The Bund

The Bund grew up on the western bank of the Huangpu as the waterfront of the British settlement, which merged with the American settlement in 1863 to form the International Settlement. Over the following decades banks, shipping firms and trading houses competed to build ever grander headquarters along the river, and the stretch that is now Zhongshan Road East became the financial heart of the city.

Today some 52 buildings survive in a mix of styles, from neo-classical and Baroque-inspired facades to Art Deco, and the area is protected as a historical district often described as an open-air museum of international architecture. Landmarks include the former HSBC building (No. 12, completed 1923), the Custom House (No. 13, 1927) with its clock tower, the Peace Hotel and the Bank of China building.

A major reconstruction ahead of Expo 2010 moved much of the traffic into a tunnel and widened the riverside promenade, which reopened in March 2010. Waibaidu Bridge, once known as Garden Bridge, marks the northern end where Suzhou Creek joins the Huangpu.

For Shanghainese the Bund is both a symbol of the city's layered past and an everyday public space. Older residents still gather in the early morning to exercise by the river, wedding couples come for photographs, and on public holidays the promenade fills with domestic tourists. The contrast between the treaty-port architecture and the modern towers of Pudong is often seen as a picture of Shanghai's journey over the last century and a half.