Expo Culture Park Practical Guide

🕰️ Opening Hours:

  • Park: Open all day
  • Public Facilities: 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM
  • Shenyuan: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

🚗 Transportation:

  • 🚋 Metro: Line 13, Expo Boulevard Station, Exit 4 – right at the park entrance
  • 🚘 Driving: Reserve a spot via “Shanghai Expo Culture Park” app. If full, park at the nearby Expo Development Group Building parking lot – public parking available at 8 RMB/hour

  1. Expo Culture Park
    Once the site of the Shanghai Expo, now featuring only a few remaining pavilions like the Italian and Luxembourg pavilions. The park has developed lush greenery over the years, with a cherry blossom forest. Though the cherry blossoms have mostly fallen, you can still enjoy other flowers like crabapples and peaches. The large space means it’s perfect for kids to run around, even on weekends.

    • Original Italian Pavilion: Surrounded by expansive water features and built like ancient Roman brick architecture. The sunset reflection on the walls creates beautiful photo opportunities.

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    • Original Luxembourg Pavilion: Now a restaurant.

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    • Original Russian Pavilion: Features gold and red patterns typical of Russian decor, with spire-like structures reminiscent of church towers.

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    • Original French Pavilion

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  2. Shenyuan
    A Suzhou-style garden within Expo Culture Park, embodying traditional Jiangnan garden aesthetics with bridges and flowing water. It has an entry fee of 30 RMB but is worth a visit. Although the most exquisite gardens are in Suzhou, if you’re short on time, this is a great introduction to Chinese garden beautyimage-20240806190003741.png

  3. Lunch – Yi Chi Garden
    Just a ten-minute walk from Shenyuan, located right next to the entrance of the Back Bund Park. Arriving around 11 AM, the place was about 70% full. It has a spacious layout with various indoor and outdoor areas, some pet-friendly. We didn’t expect much from the food, but their garden pizza 🍕 was surprisingly delicious. The kids said they want to come back for pizza next time 😋

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  4. Camping on the Great Lawn
    Find it by locating Starbucks. The vast open lawn faces the Eleven-Hole Bridge and Twin Peaks, which are incredibly beautiful. Afternoon is perfect for photos. Bring friends for a camping trip here – once you lie down, you won’t want to move.

    Twin Peaks: A man-made mountain still under construction, with huge investments in its development. Looking forward to its opening!

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  5. Back Bund Park
    Since we were already at the Back Bund Park entrance, we decided to explore after lunch. It was noticeably busier than Expo Culture Park, mainly families enjoying the water, with many using nets to catch small shrimp and snails. The riverbanks are lively with blooming rapeseed flowers.

    Walking along the river, we reached Manner and found our parking spot at P1 just a bit further. Perfect end to the day – time to head home!

🍟 Dining Options:

  • KFC
  • Starbucks
  • Jiangnan Xiaoyan (江南晓宴)
  • Manner
  • Yi Chi Garden (一尺花园)