Shanghai Zoo

As Chinese zoos go, this is just about the best there is, and it makes for a good day out for those who have kids in tow. There’s a decent selection of beasts – from woolly twin-humped Bactrian camels to spindly legged giraffes, gorillas, lions, lots of different monkeys, giant pandas and polar bears – but some of the enclosures they’re housed in are less than ideal. The Shànghǎi folk flock here to enjoy one of the city’s most picturesque and well-tended acreages of green grass. Picnic-goers dive onto the lawns for a spot of sun, while electric tour buggies (tour Y10; 8.30am-4.30pm) whirr along shaded paths through old-growth woods every 10 to 15 minutes. There’s a lovely Children’s Zoo, where the little ones can shower chubby piglets and billy goats with handfuls of grain, go fishing for goldfish or ride the ponies. The whole menagerie is navigable on foot with a map (Y1) from the information kiosk at the entrance or by following the signs. The elephant show (10am-3.30pm, every 30 min) will have most adults cringing, but kids will surely adore handing out sticks of sugar cane to be scooped up by inquisitive trunks. Not far from the zoo, in the grounds of the Cypress Hotel, is the former Sassoon Mansion.