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The Bund

外滩

The riverfront row of former banks, hotels, shipping offices and clubs on the Huangpu, with the blocks behind it back to Henan Road and Suzhou Creek.

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The Bund (外滩, Wàitān) is the west bank of the Huangpu River from Waibaidu Bridge, where Suzhou Creek joins the river, south to the Gutzlaff Signal Tower. Along the waterfront road stands one long row of stone buildings put up for banks, shipping lines, a newspaper, a club and hotels. Most are still banks or offices; a few are hotels and bars you can walk into.

In this guide the area also takes in the grid of streets behind the row, back to Henan Road, and the bridgehead north of the creek, with Broadway Mansions, the Astor House Hotel and the General Post Office.

How to see it

Walk it in one direction, north to south or the other way, on the inland pavement first and then back along the promenade on the river side. From the pavement you can read the doorways and carvings; from the promenade you see the whole row at once.

The buildings to look for in particular are the Peace Hotel with its green pyramid roof at the corner of Nanjing Road, the clock tower of the Customs House, and the domed HSBC Building next to it. Each building has its own page with what to look for on the facade.

Many of the buildings are exterior-only. The ones that let visitors in are mainly the hotels, the restaurant and art buildings, and the postal museum in the post office north of the creek. Early morning is the quietest time; after dark the facades are lit.

For the history of the row as a whole, read How to read the Bund.

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Places to see

The Asia Building at Bund 1, a stone block with columns and a rounded corner.
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· 1913–1916

Asia Building

亚细亚大楼Yàxìyà Dàlóu

Bund No. 1: the 1916 McBain Building, home of the Asiatic Petroleum Company from 1917 and now an art venue with the Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum.

The Astor House Hotel (Pujiang Hotel) building in Hongkou, Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· c. 1906–1911

Astor House Hotel

浦江饭店Pǔjiāng Fàndiàn

Shanghai's first Western hotel, founded 1846 and rebuilt c.1907–1911 by Waibaidu Bridge; site of the 1990 stock exchange, now a securities museum.

The Bank of China Building on the Bund, Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· c. 1936–1937

Bank of China Building

中国银行大楼Zhōngguó Yínháng Dàlóu

The Bank of China's 1937 head office at Bund 23: a 17-storey tower by Luke Him Sau with a blue-tiled Chinese roof, cut down from a planned 34 storeys.

The Bank of Communications Building, a cream Art Deco façade with a stepped top.
Photo: Ferox Seneca · CC BY-SA 3.0

Building· c. 1946–1948

Bank of Communications Building

上海市总工会大楼Shànghǎi Shì Zǒnggōnghuì Dàlóu

The last building finished on the Bund before 1949: Gonda's late Art Deco Bank of Communications of 1948, now the city's Federation of Trade Unions.

The former Bank of Taiwan building, a stone block with tall columns, on the corner of the Bund.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· c. 1924

Bank of Taiwan Building

台湾银行大楼Táiwān Yínháng Dàlóu

Four-column bank of the 1920s at No. 16 the Bund, designed by Lester, Johnson & Morriss for the Bank of Taiwan; now a China Merchants Bank branch.

The former Banque de l'Indochine building, a stone façade with a central arched entrance and columns, on the Bund.
Photo: ScareCriterion12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· c. 1911–1914

Banque de l'Indochine Building

东方汇理银行大楼Dōngfāng Huìlǐ Yínháng Dàlóu

A French bank of 1914 by Atkinson & Dallas at Bund No. 29, three tall storeys behind a Baroque doorway; now China Everbright Bank.

Broadway Mansions, a stepped brown-brick tower, rising beside Suzhou Creek under a blue sky.
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0

Building· 1930–1934

Broadway Mansions

上海大厦Shànghǎi Dàshà

Brown-brick Art Deco tower of 1934 at the north end of Waibaidu Bridge, built as a hotel and apartments for foreigners; renamed Shanghai Mansions in 1951.

The Chartered Bank Building at Bund No. 18 on the Bund, Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· 1922–1923

Chartered Bank Building (Bund 18)

麦加利银行大楼Màijiālì Yínháng Dàlóu

Five-storey Chartered Bank of 1922–1923 by Palmer & Turner, restored in 2002–2004 as Bund 18, a complex of shops, restaurants, bars and an art space.

