Shanghai

Getting around: The Shanghai Metro (the world's longest network) covers every major sight, with distance-based fares starting at ¥3 for the first 6 km. The Maglev from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road station covers the distance in minutes at 431 km/h (~¥50, or ¥40 with a boarding-pass discount), connecting onward via Metro Line 2 to downtown (~65 min, ¥7–9 total). The local ride-hailing app (Didi) usually needs a Chinese phone number; metered street taxis are widely available and cheap by global standards.

Halal & prayer places: Real, but you need to know the right neighborhood — Shanghai isn't Xi'an. The Great Mosque in Xiaotaoyuan (Huangpu district) is the city's largest, ringed by halal grocers and restaurants serving the local Hui community. Huxi Mosque (Changning district) is older and more established, with a Friday-only weekly market run largely by Xinjiang traders selling authentic halal food. Seven mosques serve the city in total; outside these pockets halal options are sparse and an app like HalalTrip is needed to pinpoint them.

Local safety: Beware the 'tea house' scam around Nanjing Road and the Bund: a friendly group invites you to a traditional tea ceremony, then an inflated bill arrives. Don't accept sudden invitations from strangers.

Cost figures: 2026 prices: casual meal ¥25–45 (~$3.5–6), mid-range restaurant ¥80–150/person, single metro fare ¥3–9 (distance-based), Shanghai Tower 118th-floor deck ¥180 (~$27), Yu Garden ¥40.