Authentic Local Food Tour in Central Shanghai
Recommended by 100% of travelers
Shanghai, China
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Enjoy a more immersive way to explore popular Shanghai areas such as Xintiandi and the French Concession—and sample many traditional dishes—on this small-group food tour. With your guide in the lead, discover sights and bites you'd miss on your own. Look forward to sampling Shanghainese dishes such as scallion oil noodles, soup dumplings, steamed buns, and more, and learn about the history and culture of the city.
- Discover multiple Shanghai areas, bites, and eateries in one tour
- Choose from morning, lunch, evening, or late-night tours
- Includes all food and drink tastings: enough for a generous meal
- Enjoy a more personal experience on a small-group tour
What's Included
- Local guide
- Food and drink tastings (enough for breakfast, lunch or dinner)
- Local beer or desert for late night session
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- 333 Huai Hai Zhong Lu, Huang Pu Qu, Shang Hai Shi, China, 200021
Please meet up at Exit 2, Site of the first CPC national congress-South Huangpi Road Metro Station (Line 1). Or Take Didi (the Chinese version of Uber) to No333 Huaihai Road which is the front door of Xintiandi Plaza. 你好，请带我去上海地铁1号线一大会址-黄陂南路站2号出口，或者淮海中路333号新天地广场正门.
End point
- People's Square, Huangpu, Shanghai, China
Tour will end around the People Square.
Itinerary
Find your way to a central meeting point in Shanghai, where you meet your guide and small group. Depart on foot for the Xintiandi area.
Make your first stop at a local restaurant serving up the best soup dumplings in the city. Find a table among the locals, then taste the famous dish and participate in an in-depth discussion on the flavor and consistency of the broth, the quality of the meat filling, and the texture of the dumplings' skin. Learn about the history of this dish as a Shanghainese staple.
Then, set off to the French Concession, home to historic shikumen houses. This atmospheric neighborhood is home to many top restaurants where you can try local dishes, and see how residents eat. Taste dishes such as spring rolls, roasted duck, scallion oil noodles, and red-braised pork.
Between stops, cleanse your palate with green or black tea and listen to your guide's commentary on Shanghai's culinary culture and traditions.
This tour ends at the People's Square.
Make your first stop at a local restaurant serving up the best soup dumplings in the city. Find a table among the locals, then taste the famous dish and participate in an in-depth discussion on the flavor and consistency of the broth, the quality of the meat filling, and the texture of the dumplings' skin. Learn about the history of this dish as a Shanghainese staple.
Then, set off to the French Concession, home to historic shikumen houses. This atmospheric neighborhood is home to many top restaurants where you can try local dishes, and see how residents eat. Taste dishes such as spring rolls, roasted duck, scallion oil noodles, and red-braised pork.
Between stops, cleanse your palate with green or black tea and listen to your guide's commentary on Shanghai's culinary culture and traditions.
This tour ends at the People's Square.
1
Xintiandi
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Former French Concession
50 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
3
People's Square (Renmin Guang Chang)
50 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Wheelchair accessible
- Children under 3 are free of charge
- Stroller accessible
- Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Service animals allowed
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Near public transportation
- Please wear comfortable walking shoes
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 30 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
5.0
based on 1,620 reviews
Sort by: Most insightful
TJ and Jin were amazing hosts that took us to many wonderful spots. TJ specifically had so much energy and passion and imparted a lot of amazing insight into Shanghai and Chinese culture
Amazing. Maisie was wonderful, attentive and had planned for every eventuality.
Lots to see…make sure Alipay or WeChat payments work before you go
This is a great way to spend an evening in Shanghai with someone like Gabin our tour guide he was equally passionate to my love of traditional food.
The tour was not a long way to walk between restaurants, along the way you will try noodles, dumplings ,BBQ skewers and a traditional tea house tasting section finishing with a visit to a local fruit market were you get to try a nice selection of local fruits .
