Since the 1840s, when the concession was seized by Britain, France and other countries, the Bund has become a sovereign area. Western powers operate, manage, and build the concession in their own way. When commercial banks and financial enterprises occupy the Bund, After gaining a place, large-scale construction work was carried out to build company buildings, and most of the buildings on the Bund have been rebuilt three or more times.
In the 20th century, due to the development of construction technology and the growth of economic strength, multi-story and high-rise buildings appeared on the Bund in various styles, such as British classical style, British neoclassical style, British Renaissance Asia Building ( Formerly Shanghai Metallurgical Design Institute), Shanghai General Assembly (today’s Dongfeng Hotel), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Building (formerly HSBC Bank Building), Qiahe Building (today’s Foreign Trade Bureau Building), etc.
There are also French classical, French mansion style, Gothic style, Baroque style, modern Western style, East Indian style, eclectic style, Chinese and Western style, etc., present the best existing situation of architecture in various countries in the world. Therefore, this group of buildings starting from the Baidu Bridge outside the Suzhou River in the north and ending at Zhongshan East 1st Road and Jinling East Road in the south is known as the "Architecture Expo of All Nations". These buildings, where classicism and modernism coexist, have become symbols of Shanghai.
The Bund has four distinct seasons, is mild and humid, has abundant rainfall and a long frost-free period, and has a subtropical monsoon climate. The Bund has short spring and autumn and long winter and summer. More than 60% of the annual rainfall is concentrated in the flood season from May to September.
Extended information
Main buildings
Historic buildings
There are 33 buildings on the Bund***, some of which are still requisitioned by some units and institutions For example, No. 13 Customs Building on the Bund, built in the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), is still the residence of Shanghai Customs; No. 14 Bank of Communications Building on the Bund is the youngest building on the Bund, completed in the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948). , has been used by the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Others are the headquarters of banks and insurance companies as well as high-end hotels from various countries, such as the Asia Building No. 1 on the Bund, built in 1913; the Nissin Building, also known as the Marine Terminal, which was built in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925) ) was built, originally a building of Nissin & Co.; the HSBC Bank Building, also known as the City Hall Building, was built in the 14th year of the Republic of China (1925);
The British General Assembly, a 110.7-foot-high bar room on the first floor The bar counter is said to be the longest in the East, and is now the Dongfeng Hotel; the Huizhong Hotel Building at No. 19 on the Bund, today is the Peace Hotel; and the Sassoon Building at No. 22 on the Bund was built in the 18th year of the Republic of China (1929) and is the tallest building on the Bund. , today also belongs to the Peace Hotel. No. 3, 6 and 18 have been renovated and developed into high-end leisure, shopping and entertainment venues, becoming the coordinates of Shanghai's luxury consumption.
No. 1: Now the headquarters of China Pacific Insurance Company, formerly known as Asia Building, was built in the second year of the Republic of China (1913). It was the office established in Shanghai by the British Asia Fuel Oil Company. Known historically as "the tallest building on the Bund", the bottom and upper sections are both Baroque in style, and the middle section is in modernist architectural style. It is the oldest high-rise building in Shanghai.
No. 2: Now Dongfeng Hotel, it was once the most luxurious club in Shanghai - Shanghai Club. Known as "Eastern London", its design imitates British classicism and also refers to the Empire State Building in Japan. The triangular elevator is manufactured by Siemens and has a history of more than 90 years. There is a bar of more than 110 feet.
No. 3: Now known as the Lee Building, formerly known as the Union Building, it is owned by the American Lee Bank and is now the location of Singapore Giti Investment Co., Ltd. Completed in the fifth year of the Republic of China (1916), it was the first steel structure building in Shanghai. The steel came from Germany. The building inherits the balanced and symmetrical architectural style of the Renaissance, but the decoration often adopts Baroque-style swirl patterns.
No. 5: Now it belongs to Hua Xia Bank. It was originally the Nissin Company building. It is a product of modern Japanese Western architecture and classical architectural style. The exterior is made of granite. It was built in the 10th year of the Republic of China. (1921).
No. 6: Now owned by Hong Kong Parkview International Enterprise Co., Ltd., it was originally the China Commercial Bank Building. It was completed in the 23rd year of Guangxu’s reign in the Qing Dynasty (1897). It is one of the oldest existing buildings on the Bund. The exterior wall of the building is made of granite veneer and has a row of sharp corners in the British Gothic architectural style. It is a typical building on the Bund in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
No. 7: It is now the location of the Consulate General of the Kingdom of Thailand in Shanghai and the Shanghai Branch of Bangkok Bank of Thailand. It was originally the Dabei Telegraph Company building and was built in the 33rd year of Guangxu in the Qing Dynasty (1907).
No. 9: The General Administration of Shipping Investment Building was built in the 27th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1901). Sheng Xuanhuai invested 2.2 million taels of silver.