The Customs House seen head-on from the Bund: a granite tower with the clock face above a row of Doric columns.
Photo: ScareCriterion12 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Building· 1925–1927

Customs House

上海海关大楼Shànghǎi Hǎiguān Dàlóu

Shanghai's 1927 Customs House by Palmer & Turner, whose clock tower, with a Joyce clock first struck in 1928, still sounds the hours over the Bund.

The former British Consulate, a two-storey brick building with arcaded verandas, behind a wide lawn.
Photo: Jason Zou

Building· 1872–1873

Former British Consulate-General

原英国驻沪总领事馆Yuán Yīngguó Zhù Hù Zǒnglǐngshìguǎn

The Bund's oldest surviving Western-style building: the British consulate rebuilt in 1872-73 after a fire, now an exhibition venue (Bund Origin No. 1).

Photo of the General Post Office Building in Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· 1922–1924

General Post Office Building

上海邮政总局Shànghǎi Yóuzhèng Zǒngjú

Shanghai's head post office, built 1922-24 beside Suzhou Creek, still handles mail; the free Shanghai Postal Museum is on its second floor.

The Glen Line Building on the corner of the Bund and Beijing Road, a grey stone block with a small tower.
Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote · CC BY 4.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· 1920–1922

Glen Line Building

格林邮船大楼Gélín Yóuchuán Dàlóu

1922 shipping office by Palmer & Turner at Bund No. 28; later the US consulate and Shanghai's radio station, now the Shanghai Clearing House.

The Great Northern Telegraph Building, a white Baroque façade with a mansard roof, on the Bund.
Photo: xiquinhosilva · CC BY 2.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· c. 1908

Great Northern Telegraph Building

大北电报公司大楼Dàběi Diànbào Gōngsī Dàlóu

Early-1900s Renaissance-style office of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company at No. 7 the Bund, designed by Atkinson & Dallas; now Bangkok Bank.

The Gutzlaff Signal Tower, a slender striped tower on the Bund waterfront.
Photo: Another Believer · CC BY-SA 4.0

Building· 1907–1908

Gutzlaff Signal Tower

外滩信号台Wàitān Xìnhàotái

The 1907–08 concrete weather and time-signal tower at the south end of the Bund, moved 22.4 m in 1993 to widen the road; now a history display and café.

Holy Trinity Cathedral in Shanghai, with its red-brick spire and long church roof against the city skyline.
Photo: Fayhoo (resized) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped to fit

Church· 1866–1869

Holy Trinity Cathedral

圣三一堂Shèngsānyī Táng

Shanghai's red-brick Gothic Revival Anglican church of 1869, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, now a national protected site on Jiujiang Road.

The HSBC Building with its dome, seen across the open square on the Bund.
Photo: ScareCriterion12 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· 1921–1923

HSBC Building

上海浦东发展银行大楼Shànghǎi Pǔdōng Fāzhǎn Yínháng Dàlóu

Palmer & Turner's 1923 head office for HSBC, the widest building on the Bund, with a mosaic dome hidden under paint from 1956 to 1997; now SPD Bank.

The former Imperial Bank of China building, a Gothic stone façade with pointed gables.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· c. 1906

Imperial Bank of China Building

中国通商银行大楼Zhōngguó Tōngshāng Yínháng Dàlóu

Gothic Revival bank at Bund No. 6, head office of the Imperial Bank of China, the first modern Chinese bank, founded by Sheng Xuanhuai in 1897.

The Jardine Matheson Building lit up at night, a stone façade with giant columns above the ground floor.
Photo: Supanut Arunoprayote · CC BY 4.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· 1920–1922

Jardine Matheson Building

怡和洋行大楼Yíhé Yángháng Dàlóu

Jardine Matheson's 1922 head office at Bund No. 27, granite with Corinthian columns, on a lot the firm held from 1845; now shops and restaurants.

The Nissin Building, a narrow six-storey stone façade on the Bund.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0

Building· c. 1921–1925

Nissin Building

日清大楼Rìqīng Dàlóu

Six-storey granite office of the Japanese shipping line Nisshin Kisen Kaisha, built 1921–1925 by Lester, Johnson & Morriss at No. 5 the Bund.

