China - Table of Contents........... Architecture Around the World
The Bund
Rhymes with fund
Shanghai, China
2013 photos
On this page, below:
East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River
| The
Bund, also called Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu (East Zhongshan 1st Road), is a
famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds
of years. Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shanghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected their distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here, Shanghai grew into Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s, a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center. When Mao Tse-tung came to power in 1949, the tenants of the Bund were swiftly purged. On the Bund is a mile long flood-control wall, known as 'lovers' wall', on the west side of the Huangpu River. Standing by the railings, visitors can view of the scenery of the Pudong Area across the Huangpu River - spectacular modern architecture built with the last twenty years. On the west side of the Bund are the 26 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance built during the British control of Shanghai. Tons of stone were shipped in from Hong Kong and marble from England and Italy. |
| Before
the 1840s, the Bund was a muddy narrow lane with tall reeds. It
initially became a British settlement. After Shanghai was established
as the trading port in 1846, a street was paved there and the
riversides were reinforced. Then, rows of commercial buildings were
constructed. As the UK Concession, a building boom at the end of 19th
century and beginning of 20th century led to the Bund becoming a major
financial hub of East Asia. It was the centre of the city's politics,
economy and culture more than a hundred years ago, consulates of most
countries and many banks, businesses and newspaper offices were settled
there, and that's why we have these art-like buildings. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, with the thawing of economic policy in the People's Republic of China, buildings on the Bund were gradually returned to their former uses. Government institutions were moved out in favor of financial institutions, while hotels resumed trading as such. In the 1990s the Shanghai government attempted to promote an extended concept of the Bund to boost tourism and land values in nearby areas, as well as to reconcile the promotion of 'colonial relics' with Socialist ideology. From 2008, a major reconfiguration of traffic flow along the Bund was carried out. After a 33-month upgrade, the Bund was reopened to visitors on March 28, 2010. The veil on the new Bund was finally lifted. - TravelChinaGuide.com (online Jan. 2014)
|
Bund Promenade  View north along the mile long flood-control wall, known as "lovers' wall" on the west side of Huangpu River. Lower height buildings were built during the British seaport settlement building boom at the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century. The Bund became a major financial hub of East Asia.  View northeast  View southwest. Buildings on left (west) built during the British seaport settlement building boom.  Side of the mile long flood-control wall, known as "lovers' wall," decorated with plants and flowers (next two photos below show details). Buildings in the background are in the Pudong Area across the Huangpu River .  Wall detail - plants and flowers ... Another detail:  Wall detail - plants and flowers |
West: British-built port area Photos taken standing on the wall in 2013  British-built port area. Left: #5 Bund - Former Nishin Navigation Co., built 1925. Right: #7 Bund - Telegraph Building, built in 1908 in Victorian Gothic Revival style. Note The Postmodern style Bund Centre Building in background with unusual lotus roof (next two photos below:)  British-built port area. Postmodern style Bund Centre Building: White, glazed terra cotta, with distinctive lotus roof. The Bund Centre Building is a tall
tower with a distinctive crown in the shape of a lotus flower. It was
designed by the American architectural firm John Portman &
Associates and completed in 2002 The 50-story building is used
primarily as commercial office space, but it also features a Westin
Bund Center luxury hotel.
Another detail below: British-built port area. 2002 Postmodern style Bund Centre Building: white, glazed terra cotta with a distinctive crown in the shape of a lotus flower.  British-built port area. #7 Bund - Former Telegraph Building, built in 1908 in Victorian Gothic Revival style. Roof and entrance details below:  British-built port area. Former Telegraph Building, built in 1908 in Victorian Gothic Revival style. Note lancet windows, pinnacles with finials, engaged columns and corbels. Entrance detail below:  British-built port area. Former Telegraph Building, built in 1908 in Victorian Gothic Revival style. Romanesque Revival style rounded arches - not unusual in the style. Cf. Buffalo's Old County Hall.  British-built port area. Left: #6 Bund - Formerly Bank of Communications... Right: #9 Bund - Formerly Building of Zhaoshang Bureau, built in 1901 Below: Bund Financial Bull - Unveiled on The Bund in Shanghai in May 2010. the 5,000-pound bronze bull was sculpted by Arturo di Modeca, who also created the Wall Street Bull. Detail below:  Bund Financial Bull - 5,000-pound bronze bull sculpted by Arturo di Modeca, who also created the Wall Street Bull. Like its Wall Street counterpart, the Bund Bull's male genitalia is rumored to produce good luck when stroked. Eventually, the cordoning was discontinued due to the strong public desire to be close to the bull.  British-built port area. 9 Bund - Former Building of Zhaoshang Bureau, built in 1901. Italian Renaissance Revival style ... Bottom story rusticated ... Upper stories loggias  British-built port area. 13 Bund - Formerly: Jiang Hai Custom House, built in 1927 of reinforced concrete. The clock is modeled after Big Ben in London. Clock detail below:  British-built port area. Detail - Jiang Hai Custom House  British-built port area. 14 Bund - Former Bank of Communications Building, built in 1948 in Art Deco style. Central tower and entrance details below:  British-built port area. 14 Bund - Former Bank of Communications Building, built in 1948 in Art Deco style. Art Deco Central tower detail.  British-built port area. 14 Bund - Former Bank of Communications Building, built in 1948 in Art Deco style. Black granite Art Deco entrance detail.  British-built port area.  British-built port area. 2002 Postmodern style Bund Centre Building in background.  British-built port area.  British-built port area.  North end - British-built port area. The 1908 Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge) is the first all-steel bridge, and the only surviving example of a camelback truss bridge, in China. The fourth foreign bridge built at its location since 1856, it is adjacent to the Bund in central Shanghai, connecting the Huangpu and Hongkou districts.  North end - British-built port area. 1908 Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge)  North end - British-built port area. 1908 Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge) |
East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River
Postmodern style architecture built mostly in the last 20 years.  Northeast: Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River. Note buildings on left (see next photo below:)  Northeast: Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River.  Northeast: Pudong skyline across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Skyline across the Huangpu River. Note Oriental Pearl Tower in photo below:  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Detail: Oriental Pearl Tower  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Photo taken in November 2013. Note Shanghai World Financial Center - the "Beer Bottle-opener Building" as affectionately called by locals - the second-tallest building in the world and the tallest structure in Mainland China. It was designed by the American firm of Kohn Pedersen Fox. It is a mixed-use skyscraper, including Park Hyatt Shanghai, the second-highest hotel in the world. The building under construction to the right is the Shanghai Tower. Upon its completion in 2014, the building will have 121 stories and will surpass in height the Shanghai World Financial Center.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Note the oddly-shaped Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower, 1991-1994. It was the tallest structure in China from 1994–2007, when it was surpassed by the Shanghai World Financial Center (the "Beer Bottle-opener Building.")  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Detail: Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower , 1991-1994. An antenna, broadcasting TV and radio programs, extends the construction by another 387 ft to a total height of 1,535 ft.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. The Oriental Pearl Radio & TV Tower is supported by three enormous columns that start underground.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Shanghai World Financial Center - the "Beer Bottle-opener Building" in background.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. Note blue lit building (below in red:)  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River.  East: Pudong Area across the Huangpu River. |
