5 Xiaohongshu-Famous Spots in Shanghai This Summer

If there is one Shanghai image that seems to have travelled everywhere on Xiaohongshu, it is Wukang Mansion (武康大楼) and the surrounding streets in the Former French Concession. The combination of the historic apartment building, tree-lined roads and easy café-wandering makes it one of the city’s most recognisable summer photo stops. What makes it so popular is that it looks good without trying too hard. You can arrive for the building, but stay for the whole atmosphere: leafy streets, old architecture, slow walks and lots of nearby cafés and boutiques. In summer, that means people drift there for early-morning photos, golden-hour strolling and the kind of low-effort content that gets thousands of likes on RedNote.

Anfu Road (安福路) has become one of Shanghai’s most reliable “pretty street” destinations. Stylish, walkable and packed with cafés, boutique shops and places that look great on camera without needing help from filters or editing. The western end connects naturally with Wukang Road, making the two an easy half-day city walk rather than separate trips. It works especially well in summer because you can build a whole outing around it: coffee, lunch, shopping, street photography, then a slow wander into the surrounding French Concession streets. Xiaohongshu loves places that let you look like you’re living a slightly better life than usual, and Anfu Road absolutely fits that brief.

The luxury-brand world has learned exactly how to play the Xiaohongshu game, and HAUS NOWHERE is a perfect example. It is an immersive retail and exhibition space from the famous Korean eyewear brand Gentle Monster. This is the kind of place that becomes an instant summer talking point because it blends fashion, design and spectacle in a way the app absolutely rewards. It is not a “hidden gem” in the classic sense. It is more like a very deliberate viral destination: visually striking, brand-led and easy for content creators to turn into a post. If you want to understand what Shanghai’s more fashion-forward RedNote culture looks like right now, this is one of the clearest examples.

Another mini-route nearby: After exploring HAUS NOWHERE, continue east along Huaihai Middle Road to HAI550 for Matcha Wang if you fancy a drink - perfect for matcha lovers. It is around a 15–20-minute walk away and has recently gone even more viral after Tom Holland and Zendaya stopped there during their Shanghai visit for Spider-Man. The café is known for its hand-whisked matcha and signature sheep foam art—because apparently even Spider-Man cannot resist a very photogenic drink!

• •The café offers different grades and styles of matcha, so it is not only relying on a cute foam sheep to bring people through the door. Still, the sheep is undeniably the star of the camera roll—and probably responsible for a large percentage of its Xiaohongshu posts…

Yuyuan (豫园) is one of those spots that keeps coming back every summer because it gives people exactly what they want from “traditional Shanghai” imagery: lanterns, historic architecture, bazaar energy and a very different atmosphere from the city’s modern districts. The ticketed Yuyuan Garden and the surrounding bazaar are not quite the same thing. The classical garden is where you will find pavilions, ponds and rockeries; the busy commercial streets outside are where many of the famous night photos, food videos and lantern shots are taken. You can visit one without realising you have missed the other – avoid that! It is especially popular in the evening and around festival periods when lights, crowds and food stalls make the whole area feel more cinematic. Xiaohongshu users love it because there is always something to frame: the old buildings, the water, the food, the crowd and the sense of Shanghai history all in one place. Come hungry, and do not attempt to eat xiaolongbao elegantly while filming yourself!

If the west side of the city gives you old Shanghai charm, Lujiazui will give you the ultra-modern version. The Museum of Art Pudong (浦东美术馆/MAP) and the surrounding skyline spots keep showing up on Xiaohongshu because they offer that classic Shanghai contrast: glossy architecture, waterfront views and skyscraper shots that immediately read as “Shanghai.” The real star here is not only the Museum of Art Pudong—it is the riverside stretch just outside of it, widely nicknamed the “Sunset Corridor” (日落长廊) online. Facing directly across the Huangpu River towards the Bund, it gives you historic rooftops, glowing skies and waterfront reflections all in one very Shanghai frame and completely free. If you do enter the Museum of Art Pudong, its famous Glass Halls offer another dramatic view across the river and the Oriental Pearl Tower. Just do not confuse it with the public Sunset Corridor outside: the Glass Halls and rooftop viewing areas require museum admission, while the riverside promenade is free. This is a good summer spot because it feels spacious and dramatic, and you can pair it with a river walk, skyline photography or a museum visit. RedNote users tend to love places that let them switch between culture and aesthetics, and this area does just that. Remarkably well.