The Bund
2 min readThe Bund is one of the most noted landmarks of Shanghai.
The Chinese name for the Bund means literally the“outer bank”，referring to the Huangpu River，because this part of the riverfront was located further downstream than the“inner bank”area adjacent to theold walled city of Shanghai.The Bund is the start point of Shanghai concession as well as Shanghai’s development as a modern city.
The Bund stretches one mile along the bank of the Huangpu River.It begins at Yan’an Road in the south and ends at Waibaidu Bridge in the north，which crosses Suzhou Creek.To the east of theroad is the Huangpu River，and the Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone is right across the river.To the west of this stretch of the road stand 52 buildings of various Western classical and modern styles，whichare the main feature of the Bund，and they are named as the exotic building clusters in the Band of Shanghai.
After Shanghai becamenuo a commercial port in 1846，many foreign banks，trading companies，councils and newspaper offices gathered here with grand commercial buildings rising out of the ground insuccession.It used to be the western powers’political，financial，commercial and cultrual center in Shanghai.Since the late 20th century，a lot of foreign banks and Chinese banks were founded in the Bund，making here the financial street of Shanghai.The Bund has 52 buildings of various architectural styles，generally Eclecticism，but with some buildings displaying predominantly Romanesque Revival，Gothic Revival，Renaissance Revival，Baroque Revival，Neo-Classical or Beaux-Arts styles and a number in Art Deco style from No.1 to No.33 of East Zhong Shan Road.Many of the buildings are banks.The others are commercial buildings，national organizations，restaurants，clubs，shops，etc.Most of the architectures were first constructed before 1930s and have had no big change.
People have made the best use of the finearchitecture The Bund is the tourist attraction which forms a pretty picture of the Shanghai City，and has become the centre of international finance as well，gaining the name of“Oriental Wall Street”.
After the large-scale makeover project from 1992 to 1993，the Bund of over a hundred years’history put on a new look，and is rated as the most favorite scenic spot in Shanghai.Seeing the Bund in daylight is one thing.But seeing the Bund at night is great when all of the buildings are floodlit.