The group of fellow Aussie and British travellers we met on the tour added to the atmosphere and entertainment,
well done Gabin
We had a great tour with TJ from Shanghai Foodies. There was a great variety of delicious and authentic dishes from places the locals go, TJ was a fantastic host and the group size (5) was just right
Come very hungry...a large amount of food, great quality, good variety.
Jade our hostess did an excellent job
We had a fantastic experience with TJ and would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Shanghai.
TJ was an excellent guide — friendly, engaging and incredibly knowledgeable. He gave us so much insight into the food we were trying, explaining the different dishes, ingredients and local traditions, while also sharing plenty of interesting information about Shanghai, its history and culture.
The whole tour was relaxed, well organised and a great way to experience parts of Shanghai we probably wouldn’t have discovered on our own. The food was excellent, but TJ’s knowledge and personality really made the experience.
A great tour, a great guide, and definitely one of the highlights of our time in Shanghai. Thanks TJ!
Our guide ZJ was one of the best guides we had the pleasure to meet. He was very friendly, passionate about his job, and deeply knowledgeable. His English is almost perfect. He answered all the questions and made sure we left satisfied. This level of enthusiasm is hard to come by.
The places we visited were all fantastic and definitely not something we would discover ourselves.
Could not recommend him enough.
We had a group of 6 at 6:30pm. The meeting place was central and easy to find. Each amazing restaurant we visited was one that tourists would be unlikely to find on their own. The Chinese specialty at each restaurant was delicious. Our guide has been doing this for 10 years, and it showed. If you have 3 hours in Shanghai, there will a no better way to spend it.
What a great night. Food was amazing and Gabin was a superstar. BBQ was our favourite and we went to places we never would have gone to otherwise. I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Shanghai.
This is a terrific walking tour, in a very lovely area of the city, with the joy of experiencing an abundance of marvellous local specialties and learning from a local much about the history and culture of this beautiful city. Our guide TJ was phenomenal: so knowledgeable, and friendly and able to share with us her love of her home and its history. She took us to places we would not have found on our own and made it possible for us to enjoy local, authentic and deliciously prepared food. Many thanks TJ, you made this a real highlight of my time in Shanghai
This was an awesome authentic experience and a great way to ease into Shanghai. Jim was such a great guide, local and was so patient with everyone in the group. I am so glad I did this. If you want to experience food and history of Shanghai I highly recommend
It was overall a great experience. It felt very comfortable and relaxed while also allowing me to experience restaurants and foods I would have never experienced otherwise. It was certainly worth the price. Also, ZJ was a great guide and I hope others are able to go with him. His energy is great.
One of the best guided tours that we've done. He selected great establishments that were definitely authentic, but still very approachable.
Excellent knowledge base of the cuisines, history, and just more generally about life in China. Perfect English proficiency and very professional.
Zero hesitations recommending. Truly don't look further!
This was a lovely food tour of Shanghai hosted by Jade who was very knowledgeable about local cuisine and very thoughtfully selected dishes across a wide range of styles. We got a real sense of the city of the food that locals enjoy. Jade also kept us entertained with lots of fun facts and useful information and we even got to see the local electric car show room and the illuminated motorway which were a bonus! The tour ended in a lovely local bar where we got to have a few drinks with the very friendly locals! A highly recomended experience all round!
The restaurant selections were excellent as was the host, TJ and Lydia, her trainee. TJ was very knowledgeable, informative, and just the best overall host. Give her a raise!
Very good. Presented a number of Shanghai specialties. Started with the common restaurant and ended with the high end restaurant. So did not bias our opinion. Had our fruit dessert at a food stores. Has delicious huge grapes and others. Enjoy greatly
This is such a great way to try a whole variety of food in Shanghai in one go!
We visited 5 different spots, each completely different from the other. We had soup dumplings and classic Shanghai dishes to locally brewed alcohol and also visited a fruit market to try local fruits. Come hungry though, because there is alot of food!
