Huangpu Riverside Greenway: 8.3 km of Bridges, Blossom and the Bund

Begin at the north anchor: Waibaidu Bridge (外白渡桥), Shanghai's first large all-steel bridge, opened in 1907 and restored in 2008 with its original structure returned, a rare case of a city putting a century-old landmark back exactly as it was. From its east end the greenway opens onto the river with the whole Lujiazui trio, the Oriental Pearl, the Jin Mao, the Shanghai Tower, stacked across the water. This is the classic 'century-framed' composition, the bridge's steel truss holding the modern skyline in one shot, and it is best in the last hour of light, when the Bund's facades warm and the office towers begin to sparkle. The three-lane promenade starts here: blue for walkers, red for runners, grey for bikes, and the lanes hold their discipline for most of the day.

Photo suggestion: Low angle from the east end of the bridge frames the truss against the skyline trio.

A few hundred metres south, the greenway runs behind 十六铺 (Shiliupu), the old passenger-wharf district whose name comes from the Qing-era ward numbering. For more than a century this was the city's front door, the waterfront where steamships from the Yangtze ports and the coast put in, and where arriving passengers first met Shanghai. Today the wharves are a cruise and commercial frontage: the 十六铺码头 still sends sightseeing boats up and down the river, and the 水岸商业街 behind it holds the north end's densest cluster of cafés and restaurants. The promenade itself stays quiet and open, and the benches along this stretch are a favourite local spot for the evening lighting.

Caution: The cruise queues at 十六铺码头 can spill onto the walking lane on summer evenings, give the boarding groups room.

Next comes 老码头 (Lao Matou, literally 'old wharf'), the creative park along 外马路 built from the godowns of the South Bund wharves, red-brick warehouse blocks from the 1930s, now studios, cafés and a show space, with riverside terraces stepping down to the greenway. This was among the busiest cargo berths of old Shanghai, the district sources describe the era as '一城烟火半东南', the city's commerce and bustle concentrated along this bend of the river, and the brick walls are the walk's best-kept piece of working waterfront history. The terraces make a natural coffee stop, and the underpass at the park's south end carries the lanes through beneath the old railway alignment.

Photo suggestion: The godown facades against the modern skyline is the classic Lao Matou composition.

The greenway passes beneath 南浦大桥 (Nanpu Bridge), opened on 19 November 1991 as Shanghai's first crossing of the Huangpu in the city core, an 8.3 km structure whose 423 m cable-stayed main span ended the era of ferry-only crossings. The approach is the route's long flower bed: a planted verge that runs with the lanes for several hundred metres, brightest with sakura and spring planting, and a favourite of the local running clubs. The underpass here is the pedestrian and cycle link between the greenway and the streets inland, and the bridge's shadow marks the natural halfway point of the walk. Beyond it, the character of the bank changes from wharf history to parkland as the Expo Puxi campus approaches.

Caution: Cyclists pick up speed under the bridge, keep to the blue lane here and check before crossing between lanes.

The middle section runs through the 2010 World Expo's Puxi campus, whose enterprise pavilions now stand repurposed among wide lawns along 苗江路. The highlight is the themed-garden corridor that the district has built along the bank: 琴键春园 (the piano-key garden, so named for its striped planting beds) pairs sakura above with tulips below in late March to April; the 杜鹃园 azaleas follow; the 月季园 rose garden peaks around May; and the 岩石园 rock garden beside the Power Station of Art reopened after renovation in August 2026. Between the gardens, the lawns fill with families on fine weekends and the lanes stay fast. The Power Station of Art's distinctive chimney is the landmark to navigate by.

Photo suggestion: The piano-key garden is best shot from the low terrace at its north end, sakura canopy and tulip stripes in one frame.

At 蒙自路818号 the greenway meets the World Expo Museum (世博会博物馆), opened in 2017 as the world's only official museum of the World Expo movement, the same building that anchors the West Bund citywalk page as its finish. It is free with reservation and makes the natural mid-route stop: allow forty minutes if the exhibitions pull you in. Beyond it, 卢浦大桥 (Lupu Bridge) strides the river with its 550 m arch span, at its 2003 opening the world's longest, and beneath it sit the 11号观景平台 and the pink-blossom terrace, the greenway's most-photographed pocket in early summer. From here the bank narrows again, the crowds thin, and the route runs quiet to its end.

Caution: The museum's timed entry fills on holiday mornings, reserve before you set out if you plan to go in.

The last section softens into parkland: 南园滨江绿地 (Nanyuan Riverside Green) wraps its 小南湖 pond, lawns and willows around the route's final bend, with toilets and seating the densest on the whole walk. Then the greenway crosses 日晖港 by the Y-shaped footbridge that Atelier Deshaus (大舍建筑) completed in 2016, the bridge that closed the last gap so that a pedestrian could walk, uninterrupted, from the Bund all the way to the West Bund. That crossing is the finish: over the bridge, the promenade continues as the Xuhui bank's greenway, and the day can simply keep going. For most walkers, though, this is where the Huangpu District's 8.3 km ends, flat, free and, at the right hour, the best-lit riverside in the city.

Photo suggestion: The Y-bridge against the Lupu arch is the closing shot; the sun sets behind the bridge in late autumn.