★ Golden-hour rooftops
Shanghai's iconic riverfront promenade — 52 grand 1920s–30s facades on one side, the futuristic Lujiazui skyline on the other. Free, open round the clock, best at golden hour into the light show.
The Bund (外滩) is Shanghai's signature waterfront promenade along the Huangpu River, lined with 52 historic buildings — the so-called Exhibition of International Architecture, a near-unbroken wall of grand 1920s–30s facades in Neoclassical, Gothic, Baroque and Art Deco styles, the former banks and trading houses of old Shanghai. Across the river rises the futuristic Lujiazui skyline — the Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower — which makes the Bund the single best place to watch the city's past and future stare each other down. It's completely free, open 24 hours, and made for walking.
The stretch runs roughly 1.2–1.5km from the Waibaidu (Garden) Bridge in the north down to Jinling East Road, best walked north to south in 45 minutes to an hour, or two to three hours if you stop for photos, coffee and a few lobbies. Get there on Metro Line 2 or 10 to East Nanjing Road station, then a ten-minute walk east down the Nanjing Road pedestrian street. Come in the late afternoon for golden-hour light on the facades, then stay for sunset and the nightly light show when both banks light up. Don't miss stepping into the Fairmont Peace Hotel with its Art Deco lobby and legendary old jazz bar. Weekday mornings are blissfully quiet; evenings and holidays get very crowded.