A Guide to Shanghai Through the Eyes of Its Art-World Locals

As the 15th Shanghai Biennale opens and art fairs West Bund and Art021 prepare to welcome visitors, the city’s gallerists, curators, artists and collectors reveal their favourite spots to eat, drink and view art.

Zairong Xiang, Curator

My biggest realisation last year while watching Wong Kar-wai’s TV series Blossoms Shanghai (2023) was that I hadn’t been to any of its key locations—the dinner spots along the neon-lit Huanghe Road, for example. Yet the area that lies within the triangle framed by People’s Square, the Rockbund Art Museum, and Yuyuan Garden is the part of the city I most adore, yet somehow visit far less often than I should. Get on a bike for a post-fair detox trip, for this pocket is the most cinematic part of Shanghai: every street seems entangled in overlapping eras, where stories and styles that shouldn’t coexist somehow appear in the same frame. With changes in light, season, or the viewer’s mood, the area can express endless emotions. It’s hard to tell whether those buildings, full of stories of past, present, and future, are about to be demolished or inaugurated.

Zairong Xiang is a theorist and curator based between Shanghai and Kunshan.

Payne Zhu, Artist

The city’s best art route weaves together ferries and footbridges. Start at M50 on Suzhou Creek, home to Antenna Space, ShanghART, and Brownie. From a nearby pedestrian bridge, enjoy views of the creek’s confluence and intersecting railways. Follow Suzhou Creek downstream toward the Huangpu River, passing the Suhe Art District, including Suhe Haus and Fotografiska, before the waters meet. Though Suzhou Creek still flows, the Huangpu River expanded by drawing from it some 600 years ago—a transformation that seems to foreshadow Shanghai’s rise as a cosmopolitan metropolis. The Huangpu is served by several ferry lines, and a scenic riverside walkway guides you from the Bund’s galleries and museums south to the Power Station of Art and onward to the West Bund Art Center—a stretch of roughly ten kilometres, perfect for a day-long art marathon.

Payne Zhu is an artist based in Shanghai.

Michelle Yeonho Hyun, Curator

Scent Hall Linger, Tan Jing’s exhibition at Antenna-tenna, has me thinking about smells and their ephemeral but lasting affective power on our bodies and space. Tan layers scent on to porous surfaces such as paper and clay, with images and light, to invoke collective memory. I’m also curious to see what Bárbara Sánchez-Kane has been working on during his residency at CHERUBY, exploring the power of scent and what else we wear on our bodies. You can smell the bright milkiness of osmanthus blooming all over the city now, but I would still visit the century-old osmanthus tree at Qushui Yuan, one of five remaining classical gardens in Shanghai.

Michelle Yeonho Hyun is the director of the ICA at NYU Shanghai, where her co-curated project Ho Rui An: Chronologies is currently on view.

Licheng Ling, Collector and Designer

There’s a particular charm in Shanghai when autumn settles in, and it is perhaps best captured at Guilin Park, known for the osmanthus blossoms that fill the air at this time of year. Wandering through the garden, layers of flowers and trees unfold in the tradition of century-old southern Chinese landscaping. A gentle breeze sometimes lets the petals fall like soft rain, making this my beloved local retreat. From there, a 20-minute taxi ride will take you to the exhibition that has most recently inspired me: Fluxus, by Chance at West Bund Museum, where John Cage’s graphite-on-paper drawings linger in the mind long after leaving the gallery. For a pause in the afternoon, I often head to T12 Lab on South Urumqi Road, where a perfectly pulled espresso is a small ritual. Dinner finds me at Juke on Dongping Road: small and intimate, with warm ambience and carefully curated drinks.

Licheng Ling is a collector and designer based in Shanghai. Her design project space, Licheng Ling Projects, is presented at West Bund Art & Design and features a furniture series by Italian architect Aldo Cibic.

Enrico Polato, Gallerist

I’m curious to see how West Bund Art & Design, one of the driving forces behind Shanghai Art Week and one of Asia’s leading fairs, will unfold this year in its new home. Beyond the Shanghai Biennale, I’m especially looking forward to Rockbund Art Museum’s fall-winter programme, and I’ll be sure to make time for the new exhibitions at the ASE Foundation—a gem of a space known for its thoughtful, research-driven approach. After a visit to Fotografiska, a short walk away is Cometa: my go-to for a relaxed evening with good food and drinks. And for late-night cravings after the parties, Yunhe Noodle on Changle Road never disappoints.

