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A taste of Shanghai

Nanxiang Mantou Dian (City God Temple)

南翔馒头店（城隍庙）

The most famous xiaolongbao address in China, trading at the edge of Yuyuan Garden since 1900 and renamed Nanxiang Mantou Dian in 1949. It works as a vertical hierarchy: a ground-floor takeaway window with the longest queue, a second-floor dining room with crab-roe baskets, and an upper floor with garden views, tea sets and private rooms. Be honest with yourself about why you are here, which is the building and the history rather than the single best dumpling in the city.

¥40–120 per person≈ US$5.96Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026Huangpu, 85 Yuyuan Road at the City God Temple; Yuyuan Garden metro station (Lines 10 and 14) is the nearest stop
Plan your meal Open map

Why come here

A place worth making time for

Michelin Bib Gourmand 2026 (MICHELIN Guide Shanghai), confirmed on the guide's own restaurant page, which also records it as a household name founded in 1900 now run by a sixth-generation xiaolongbao maker.

The house favourites

What to order

Point at the Chinese. Staff will understand it even where the menu has no English at all.

  • Pork xiaolongbao (鲜肉小笼包)
  • Crab-roe xiaolongbao (蟹粉小笼包)
  • Large crab-roe soup bun with a straw (蟹黄汤包)
  • Tea-and-basket set (一笼一茶)

What it actually tastes like

The soup inside a freshly steamed xiaolongbao is genuinely scalding and the single commonest injury a visitor collects in Shanghai. Nip a small hole in the skin with your front teeth or chopsticks, let it steam for twenty seconds, drink or spoon out the broth, then eat the rest. Never put a whole one in your mouth. The crab-roe versions are rich and faintly muddy-sweet, which not everyone enjoys.

Allergens in this kitchen

gluten/wheatsoyshellfish

This is the kitchen, not one dish. Woks, fryers, blanching water and utensils are shared in almost every Chinese restaurant, so for a serious allergy treat the whole premises as the unit rather than ordering around it.

Get to know the menu

Local specialities to try here

Soup dumplings 小笼包Delicate, savoury-sweet pork broth with sharp ginger-vinegar