Shanghai

Shanghai is the easiest Chinese city for a first-time visitor — not because it's simple, but because it's used to foreigners. English signage is decent, the subway is straightforward, and the French Concession gives you tree-lined streets to decompress on when the city's intensity catches up. The Bund delivers the skyline shot everyone wants, but the real Shanghai lives in the lane houses tucked behind Fuxing Road, where old men still roast coffee beans on the sidewalk.