famous for its steamed dumplings xiaolongbao.

Where is the Yuyuan district in Shanghai?

In the old town of Shanghai, Huangpu district, near the Bund, in China.