Best time to visit Shanghai

Shanghai is humid and subtropical, with a hot, sticky summer, a cold, damp winter without the dry sunshine of Beijing, and two short, pleasant seasons in between. April to early June and late September to November are the months to aim for, with mild days and the city at its most walkable along the Bund and the former French Concession. The plum rain season brings weeks of drizzle in mid-June and July, and August is the hottest month with typhoon risk.

As everywhere in China, the holiday weeks matter more than the weather: May Day and the October Golden Week are the crowded, expensive ones, and Spring Festival closes shops for a week. Disneyland, the Shanghai Tower observation deck and the Yu Garden are busiest at weekends and in the school holidays. The Metro is extensive and cheap; foreign cards now work in the main apps. For the best balance of weather and crowds, take the second half of May or October after the 8th.