North Bund Riverside Greenway: 3.7 km of Skyline Views

Begin at the west 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 bridge back together rather than replacing it, and the reason the deck still reads as the original rather than a rebuild. Stand on its pedestrian deck over the Suzhou Creek mouth for the classic composition: the Bund's neoclassical front on one side, the Lujiazui towers across the river, and the greenway opening east along the Hongkou bank. The west gate of the greenway sits at the bridge's east end, where the promenade begins its flat run toward the water-drop terminal. The contrast with the Bund across the creek is the walk's quiet thesis: the same skyline, at a third of the crowd.

Photo suggestion: The bridge deck at blue hour frames the Bund and Pudong together, the walk's opening shot.

The first landmark is the Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal (东大名路 500): the 'one drop of water' glass pavilion completed in 2009–2010 as the Expo-era water gate of Shanghai, its three droplet forms sheltering a terminal sized for 80,000-tonne liners and its roof a canopy that reads as sculpture from the water. The droplet canopy and the riverside terraces are the greenway's wide-angle perch over the Huangpu, with cruise departures on domestic coastal routes from here. The plaza around it hosts the 银色小巨蛋, the mirror-finished silver egg whose curved surface reflects the Lujiazui trio of the Oriental Pearl, Shanghai Tower and Jin Mao/World Financial Center. Low-angle shots from the plaza, or from the pedestrian bridge behind it, compress the three towers into one curved frame; the approach path was rebuilt in 2024 after visitor feedback, and the egg itself is free and open around the clock.

Photo suggestion: The egg's reflection shot works best late afternoon, when the tower glass picks up the low sun.

Just behind the egg, the Rainbow Bridge (彩虹桥) lifts the walk to its best elevated vantage: a pastel pedestrian footbridge whose upper deck lines up the whole greenway with the Lujiazui skyline, the classic 'bridge + skyline' composition that fills social feeds at blue hour. Its stairs are the one real step on an otherwise flat route, though a ground-level path continues beside it for prams and wheelchairs, so the accessible line never breaks. A short stretch east, the Gate of Music sculpture trio, colloquially the 'heart, lungs and liver' for its organ-like steel forms, stands on the greenway as a favourite dusk stop against the Pudong skyline. The designer attribution is not documented in the sources we found, so the work is described without a name; photograph it as the light drops and the towers begin to glow, which is the moment the whole stretch earns its reputation.

Caution: The rainbow bridge's upper deck is stairs-only, use the ground path beside it with prams or wheelchairs.

The North Bund Maritime Park (opened 10 July 2023) turns the old 公平路 and 高阳路 wharf land into the district's maritime-heritage story: a retro lighthouse replica, a full anchor, ship-shape plantings and a maritime-history walk that reads the river's working past, with family lawns that fill on weekend afternoons and a view back across the water to the Pudong towers. The wharf-to-park conversion is the walk's clearest example of the waterfront's reinvention, working cargo land becomes public riverside in under a decade, the same story the Yangpu bank tells on a larger scale next door. Beside it, Magic Jungle (魔都矩阵) is the greenway's only paid attraction besides the skydeck: a high-altitude rope course and climbing structure on the 国客中心 side, built as multi-level obstacle platforms over the water. Its price, opening hours, entry point and minimum-height rule are all set at the ticket office, so check them there before queueing.

Caution: Magic Jungle has harnessed, height-restricted activities, check the minimum height before queueing with small children.

Gongping Road Ferry (公平路渡口) is the walk's practical hinge: the 泰公线 crossing to 泰同栈 on the Pudong bank near Lujiazui, about ¥2 with a transit card or QR; headways are posted at the landing, so treat the timetable and the bike-on-board rule as things you read at the gate before planning around them. The ferry is the classic ~¥2 sunset move, the skyline opening out from mid-river as the light turns and the towers begin to sparkle; the crossing is short, but it is the single most photographed quarter-hour of the walk. East of the ferry, the greenway runs on toward the Qinhuangdao Road Pier (秦皇岛路码头), the walk's finish and the exact point where the Yangpu riverside citywalk begins, the two pages share one anchor, so the North Bund and Yangpu walks combine into a single two-in-one riverside day of roughly 8 km, with the ferry and Line 12 as the loop back, or a ride-hailing car for the direct return.

Caution: Time the ferry to the day's timetable, not the sunset's, last departures are commonly listed mid-evening; confirm before relying on it for the return.

For a taller view, Sinar Mas Plaza (白玉兰广场, 东大名路 501) offers an optional off-route detour: the 320 m tower's The Stage skydeck, opened 15 April 2025, is a paid, reservation-capped observation deck, booked through the tower's own channel, not part of the free greenway and not to be confused with it, and the city's newest high-level view over the golden triangle from the North Bund side. The tower's ground-floor atrium is free to enter, with the access rule posted at the desk, and the Banyan Tree hotel's rooftop bar is the drinks-level alternative for the same direction of view. This is the one place on the walk where the budget changes: everything on the greenway itself is free and open 24 hours, while the skydeck and Magic Jungle are the two paid add-ons, so the free promenade remains the point of the walk.

Caution: The skydeck requires a paid reservation with a daily cap, book ahead or skip it; the free greenway is the point of the walk.