Staying near Hongqiao and the National Exhibition Centre

Hongqiao exists as an infrastructure cluster: airport, railway station, exhibition centre and a ring of hotels serving all three. Several hundred thousand people a year stay here and almost nothing is written about it in English.

I live in this district, so let me be plain about it: it is not where you stay for Shanghai. It is where you stay if your reason for being in Shanghai is within a kilometre of the exhibition centre.

When it is the right choice

If you are exhibiting or attending anything at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre, staying nearby is worth a great deal during the week — the commute during major fairs can otherwise exceed an hour each way.

If you have a very early departure from Hongqiao it removes a real risk. And for long-stay business visits the hotel value is the best in Shanghai.

What to expect in the evenings

Not nothing, but close. The immediate area is roads, hotels and office parks. There are reasonable restaurants in the nearby commercial clusters and several large malls, but no street life in the sense the centre has.

The honest recommendation is to plan to spend your evenings elsewhere and use this as a base rather than a destination.

Getting into town

Metro line 2 from Hongqiao Railway Station runs directly to Jing’an, People’s Square and East Nanjing Road in roughly 40 minutes, and on to Pudong.

Line 10 gives you the Concession directly without changing — useful and underused. Line 17 takes you to Zhujiajiao water town.

During major exhibitions

When a large fair is running, hotel rates here can triple and rooms sell out months ahead. Book early or accept staying further along line 2.

Metro line 2 at exhibition opening and closing times is extremely crowded. Build in extra time.

The downside

It is 30 to 45 minutes from the interesting parts of Shanghai, and there is very little to do after dark.