The Bund in Shanghai
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The Bund, the Heart of Many Sea Stories in the 1930's
Shanghai just completed its hosting of the World 2010 Expo. With this well attended event, over 70 million visitors, and a post-win euphoria in place, we thought we'd head towards that direction and have a peek. So, with a 3 day holiday, off we went with one primary objective: to revisit "The Bund", the heart of so many great sea stories from the 1930's and the memory of a fairly shameful colonial past .
We had some smaller goals too. One of these is to get a feeling directly of the confidence, energy and assertiveness of average Chinese folks including the masses of farmers that came in government supported tours to see this amazing city.
Looks like we're not the only ones with strong interest in The Bund. This latest announcement comes from Indigo Hotel. Following the example of traders in the past, it is building its flagship property in Asia Pacific right at The Bund, beside the Fairmont's Peace Hotel. For those who enjoy the luxury of a well designed hotel, Indigo is there to serve you.
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What a renovation
Being in The Bund
Experience the Colonial Past
See what Shanghai has done to The Bund
The Bund is Making a come Back
One of the old colonial buildings in The Bund
The Bund: The Former Shanghai International Settlement
Won as a Concession in the Opium War

The Bund, from the Hindi word for a band is indeed a crescent or band of European buildings hugging the Huang Pu, centred on the former Shanghai International Settlement. Originally just a British affair, won as a concession in the Opium Wars after 1842, the French and the Americans soon sniffed a profit and followed closely with their settlements, carved to the north and south of the British. Other powers leapt in too, like sharks on a crippled whale, helping to bury China in opium but also making Shanghai a very popular trading port by the second half of the 18th century and a financial hub for East Asia.
In spite of this strong foreign settlement, Shanghai always remained nominally in the hands of the Chinese unlike Hong Kong and Weiheiwei which were sovereign British territories until its return to China.
Interested in knowing about The Bund?
Or Shanghai?
Shanghai has been in the news when it hosted the 2010 World Expo. There are few bookstores there and most of the newspapers and magazines are mostly Chinese translations so it is quite hard to get info. Prepare for your trip by researching the net and bring along a guidebook.
The Renovation of The Bund in Shanghai
A Celebration of the Past

As for the Bund, the renovations to this relic of the era of Conrad and Kipling and the great Tai Pans of the 19th century has turned what must have been a scungy nightmare of a waterfront into a celebration of a past. That history might embarrass a few now, but at the time, Shanghai was the talk of the world up through the 1930's as the international standard in sin, sex, drugs and gang warfare.
The new waterfront was reopened in March 2010 and it is a triumph of how a city can reach not only out to its history, but rediscover a waterfront that was virtually lost for any useful purpose and somewhat of a sewer by any standard.
Novels you can read on Shanghai
Interesting read on The Bund
The Heritage Buildings in The Bund in Shanghai
Banks and Trading Houses

From this history, the Bund in Shanghai has a wealth of western architecture heritage buildings that once housed banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Japan. There was the Shanghai Club, a newspaper and the Masonic Lodge and the usual Pony Club to keep the Sahibs busy.
Watch videos on The Bund in Shanghai
Transport yourself back to history
The Bund in Transition
Shrugged off the horrors of its past

With the Japanese invasion in the late 1930s, and then the victory of the Communists over the nationalist Government in 1949, the Bund was cleared of its colonial figures and the hotels, financial and trading houses which dotted the Huangpu River were converted into other uses or just left to rot. It was also cleared of elements like the Green Gang that had given it the reputation as one of the world's most evil cities dominated by drugs, crime and gang rule.
For your trip to Shanghai
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The Bund in Shanghai
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The Bund, A Place to Be
Stunning Promenade

With the opening of the People's Republic of China to the world (thank you Mr. Nixon) the Bund was gradually returned to house financial institutions, hotels, high end trading houses and centers of trade. A revitalization program started with a stunning promenade designed by Architect Snoeren.
In the immediate past, ramping up to Expo, a major reconfiguration of the traffic flow and the addition of marginal lawns carefully maintained everyday, made the Bund a place to be. In fact, when you walk through the promenade at night, you will find wedding photo-ops all over the place, bus tours from the boonies and thousands of the happiest people I've seen in a long time.
Shanghai's Bund and Beyond
An Interesting Read
Shanghai's Bund and Beyond: British Banks, Banknote Issuance, and Monetary Policy in China, 1842-1937 (Yale Series in Economic and Financial History)
Amazon Price: $37.00 (as of 02/22/2012)![]()
If you want to focus on The Bund and its history, then this book is helpful.
Read these lenses before you travel
Travel tips you might find useful
The HuangPu River Cruise
The Evening Cruise

With a spanking new ferry and tourist boat terminal, the Huang Pu now has more tourist boats than the Zambezi has hippos, and at night, the tourist cruisers outdo each other in a massive light display that establishes whole new definitions of tacky! The mix of colours makes an Indian bazaar look solemn and just when you think it can't fall further, sparklers and flashes and racing twinky lights give a new, more extreme standard for Las Vegas. When 4 or 5 of these monsters get nose to tail, it's best not to have had dinner! It was a spectacle enjoyed by us from our hotel window with a soothing glass of wine.
For your trip the The Bund
You need a very good camera
Stunning Architecture Across the River
Imperial cuisine

