Shanghai to get new cultural and tourist attractions in 2025

Shanghai will unveil new cultural and tourist landmarks in 2025. Let's check some of them out.

Legoland Shanghai Resort

The highly anticipated Legoland Shanghai Resort is set to open this summer in Fengjing Town, Jinshan District.

As a tourist destination targeting families with children aged 2 to 12, the resort will include eight Lego-themed zones and a Lego-themed hotel, as well as over 75 interactive rides, shows, and attractions.

These include The Dragon Coaster, Driving School, CITY Airport, and the first Lego brand-created IP based on a classic Chinese story, Lego Monkie Kid. It will appear in the "Lego Monkie Kid" themed area, communicating courage and friendship while also encouraging children's curiosity and creativity.

The resort's unique boat experience will capture the essence of traditional Jiangnan (south of the lower section of the Yangtze River) watertowns in the Yangtze River Delta region.

Shanghai Grand Opera House

Located within the Shanghai Expo Culture Park, the building has a massive white staircase that spirals upwards and reaches into the sky, suggesting an "unfolding Chinese fan."

With a total floor area of 146,000 square meters, the Shanghai Grand Opera House contains a big opera hall with 2,000 seats, a medium-sized opera hall with 1,200 seats, and a small opera theater with 1,000 seats to accommodate a variety of events.

Planners designated a massive outdoor space for the opera house, which will serve as a platform for locals to appreciate nature while also hosting diverse musical events, with a maximum capacity of roughly 10,000 people.

Shanghai West Bund Grand Theater

The theater is located on the Xuhui riverfront, near several cultural and commercial attractions such as Gate M West Bund Dream Center, TANK Shanghai, the West Bund Dome Art Center, and the West Bund Museum.

It has been designed to offer a unique public art place for the theater experience, leisure, and social interaction, fusing a stylish and laid-back riverside lifestyle with a breathtaking artistic experience.

It is scheduled to open in spring.

Changtan Observation Tower

The 180-meter-tall observation tower is situated in Baoshan District.

Standing at the meeting point of the Yangtze and Huangpu rivers, it is a cylindrical structure that resembles a "pillar of the sea," also known as the "golden cudgel," an iconic weapon used by the Monkey King in Chinese mythology.

The tower consists of 19 floors and three underground levels.

It will not only provide a 360-degree panoramic view of the riverfront scenery but will also house the highest One Step Garden cafe, and unique activities like aerial weddings and high-altitude swings.

It is expected to open to the public soon.

Shanghai Literature Museum

Shanghai is the birthplace and driving force of modern Chinese literature, having flourished in the 20th century.

A literature museum will be built in Hongkou District and old residences will be renovated to emphasize the city's illustrious literary heritage and well-known authors.

The Literature Museum will have a total above-ground floor area of around 14,000 square meters and will be located near the iconic Sichuan Road N. in Hongkou, where many influential modern Chinese writers formerly lived, including Lu Xun (1881-1936) and Ba Jin (1904-2005).

The museum is made up of three historical buildings and one newly constructed structure. It is expected to be completed and open to the public this year.

The Ba Jin Library, an essential feature of the museum, opened on November 25 last year to commemorate the Chinese writer's 120th birth anniversary.

The library and museum are conveniently located near the Sichuan Rd N. Station on Shanghai Metro Line 10, 800 meters from the Bund, and adjacent to the popular cultural monument The INLET.

Oriental Fantasy "24 Solar Terms" Cultural Tourism Town

It is the first creative cultural tourism town in China, themed on 24 solar periods. It is expected to open in the second half of 2025 in Wanxiang Town, in Pudong's Lingang area.

The project, which will take up 120,000 square meters along the Sanzaogang River, will be Lingang's first complete tourism and leisure resort, combining travel, culture, business, and performance.

According to the town's development blueprint, innovative business formats, such as immersive performance centers, as well as themed hotels, boat shows and blocks, are located on both banks of the river.

To teach tourists about Chinese culture, a variety of scenarios will be created using technologies like artificial intelligence and the metaverse.

Waterside Science Fiction Museum

The museum in Fengxian New City, close to the Fengxian Museum by Jinhai Lake, is nearly complete and should open to the public this year.

It is themed around an Oriental science fiction experience and transports visitors to a future world created from a Chinese perspective through the use of digital technologies including virtual reality/augmented reality, holography, 3D fabrication that is visible to the naked eye, and artificial intelligence.

To establish a new highland for science education in Shanghai as well as a comprehensive new culture and tourism destination, it will incorporate seed spaces, temporary exhibition spaces, a sci-fi community square, future communities, and a sci-fi commercial cluster.

Qianwan Park Phase I

The 76-hectare Qianwan Park is situated in the Qianwan neighborhood of the Hongqiao Central Business District. It aims to be a world-class waterside park and a green and ecological monument in the Yangtze River Delta area as well as in Shanghai.

With nine kilometers of waterside walkways, 10 kilometers of running tracks, and 18 kilometers of cycling lanes, the entire park will blend in with 30 community parks.

The park's first phase, which will span roughly 10 hectares, is presently being built and should be finished this year. With its clever "one axis and 10 gardens" design, it revolves around a 13,000-square-meter central lawn where people can camp and attend concerts.