In the last restaurant we finished with some lovely Chinese tea, sweet and sour cold pork (delicious!) and other great local dishes with shots of baijiu - a traditional Chinese spirit that can be around 53% alcohol. Also had a great mango sago dessert to wrap it all up.
We were a small group - my family and another father and son - and it honestly made the whole experience even more fun and wholesome. The walks between the restaurants were short and actually gave us a nice little break between all the eating.
Our guide, Summer, was fantastic. She shared little stories and history behind the dishes and made the whole experience even more interesting.
Definitely recommend if you’re in Shanghai and want to eat your way through a little bit of China! 🥟
I wish we had done this tour with Jim when we first arrived! We learned so much about the culture, history and food of Shanghai. Every local dish we sampled was delicious and we thoroughly enjoyed exploring the traditional shops and markets he showed us. Highly recommended 110% - thanks Jim!
We visited 5 different eateries, all very different in style and flavour. Each venue was very welcoming, and the portions were very generous. Summer - our guide - had a good rapport with the venues and was informative and knowledgeable about the different types of food and cuisine. Money well spent!
Today I went on a walking food of Shanghai tour.
Jade was our tour guide and this tour should be the first thing you do when you arrive in Shanghai.
As a solo female traveller I was a little concerned about being on my own but that feeling disappeared the moment we went off walking to our first location for soup dumpings.
The tour had just 4 of us and Jade our amazing guide.
We learnt the history of the food we were eating and how the food is best consumed.
Our second stop was noodles and a soup with pot stickers and a fried dumpings
3 stop was a local fruit market where we tried fruits I havent heard of before today.
Then the dessert stop, 3 more savoury dishes and then 4 different local desserts.
Jade was so knowledgeable and helpful she even used her didi app to get me a ride home and after 4 hours I needed a nap.
Highly recommend you do this tour, you will taste things you would never have tried. So much food we couldn't finish it all. Thank you for a fantastic day Jade.
Great food tour experience. We tried lots of lovely dishes and spoke about all different aspects of Shanghai and Chinese culture including the food, of course ;)
Myself and wife walked about 3 hours with TJ and experienced both authentic local food as well as learning about how locals live and where they shop and enjoy life. This was one of the best food walking tours I’ve done.
Lots of great food and lots of great stories and learnings
Had we done the food walking tour day one in Shanghai, I would have asked TJ to spend a day showing us the major sights of Shanghai….and to introduce us to didi and Alipay. Would have made our stay way more enjoyable and less stressful
Summer was a great guide and went the extra mile to make the tour fun and enjoyable. This was a great mix of different types of food. A great exposure to different neighborhoods in Shanghai.
Jade was a fantastic guide for the Shanghai Foodies Tour! Very knowledgeable and great food choices!
Wonderful tour... Great food. Thank you so much for accommodating us when we misread the meeting place instructions!
Good food and nice variety of dishes. Nicole is a very nice, friendly and knowledgeable guide to the food and Shanghai!
We were advised to go hungry and that was definitely on point. I’ve never left a food tour so full. Everything was very organized and flowed well. Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable. When I expressed interest in Durian, she bought some for us to taste. It was very unexpected and fun. She also bought us flower bracelets and explained their history. Each place we stopped was unique and the food and drink were so good. Overall, it was a very delightful and immersive experience that highlighted local food and culture. You won’t regret taking this tour.
Nicole was amazing. 6 stars
Multiple stops. Got an initial taste of Shanghai.
Nicole was a great guide. Now I hit the min characters
Such a wonderful food tour. Jade my guide did a great job managing the timing and food amount. She is so great to have conversations with during all the food outings. And really liked the tea stop too! Would recommend
Highly recommend this food tour - great way to check out Shanghai, learn about the people and culture and discover some genuine small local businesses and try some fabulous food. Especially enjoyed sampling the various teas. Very efficient and well organized too. Thanks for a fun afternoon for our group.
From $79.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Authentic Local Food Tour in Central Shanghai
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