The Bund is located to the east part of Shanghai on the bank of Pujiang River in Pudong District. It is regarded as the symbol of Shanghai with its magnificent landmarks. It is actually a waterfront area of Pu Xi District that faces the newer part of Shanghai – Pu Dong District, with the Huangpu River as division line. Here in the Bund, you can see the essence of Shanghai, the prosperous, historical and elegant Shanghai. So, every tourist of Shanghai city package tours will pay a visit to the Bund to feel the old and the new Shanghai.
But before been opened as a port, Shanghai used to be pieces of barren sand shallows. Along the sand shallows are the narrow roads for boat trackers. To the east side of the shallows were farmer lands where several huts dotted here and there. In the year 1843, the UK circled a piece of shallow as its docking area. From that time on, the bound was gradually occupied and explored by foreign countries. The companies, banks, and factories were established one after one and the multi-floor buildings were also built yearly. Because many western countries have their investments in the bound, the buildings by those countries are also in different styles. Even today, visitors can still feel the prosperity of the old Shanghai, when looking at those old buildings in the bund. That’s why the bound is called the expo of the world’s architectures. To the west of the Bund, there are group of magnificent buildings standing in various styles, Gothic, Baroque, Rome, Renaissance, Classic and the combination of Eastern and Western style. Although these buildings were completed at different time and are in different styles, the main elements of these buildings are fairly unified and the overall outline is well coordinated.
Highlights in the Bund
Huangpu Park
The first European styled park Huangpu Park was built in the year 1886, which has witnessed the over 100 years history of the city. In the park stands the memorial tower for national heroes of China. And at the foot of the tower there is a memorial hall of Shanghai history where visitors will learn about the fighting history of Chinese people in the last century..
Granitic Relief sculpture range
The sculpture range locates on a tiny island in the Huangpu Park. The sculpture range presents several historical events from 1840 to 1949 that influenced the developing direction of Shanghai. The two flanks of the sculpture range is carved with decorating patterns which stand for people’s worship to the national heroes.
Garden Bridge of Shanghai
Garden Bridge of Shanghai used to be one of the symbol buildings of old Shanghai. This steel-structure bridge is 52.16 meters long and 18.3 meters wide. It is nothing compared with these nowadays large bridges, but it is really a great work in its time. And till today, this bridge services as an important link of northern Shanghai and Southern Shanghai.
Group of Statues
The beauty of a city falls into three parts, namely the architectures, greens and the statues. And the statues are called the eyes of a city, which plays a big role in beautifying a city. The group of statues of the Bund consists of three sets of stainless steel statues: the light of Pujiang River, the sail and the wind. The statues locate in the green corridors on the east Jinling Road, looking sparking in the sunshine.
Chen Yi Square
The square is named so because there is a statue of Mr. Chen Yi, one of the founding fathers of PRC and also the first mayor of Shanghai City. Every weekend the regular square music fair is held in front of the statue.
Waterfall Watch
The water fall watch is also known as the pace of time, which was created opposite to the Customs House. It inlays in the green gallery with a height of 3.5 meters and a width of 2.7 meters. The whole waterfall falls into eleven stairs. On each stair spraying pipes are installed. With the control of computer system, water sprayed from over 1000 water pipes could form a water screen. When the water falls down to the stairs, it flows down to the lower stairs, creating a waterfall. The lights in different colors project onto the waterfall and showing the time of some major cities in the world in Arabic Numbers. This waterfall watch was created to reminder people value their time.
Valentines’ Wall
Valentines’ Wall is built on the bank of Pujiang River with a length of about 1700 meters. Sightseeing platform of the wall is built on the top of flood control wall and the floor of the platform is paved with 140 thousand color floor tiles and granites. There are flowerbeds, pavilions and many marble chairs for people to relax and rest.
Tourist tunnel
The tourist tunnel links the bund of Puxi area and the Lujiazui Area of Pudong area. By taking an enclosed sightseeing carriage, and with the help of high-tech, tourists could experience the travel through the whole earth within five minutes. Tourist will witness the stared heavens and the vast ocean, and will see what the boiled lava, the earth mantle and central sphere of the earth looks like.
Strolling on the Bund at night is an amazing experience, as the skyline on both sides of Huangpu River is illuminated, including the grand buildings at the Bund and the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and the skyscrapers across the river.
