Shanghai Sights: The Bund to Pudong 1
May 3rd 2006 06:55
In 2006, with a few Japanese and Korean friends, I opened my Shanghai trip with a visit to the Bund, one of the most recognizable architectural symbols of Shanghai. I had been there a few times before and didn’t really want to go again in the chill of winter, but as one comes to discover, a time tested law of nature is that one (male or female) can never reject the requests of puppy-eyed Japanese girls. It’s probably something in their voices that triggers the part of the brain responsible for dopamine release.
The origins of our destination, "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 an office there in 1846. Before the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949 which ended western imperialist rule but also caused the economy to take a sharp dive for the worse for about two decades, the Bund (or Waitan in Chinese) had been the financial, political, commercial and cultural center of western powers in Shanghai.
Such was the introduction to the Bund we familiarized ourselves with before embarking on the trip. But the bone biting cold often has a strange effect on girls in that it prevents them from noticing anything but the poor quality of their thin bomber jackets and the regret of choosing style over temperature. When we had made our way through the bone biting cold from Henan Zhonglu Line 2 Metro Station to the edge of the Huangpu River, I reminded my companions to look around and take in the magnificent view. After Shanghai was opened as one of five "Treaty Ports" in the Treaty of Nanjing that ended the Opium War in 1842, the Bund became the financial and political center of the international community and (indeed of much of China). It was China's Wall Street, as Shanghai's financial market became the third largest in the world (behind London and New York), and this prestige is overwhelming, especially now when the ghosts of past glories are superimposed upon Shanghai’s modern prosperity.
The twenty-four major structures, of uneven height along approximately 1.5 kilometers of Zhongshan Lu and the Huangpu River, have changed little externally since the 1930s. All were constructed in western-inspired styles --classical, Gothic, renaissance, eclectic and modern--a reported seventeen styles of architecture.
The Bund has been called a ‘museum of international architecture’, but it was also much more. Here were located the banks, hotels, exclusive clubs, press organizations and headquarters of international concerns as well. Two of my companions cooed excitedly at the view of the famous Art deco style Peace Hotel and decided that they just had to spend at least one night there. The concierge glanced curiously at their attire and looked away, clearly assuming that they would probably freeze before they get through the door anyway.
It really wasn’t hard to see the fresh vitality of the general Bund area. Zhongshan Dong Lu has been widened to ten lanes to accommodate the increased Shanghai motor traffic, and the promenade along the banks of the Huangpu has also been elevated and enhanced as a place to view the ever-changing skyline of Pudong across the water, illuminated at night to become a glorious futuristic skyline.
It’s hard to imagine that only a decade ago, there was little in Pudong besides warehouses, shipping facilities, a few impoverished living areas and small shops. Now it has become one of the most extensive construction sites in the world, where the new 460m Shanghai World Financial Center is being built. Both sides of the Huangpu River reflect Shanghai’s timeless legend--its past, present and future. (Continued next post)
The Bund at night
Chen Yi, one of the founding fathers of the People's Republic of China, gazes out toward Shanghai against the backdrop of global financial giant Citibank.
A decadent guardian of the HK Shanghai Bank
The HSBC Building - known to be the 'most beautiful building from the Suez Canal to the Bering Sea' when it was first constructed.
A view of the Peace Hotel
It really wasn’t hard to see the fresh vitality of the general Bund area. Zhongshan Dong Lu has been widened to ten lanes to accommodate the increased Shanghai motor traffic, and the promenade along the banks of the Huangpu has also been elevated and enhanced as a place to view the ever-changing skyline of Pudong across the water, illuminated at night to become a glorious futuristic skyline.
The Pu Dong skyline at night
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Comment by Cibbuano
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No, I liked the seedier parts of Shanghai... bowls of Muslim noodles in the ghetto, getting a haircut under the freeways...
Comment by Bunbury
I’m assuming you have been to Shanghai? You know a lot about it we share a lot of common sentiments on what our predilections are toward the city.
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by Bunbury
Comment by Cibbuano
20/20 Filmsight
Science News
Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
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It was peaceful and tranquil, but the food was incredible, even for China. They have a lot of local specialties that I never had... river crabs and shrimp, xiao hundun, alcoholic rice pudding, leaf-wrapped lamb, steamed chicken.. on and on...
places I went to in China?
I wrote a series of emails during my time there, you can browse them here: Letters from China