What a contrast with the beautifully lighted heritage buildings in the Bund and the soaring and often stunning architecture across the river. There was nowhere to hide on those evenings other than the depths of a magnificent restaurant having a taste of the Imperial cuisine cooked and then served to a standard that would make Michelin blanche! Once in a while, one has to leave one's comfort and sample the delights of royalty and hide from those wretched boats.
What other people say of The Bund in Shanghai
Let's read what bloggers say
- Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality and Suning Real Estate Announce Shanghai Bund Project
- The hotel will be located on a prime site owned by Suning on the Shanghai Bund and will be managed by Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality Limited, MGM Resort's joint venture with Diaoyutai State Guest House, which focuses on the development and management of ...
- Shanghai adapts to sinking land
- Shanghai has long suffered from sinking ground. Worst-hit is the Bund - an old city center and home to the city's signature skyline. It's sunken up to three meters since the early 1990s. Fang Zheng, vice chief engineer of Shanghai Institute for ...
- China trip a cultural opportunity for business, community members
- ... will include Tian An Men Square, Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall and Mings Tomb in Beijing; Guoqing Temple Tiantai Mountain and the Shiliang waterfall in Tiantai; and the Yu Garden, the Bund and the Pudong economic development zone in Shanghai.
- Critical Stock Alerts: MGM Resorts International, Kraft Foods, Threshold ...
- Through the agreement, the Suning Bellagio Shanghai Bund hotel will be constructed and it is scheduled to be completed in 2015. MGM Resorts International fell US$0.47 to US$14.19 in the last trading session. MGM Resorts International had a trade volume ...
The Bund in Shanghai
Welcome Back

Welcome back, the Bund. Your dubious history has been somewhat scrubbed but if you squint carefully, you might just see a gang of thieves "shanghai-ing" a collapsed sailor or a great winged four master slipping into a wharf with the smell of the sea and tar and dappled cargoes. It is a fabulous center piece to what once again is among the world's great cities, Shanghai.
More gadgets for your trip to The Bund
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News on The Bund in Shanghai
Guess what's on
- Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality and Suning Real Estate Announce Shanghai Bund Project
- The hotel will be located on a prime site owned by Suning on the Shanghai Bund and will be managed by Diaoyutai MGM Hospitality Limited, MGM Resort's joint venture with Diaoyutai State Guest House, which focuses on the development and management of ...
- Shanghai adapts to sinking land
- Shanghai has long suffered from sinking ground. Worst-hit is the Bund - an old city center and home to the city's signature skyline. It's sunken up to three meters since the early 1990s. Fang Zheng, vice chief engineer of Shanghai Institute for ...
- China trip a cultural opportunity for business, community members
- ... will include Tian An Men Square, Temple of Heaven, the Great Wall and Mings Tomb in Beijing; Guoqing Temple Tiantai Mountain and the Shiliang waterfall in Tiantai; and the Yu Garden, the Bund and the Pudong economic development zone in Shanghai.
- Critical Stock Alerts: MGM Resorts International, Kraft Foods, Threshold ...
- Through the agreement, the Suning Bellagio Shanghai Bund hotel will be constructed and it is scheduled to be completed in 2015. MGM Resorts International fell US$0.47 to US$14.19 in the last trading session. MGM Resorts International had a trade volume ...
For avid travellers or those taking a trip to Shanghai
These links are all excellent tips on travel
- How To Restore Your Well Being after a Long Flight
- Wouldn't it be great to teleport, to do a Captain Kirk and just arrive where you want to be? Well, not yet, and the Dream Liner giving you more fresh air and a quieter ride is still a year or so off. And, even more, the discomfort doesn't end upon arrival. Jet lag can whack you out for days...
- How To Choose Luggage
- The self-destroying suitcase! The handle-less handbag!!! The splintered hardshell! The 20-Kilo-when-empty mega-case! The one-trip-wonder!!! You probably have luggage experiences that range from funny to frustrating and you undoubtedly have bags that don't make sense anymore in the new travel environ
- How To Improve the Chance of Your Luggage Arriving with You
- So much luggage is almost identical. Standing anxiously near the luggage conveyor, you have to fight for position to get your own bag first. You may have had the experience of picking up luggage after a long flight only to find out once you reach your hotel room, you can't open it. It sure looked li
- How To Choose Travel Clothing | How To Do Things
- Have you ever been on trips where you lug your mass of baggage only to find yourself stuck with bad choices as the events of each day unfold? Then you see your friend's single suitcase and she seems to be so well put together each day. Well, here are a few tips:
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Bargains on Shanghai
What do you know of Shanghai?
Do share or just leave your comments
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TheLifestyleChanger
Feb 11, 2012 @ 5:58 am | delete
- One of the most spectacular views in Asia!
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TheLifestyleChanger
Feb 11, 2012 @ 5:58 am | delete
- One of the most spectacular views in Asia!
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Ladymermaid
Dec 16, 2011 @ 7:11 pm | delete
- It seems that my travels are done largely through the Squidoo articles which I visit. Shanghai looks absolutely beautiful. Seasons blessings to you.
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Susan_Moss_Art
Mar 4, 2011 @ 12:00 am | delete
- Great lens on Shanghai, I have been there many times. Last time in October 2010, but my first time was over 30 years ago. Soon I will be doing a comparison lens using some of my old photos.
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wilhb81 Dec 2, 2010 @ 9:43 pm | delete
- I've been to Shanghai for the visiting the Expo 2010 three months ago... I must say that the life rating in Shanghai is skyrocketing, especially in the past few years. However, I can't deny that Shanghai is one of the cities in Asia that has the most beautiful night view :)
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