No. 10-12: It is now the location of Pudong Development Bank. It was originally the location of the Shanghai Branch of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It was built in the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923). The three bronze doors and the bronze lions on both sides were specially cast by the British. It is said that the bronze molds were destroyed immediately after being cast, and the lions became out-of-print treasures. An octagonal foyer protrudes from the middle of the ground floor, leading into the spacious business hall.
There are 8 colorful mosaic murals on the top of the foyer, depicting the architectural styles of eight major cities including Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Calcutta in the early 20th century. Next to the painting is the text "We are all brothers within the four seas". After liberation, the Shanghai Municipal Government once had its offices here. This building cost 8 million taels of silver and is known as "the most elegant building from the Suez Canal to the Bering Strait".
No. 13: It is now the Customs House, a sister building of the HSBC Bank Building. It was built in the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927). It is modeled after the big clock (Big Ben) of the British Parliament Building. It was made by the British After the Joyce Company built it, it was assembled in Shanghai.
The big clock on the facade of this building is the largest clock in Asia and one of the most famous clocks in the world (only three of them exist in the world. One of the Westminster Clocks, the other two being the British Parliament's Big Ben and the Russian Red Square Spassk Clock), it originally played the Westminster chime on every hour, but it was changed to Dongfanghong during the Cultural Revolution. . ?
No. 14: Now the Shanghai Federation of Trade Unions, it was designed by Hongda Yang Company and constructed by Tao Fuji Construction Factory in the 37th year of the Republic of China (1948). It was the last building among the Bund buildings built before the liberation of Shanghai. Building.
No. 15: It is now the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center. It was originally the Sino-Russian Daosheng Bank Building and was completed in the 28th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1902).
No. 16: Now belongs to China Merchants Bank, formerly the Bank of Taiwan Building. The Bank of Taiwan was originally the Nissho Bank, which was opened by Japan in Taipei after Taiwan became a Japanese colony. It also established a branch in Shanghai in the third year of Xuantong in the Qing Dynasty (1911). After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government placed the Bank of Taiwan under the ownership of the Shanghai Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China.
No. 17: Now the AIA Building, formerly the Zilin West News Building, it is the first high-rise building in Shanghai. "Zi Lin Xi Bao" was founded in the 30th year of Daoguang reign of the Qing Dynasty (1850). It is an English daily newspaper run by the British and the largest news publishing organization in Shanghai.
At first, "Zilinxi Bao" was just a 4-page English weekly newspaper, which published merchant quotations, shipping schedules and flights and other traffic information. Later, it often published announcements and news bulletins from the British Concession authorities, so it was called The mouthpiece of the Concession Industry Bureau. It ceased publication in 1951. The interior of the building has white marble floors, black marble walls and a golden mosaic dome.
No. 18: Built in the twelfth year of the Republic of China (1923), it is a city-level classic protected building with an 84-year history. It is located at the intersection of Nanjing East Road on the Bund and was formerly known as the Bund 18 of Macquarie Bank. Building No. 1 was once the headquarters of Standard Chartered Bank in China. Since the relocation of Standard Chartered Bank in 1955, it has been used by many units.
The four ancient Greek-style marble columns at the entrance of Building 18 on the Bund, which was restored on November 20, 2004, are original and came from the Tuscani Church in Italy 200 years ago. Two tailor-made three-meter-high red glass chandeliers are all assembled from hollow glass tubes. Each lamp is assembled from one hundred and eighty-five parts.
The two 24K gold brick mosaic murals in the lobby are all handmade and are being built into an internationally renowned center for fashion, jewelry, watches, food, entertainment, and art.
No. 19 and 20: It is now the Peace Hotel, divided into the south building and the north building. The south building was originally the Huizhong Hotel building, and the north building was originally the Chinachem Hotel building. Huizhong Hotel is one of the oldest existing hotels in Shanghai. It was built in 1854, the fourth year of Xianfeng reign in the Qing Dynasty. It is the most luxurious hotel in Shanghai.
It was renovated in the 32nd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1906). During the renovation, old China installed elevators in the building for the first time. In 1965, it was changed to the south building of the Peace Hotel; the Chinachem Hotel was built by the real estate tycoon Sha Sassoon Investment, also known as Sassoon Building, is known as the "First Building in the Far East". In 1956, it was changed to the North Building of the Peace Hotel.
No. 23: It now belongs to the Bank of China and is a building with Chinese national characteristics.
No. 24: It now belongs to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and is the address of the old Sassoon Bank.
No. 26: Now the location of the Shanghai Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, it was originally the Yangzi Insurance Company Building.
No. 27: It is now the Foreign Trade Corporation building, originally owned by the British merchant Jardine Matheson. Jardine Matheson, founded in Guangzhou in the twelfth year of Daoguang's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1832), was the earliest British trading house to enter China.
No. 29: Now owned by China Everbright Bank, it was originally the Credit Agricole Bank building.
(Note: The house numbers are all those of Zhongshan Dongyi Road)
Baidu Encyclopedia - The Bund