People's Square & People's Park

人民广场 · 人民公园

The old racecourse at the city's heart, with a weekend marriage market

⚠ Shanghai Museum here is ticketed now

Hours

Square open 24 hours. Shanghai Museum (People's Square) 9am–5pm, last entry 3pm, closed Mondays except holidays. Check People's Park hours on site

Tickets

Square and park free. Shanghai Museum (People's Square) needs a paid, real-name ticket (passport) during the Americas exhibition, to 14 Nov 2027

Address

185 People's Avenue, Huangpu; Shanghai Museum is at No. 201

A British racecourse in the 19th century, it's now a huge green square framed by City Hall, museums and the opera house. To the south sits the Shanghai Museum, shaped like an ancient bronze cauldron; to the west, the white Grand Theatre with its upturned bowl of a roof. The real show is in People's Park to the north on weekend afternoons: the marriage market, where parents clip sheets listing their children's birth year, height, degree and salary to umbrellas and strings and hunt for a match. Towers ring the whole thing, so the skyline from the lawns at dusk is worth a look too.