The Bund is River Bank, Wai Tan, called by locals. At the west side of Huang Pu river, it is Zhong Shan Dong Yi Road (the 1st east Zhong Shan Boulevard), one of the heavy traffic lines. It reaches Su Zhou creek to the north, stretches as long as 1.5 km.
It’s not just the river bank. People see the Bund as the building collection or sightseeing landmark, it is one of the reasons Shanghai is known for its rich collections of art deco architecture. The buildings with the styles range from renaissance, gothic or baroque have been there since the beginning of the 20th century, housed numerous headquarters, banks, clubs, especially at one point when Shanghai was determined to be the financial centre of the East.
It’s always exciting to go to the Bund when I was little. It was like seeing something splendid or old glamour. This sense of excitement still exists, now it has gone through several stages of major re-structuring. Just off Waibaidu Bridge, a statue of the first mayor in Shanghai (post 1949) stands. The road is more organised, the buildings are more commercially orientated. There are restaurants, bars, boutiques in the old buildings. A plaza on the riverbank, where people go for dancing, tai chi, it’s a fabulous meeting point.
Apart from visiting the old buildings, the Bund has more to offer, such as river cruise in the night, where you get on the boat here, the night view on the Bund is indeed awesome (our image here just catchesthe glimpse of it); or, enjoying the view from the Bund to the east side Pu Dong, it is hard to imagine the view was less interesting a couple of decades ago, look at it now, the view across the river is the epitome of modern and future.