The tall stone corner facade of Rockbund Art Museum, with vertical windows and a ground-floor entrance.
Photo: Rockbund Art Museum (resized) · CC BY 3.0

Museum· 1932–1933

Rockbund Art Museum

上海外滩美术馆Shànghǎi Wàitān Měishùguǎn

A contemporary art museum with no permanent collection, in the 1933 Art Deco Royal Asiatic Society building off the Bund, redesigned by David Chipperfield.

The former Russo-Chinese Bank building, a three-storey stone façade with arched ground-floor windows.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Cropped to fit

Building· c. 1902

Russo-Chinese Bank Building

华俄道胜银行大楼Huá'é Dàoshèng Yínháng Dàlóu

Small classical bank of 1902-03 at No. 15 the Bund, built for the Russo-Chinese Bank, later the Central Bank of China; now a currency trading centre.

Sassoon House, now the Fairmont Peace Hotel, on the Bund in Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· 1926–1929

Sassoon House (Fairmont Peace Hotel)

沙逊大厦Shāxùn Dàshà

Victor Sassoon's 1929 granite tower with the green copper pyramid, home of the Cathay Hotel and since 1956 the Peace Hotel, now run by Fairmont.

The Shanghai Club, a white Baroque façade with twin cupolas, seen from across the Bund road.
Photo: ScareCriterion12

Building· 1909–1910

Shanghai Club Building

上海总会大楼Shànghǎi Zǒnghuì Dàlóu

Former British Shanghai Club, opened 1910 with a 30-metre bar; today the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund and its restored Long Bar.

Photo of the Union Building, Bund No. 3, in Shanghai.
Photo: Suicasmo

Building· 1916

Three on the Bund (Union Building)

有利大楼Yǒulì Dàlóu

Shanghai's first steel-framed building (1916) and Palmer & Turner's first Bund work, rebuilt by Michael Graves in 2004 as Three on the Bund.

Waibaidu Bridge, the steel truss bridge over Suzhou Creek at the north end of the Bund.
Photo: Suicasmo

Bridge· 1906–1907

Waibaidu Bridge

外白渡桥Wàibáidù Qiáo

Riveted steel truss bridge of 1907 over the mouth of Suzhou Creek, the first steel bridge on the creek; its name recalls a toll-free crossing of the 1870s.

The Yangtze Insurance Building, a narrow seven-storey stone façade with a flag on top.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0

Building· c. 1917–1920

Yangtze Insurance Building

扬子大楼Yángzǐ Dàlóu

1920 office of the Yangtsze Insurance Association at Bund No. 26 by Palmer & Turner, with a mansard roof; now the Agricultural Bank of China.

The former Yokohama Specie Bank building on the Bund, a stone façade with four tall columns.
Photo: Livelikerw · CC BY-SA 3.0

Building· 1923–1924

Yokohama Specie Bank Building

横滨正金银行大楼Héngbīn Zhèngjīn Yínháng Dàlóu

The 1924 Shanghai branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank at Bund No. 24, by Palmer & Turner, with a samurai and a bodhisattva on the facade; now ICBC.

Walks in The Bund

Where to stay

Staying in The Bund

Why stay here

  • +Most of the old bank and hotel buildings in this guide are a few minutes' walk from each other.
  • +East Nanjing Road station (Lines 2 and 10) is at the back of the waterfront, and People's Square is a walk west along Nanjing Road.
  • +The riverside promenade stays open after dark, with the Pudong skyline across the water.

Downsides

  • −Hotels in the historic buildings, and rooms with a river view, are among the most expensive in the city.
  • −The promenade and East Nanjing Road are packed on weekends and public holidays.
  • −Right on the waterfront there are few everyday places to eat; walk a few blocks inland.

Price level¥¥¥¥

Getting to and from

Pudong Airport60 minLine 2 from East Nanjing Road(estimate)
Hongqiao Airport31 minLine 2 from East Nanjing Road(estimate)
Hongqiao Railway Station33 minLine 2 from East Nanjing Road(estimate)
Shanghai Railway Station15 minLines 2 and 1 from East Nanjing Road(estimate)

Where to stay

Hotel recommendations for this area are being checked.

Getting here

Metro linesLine 2Line 10