People's Square / Nanjing Road

Tourist shopping center - crowded and full of scammers. Heavy police but pickpocketing and scams are everywhere. Visit for Shanghai Museum but refuse all stranger invitations.

Shanghai's geographic center where metro lines meet and tourists gather. Nanjing Road runs from here - 5.5km shopping street with department stores, global brands, and souvenir shops. Gets over a million visitors daily. The area is busy with shoppers, tourists, street performers. The problem is this is scam central. Tea ceremony scam, art gallery scam, bar scam - they all target tourists here constantly. Friendly strangers wanting to 'practice English' or invite you somewhere are almost always scammers. Heavy police presence but the crowds make pickpocketing easy. The pedestrian section of Nanjing East Road is safe but exhausting - crowds pushing, vendors hassling. Eating alone works fine in department store food courts and chain restaurants where you can see menus and prices. More English here since everything targets tourists. Visit during the day if you want to see it, but stay alert and firmly refuse stranger invitations.