Yu Garden after dark

Is Yu Garden open at night?

The walled garden is not: it closes at 16:30. The bazaar, the Nine-Turn Bridge and the teahouse outside stay open and are lit after dark.

Two places share one name. The garden, behind its ticket gate, keeps daytime hours, 09:00 to 16:30, and closes on Mondays. The bazaar around it never needs a ticket outside lantern season and looks best in the evening. When a night tour promises "Yu Garden", it means the bazaar. Garden vs bazaar explains the split.

The one way into the garden after dark is its own guided night tour, below.

What is the Yu Garden night tour, and is it worth it?

A separate 45-minute guided walk on a fixed route, with a light-and-shadow show: 150 RMB with a Chinese guide, 190 RMB in English. Worth it for the show, less so as your only visit.

The schedule, as listed by China Highlights in 2026:

The catch is the format. You follow a set route with a group, so you cannot stop at a moon gate or linger by the pond. China Highlights recommends the daytime garden for a first visit and the bazaar for the evening, and we agree. Pay for the night tour if the light show itself appeals, or if you have already seen the garden by day. Check the dates in the 上海豫园 mini-program before you go. No tour on this site includes it.

When do the Yuyuan bazaar lights come on?

At dusk, and the bazaar is at its liveliest around 19:00. Sunset is about 18:30 to 19:00 in summer and 17:00 to 17:30 in winter.

China Highlights puts the bazaar at its best around 7 pm, when the lanterns and lit facades come on across the traditional-style buildings. In winter the lights arrive earlier, which makes a December or January evening easy to fit in after the garden.

Holidays change everything. On New Year's Eve, a guest on the night cruise and bazaar tour found that "[...] it was a challenge to get from our hotel to the boat due to the vast crowds on the street." Her driver and guide got her there in time. On national holidays, go early or go with a car.

Is Yuyuan bazaar free at night?

Yes, every night outside the lantern festival. From about January to March, the area around the bridge and the teahouse needs a separate ticket.

The Yuyuan Lantern Festival (豫园灯会) is on China's national intangible heritage list (2011). The Yuyuan company has organised it since 1995, traditionally from the 1st to the 18th day of the lunar new year, with lanterns themed on the year's zodiac animal. It was cancelled in 2015 after the 2014 crush on the Bund and returned in 2016. In recent years it has run from about January to March, and the central lantern area is ticketed.

For 2027: Chinese New Year falls on 6 February (the Year of the Goat) and the Lantern Festival on 20 February. As of October 2026 the festival dates and ticket prices have not been announced; they appear in the 上海豫园 mini-program first. Our 2027 lantern festival post will track them.

Which evening tour: the VIP cruise tour or the night bazaar tour?

Both are private and both skip the garden. The evening cruise tour adds Pudong and Xintiandi and has a dinner option; the night bazaar tour gives the bazaar a full hour.

Side by side, from the two listings in October 2026:

Guests on both talk about the boat seats. On the evening cruise tour: "Not only did she queue for hours during the afternoon before picking us up - this to ensure we had the best 'VIP' boat seating." On the night bazaar tour: "Caroline made sure we had a spot on the boot with best view and being anything but crowded (VIP deck)."

A VIP seat on the Huangpu cruise, 40 minutes in lit Yuyuan Old Street, then Pudong and Xintiandi. Dinner on the dinner option.

★ 4.9 · 3 to 4 hours · from $128

Explore the private evening cruise tour → Tour details

How do you plan a do-it-yourself evening around Yu Garden?

Garden at 14:30, the Bund before sunset, then back to the bazaar for the lights and dinner. It is one metro stop each way.

1. 14:30, the garden. Last entry is 16:00, so this leaves a relaxed 90 minutes inside.
2. Before sunset, the Bund. Walk 15 to 20 minutes, or ride Line 10 one stop to East Nanjing Road. China Highlights suggests arriving 30 to 60 minutes before sunset to watch the skyline switch on.
3. After dark, the bazaar. Back on Line 10 to Yuyuan Garden, for the lanterns, the lit teahouse and dinner.

Want the river too? Several ticket offices at the southern end of the Bund sell one-hour public cruises, and prices differ between boats, says Wikivoyage. The private tours above book the seat and the transfers for you.

Where can you eat in the bazaar at night?

Nanxiang for soup dumplings, Da Hu Chun for pan-fried buns, and snacks along Old Street. The food walk covers the bazaar with a guide.

Nanxiang Steamed Bun Restaurant has been making xiaolongbao since 1900, and its queue is part of the scenery. China Highlights also points to Da Hu Chun for shengjian, Lu Bo Lang for crab roe pastries, and tanghulu, candied hawthorn on a stick. One guest ended the night bazaar tour this way: "After disembarking we visited the Yuyuan Bazaar which was stunning in terms of the architecture, the shops and stalls and the meal of dumplings and beef soup."

The Old Street food walk runs about two hours through Shanghai Old Street and Yuyuan Old Street with tastings and coffee or tea, in a group of 15 at most. Check the listing for start times.

Is Yu Garden better by day or at night?

Both, for different things: the garden by day, the bazaar by night. Pay for the night tour only if the light show appeals.

By day you get the garden itself, at your own pace, for 30 to 40 RMB. By night you get the bazaar at its most photogenic, for nothing. The two fit into one afternoon and evening, and a Monday only costs you the first half.

Planning the daytime half? Tickets and hours has the prices and the Monday rule, and getting there has the metro exits.

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