Shanghai History Museum

Lonely Planet review

Both kids and adults will enjoy this sophisticated and informative museum with a fun presentation on old Shanghai. The city's notorious transport domain is the first for examination, and you can size up an antique bus, an old wheelbarrow taxi and an ornate sedan chair. Upstairs, learn how the city prospered on the back of the cotton trade and junk transportation, when it was known as 'Little Sùzhōu'.

Life-size models of traditional shops are manned by realistic waxworks and a wealth of historical detail abounds, including a boundary stone from the International Settlement and one of the bronze lions that originally guarded the entrance to the HSBC bank on the Bund. Some exhibits are hands-on or accompanied by creative video presentations. Hunt down the amazingly detailed replica of the Dangui Teahouse and look out for the public phones that you can dial up to listen to old operas.