The Bund is one of the most recognizable architectural symbols of Shanghai. "Bund" derives from an Anglo-Indian word for an embankment along a muddy waterfront and that is what it was in the beginning when the first British company opened a office there in 1846. It has been the epitome of elegance throughout its 100 year history. Now many attractions have been erected in addition.
Where is it
The bund is an area of Huangpu District in Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District.
How it got its name
The word "Bund" means an embankment or an embanked quay, and comes from the Urdu word band, meaning an embankment, levee or dam (a cognate of English terms, bind and band, German term, bund, etc.). "Bund" is pronounced to rhyme with "fund". The term was brought to India (where it came to be pronounced as "bund") by either the Mughals in at the beginning of the 16th century, or possibly, by the Baghdadi Jews like the family of David Sassoon, and thence to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon.
There are many "bands" to be found in Baghdad, even today. There are numerous sites in India, China, and Japan which are called "bunds". However, "The Bund" as a proper noun almost invariably refers to this stretch of embanked riverfront in Shanghai.
Begin-point & End-point
The Bund stretches one mile along the bank of the Huangpu River. Traditionally, the Bund begins at Yan'an Road (formerly Edward VII Avenue) in the south and ends at Waibaidu Bridge (formerly Garden Bridge) in the north, which crosses Suzhou Creek.
Have you ever heard "Zhongshan Road"
The Bund centres on a stretch of the Zhongshan Road, named after Sun Yat-sen. Zhongshan Road is a largely circular road which formed the traditional conceptual boundary of Shanghai city "proper". To the west of this stretch of the road stands some 52 buildings of various Western classical and modern styles which is the main feature of the Bund (see Architecture and buildings below). To the east of the road was formerly a stretch of parkland culminating at Huangpu Park.
Sun Yat-sen
A Chinese revolutionary and political leader, who often referred to as the Father of Modern China. Sun played an instrumental role in the eventual collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. He was the first provisional president when the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912 and later co-founded the Kuomintang (KMT) where he served as its first leader.
Huangpu Park
It is the name of the triangular stretch of green at the northern end of the Bund in Shanghai, the oldest and smallest park of the city. It is the site of the high-rising Monument to the People's Heroes, commemorating those who helped to free China from foreign occupation, and the Bund Historical Museum, showing the history of the Bund in old photographs.
Bronze Statue along the Bund
Near the Nanjing Road intersection stands what is currently the only bronze statue along the Bund. It is a statue of Chen Yi, the first Communist mayor of Shanghai. At the northern end of The Bund.
Getting around the Bund
The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco (Shanghai has one of the richest collections of Art Deco architectures in the world).
From the south, the main buildings are:
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Asia Building (No. 1, The Bund)
The six-story Asia Building is a building in the Bund, Shanghai. It was built in 1916 and later housed the Shanghai Metallurgical Designing & Research Institute. Originally the McBain Building, housed the Shanghai offices of Royal Dutch Shell and Asiatic Petroleum Company. -
Shanghai Club (No. 2, The Bund)
It was a three-storey red-brick building constructed the British in 1861. The club was a British men's club and was the most exclusive club in Shanghai during the heyday of the 1920's and 1930's. The membership fee was $125 and monthly dues were $9.
The second-floor was famous for the "Long Bar." This was an unpolished mahogany, L-shaped bar that measured 110.7 feet by 39 feet. On one side of the bar was a smoking room and library, while on the other side was a billiards room. It was famous for being the world's longest bar at one time.There were also forty guest rooms on the second and third floors. It later became the Dongfeng Hotel, and even suffered the indignity of housing a KFC restaurant from 1990 to 1996.
United States President Ulysses S. Grant was hosted there when he visited Shanghai in 1879. -
Union Building (No. 3, The Bund)
Completed in 1916, the building was used by a number of insurance companies. The six-storey building was the first work in Shanghai of P & T Architects and Surveyors (Palmer & Turner), and was the first building in Shanghai to use a steel structure. The building occupied 2241 square metres, with a floor area of 13760 square metres. Because it had a narrow frontage onto the Bund, the main door was located on the adjacent Guangdong Road.
The building is in Neo-Renaissance style with a symmetrical facade, but with some Baroque style details. The roof features a domed corner pavilion.
In 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army threatened Shanghai. Being unable to indemnify war damages, the insurance companies had their assets frozen. The Union Bank then purchased building. In 1949 the Union Bank evacuated from Shanghai in the wake of the Communist takeover. From 1953 the building was used by the Shanghai Civil Architecture and Design Institute. In 1997 a private equity fund from Singapore purchased the building, and in 2004 converted it to a "high-class" shopping centre, called "Three on the Bund". -
Nissin Building (No. 5, The Bund)
It housed a Japanese shipping company. -
China Merchants Bank Building (No. 6, The Bund)
It housed the first Chinese-owned bank in China. -
Russel & Co. Building (No. 9, The Bund)
now houses the China Shipping Merchant Company. -
The HSBC Building (No. 12, The Bund)
Now used by the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, was once the Shanghai headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which failed to reach a deal with the Shanghai government to buy the building again in the 1990's, when the Shanghai government moved out of the building that they had used since the 1950's. The present building was completed in 1923. At the time, it was called "the most luxurious building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait". Its famous ceiling mosaics have been fully restored, and can be viewed inside the entrance hall. -
The Customs House (No. 13, The Bund)
It is an eight storey building on the Bund, Shanghai. Built in 1927, the building remains a customs house today. Together with the neighbouring HSBC Building, the Customs House is seen as one of the symbols of the Bund and Shanghai. -
Russo-Chinese Bank Building (No. 15, The Bund)
It is now the Shanghai Foreign Exchange. -
The Peace Hotel (No. 19, The Bund)
It was a world famous hotel, which was announced on April 16th, that the hotel will soon be closing, going through a complete renovation and reopening in 2009 as the pre-eminent luxury hotel in Shanghai as the Fairmont Peace Hotel Shanghai. -
Sassoon House (No. 20, The Bund)
With the attached Cathay Hotel, it was built by Sir Victor Sassoon. It was, and still is today, famous for its jazz band in its cafe. The top floor originally housed Sassoon's private apartment. Today, it forms the other part of the Peace Hotel. -
Bank of China Building (No. 23, The Bund)
It housed the headquarters of the Bank of China. The stunted appearance of the building is attributed to Sassoon's insistence that no other building on the Bund could rise higher than his.
When to visit
Opening Times: 9:10a.m. - 10:00p.m.
Getting there
By bus
While Shanghai Metro Line 2 crosses the Bund, there are no plans to build a station on the Bund. The closest station is East Nanjing Road, about a five minute walk up Nanjing Road. East-1 Zhongshan Road is a major bus route.
By ferry
There were previously frequent ferry services operating from wharves on and near the Bund. These have been discontinued in the last decade, although pleasure cruises continue to operate from these wharves.
By tunnel
A pedestrian transit tunnel crosses the Huangpu River from the Bund. Passengers board slow-moving powered vehicles which travel along the tunnel, with light effects projected onto the walls of the tunnel. These effects are marketed as a tourist attraction.
Admission fee
No extra cost needed, the area is free to open.