Enrico Polato is founder of Capsule Shanghai. Perpetual Temptation by Miranda Fengyuan Zhang opens there on 8 November.

Zhang Ding, Artist

Though it’s a dawning time for print in China, Baixin Books on the old bookstore hub Fuzhou Road remains my quiet refuge. Inside, there’s a stand for HSBC Paper Company (established in 1934), its shelves stacked with handmade textures and forgotten stationery. If you find yourself wandering through the former French Concession, Labella Wine House is a tiny cocktail bar tucked in a corner—perfect for a drink before or after an exhibition. Recently, I’ve been drawn to the seafood spot San Bai Bei on Caihong Road (reservations are essential). When the night stretches long, nothing beats Jin Qiang Beef Noodles on Changshou Road, open 24 hours.

For exhibitions, Artist’s Treat, a gathering of 10 artist-curated shows—including 5till Øff, curated by Bian Yunxiang, and Phrasing with Not, curated by Cai Jian—feels like a mini off-Biennale, best experienced alongside the Shanghai Biennale, where Lin Tianmiao’s survey show is also not to be missed. At West Bund, I’d recommend TANK Shanghai, where solo shows by Jean-Marie Appriou, Xiao Jiang, and Tang Yongxiang are on view, and The View within the View at ShanghART West Bund, featuring Boedi Widjaja, Lv Yan, and Zhang Wenxin—each offering different ways to see, and to be seen.

Zhang Ding is an artist based in Shanghai. His solo show 20%≤21g is on view at Sankuanz Art Space in Shanghai from 14 November 2025 to 8 March 2026.

Joni Zhu, Curator

This year I’m drawn to the scenographic, the cinematic, and the theatrical. The exhibition scenography for Does the flower hear the bee?, the 15th Shanghai Biennale, is designed by all(zone), whose co-founder Rachaporn Choochuey also directed the architectural biennial at the Rockbund Art Museum, where we had the pleasure of collaborating. At Prada Rong Zhai, A Kind of Language: Storyboards and Other Renderings for Cinema surveys Asian cinema from 1940 to 2024 through more than 500 materials: mood boards, scrapbooks and sketches by filmmakers and visual practitioners. On 14 and 15 November, the much-anticipated Tangent by Shiro Takatani will be staged at Theatre YOUNG. Featuring music by Ryuichi Sakamoto from his final album, 12, and a performance by Miyu Hosoi, the production explores in-between zones through interweaving of art, science, and technology.

Dr Joni Zhu is director of CHERUBY, where her curated exhibition Bárbara Sánchez-Kane: Coro de Soles Menores opens on 9 November..

Wang Luning, Collector

I plan to see Anri Sala at the Cc Foundation, he first caught my attention at an art fair with a fresco work. One of my favourite boutiques is LMDS on Taojiang Road. From its design to its curated selections, everything reflects refined taste, and it often hosts pop-up exhibitions. Yongfoo Elite, a former British Consulate with a charming courtyard, is ideal for dinner or drinks, while Bijou and Juke offer lively options for younger visitors. Beyond these, Veenue Gallery (past Hengshan Park) is a curated vintage furniture store with compelling artworks. On Fuxing Middle Road, the Clement Apartments and nearby Blackstone Apartments are treasures of Western-style architecture, complemented by violin repair shops and piano studios whose evening rehearsals create a romantic soundscape. For an ‘old soul’ experience outside the French Concession, listen to jazz at the Peace Hotel or dine at The Press on Hankou Road, where historic photographs of figures featured in Shen Bao line the restaurant corner.

Wang Luning is founder of Rong Lu, where the current exhibition is Lumière des Lumières, featuring Chu Teh-Chun and Georges Mathieu. —[O]

Main image: Leidy Churchman, Vivid Blue Hunger Moves The World (2025) (detail). Oil on canvas. 182.9 x 152.4 x 2.5 cm. Courtesy the artist and Antenna Space, Shanghai.