The Bund
Colonial riverfront facing Pudong's sci-fi skyline; walk it at dusk both ways.
Visitor info
- Opening hours
- 24/7, best 18:00-21:00
- Ticket
- free
- Suggested visit
- 1-2 hours
Price is indicative — final quote on inquiry.
Why it's worth it
One and a half kilometres of colonial-era banks and trading houses — 52 buildings in a dozen architectural styles, nicknamed 'the museum of world architecture' — facing the neon towers of Lujiazui across the Huangpu. Shanghai's whole compressed century of history stands on this embankment.
Don't miss
- The night view after 19:00 when both banks light up — cross to the Lujiang side or take a river cruise for the reverse angle
- The 1927 HSBC building's dome and the Custom House clock tower ('Big Ching')
- A walk up Nanjing Road from the Peace Hotel towards People's Square to feel the old city grid
Getting there
Metro Line 2 or 10 to East Nanjing Road, then walk east to the river; or Line 10/14 to Yuyuan Garden and walk north.
Tips
- Best light: blue hour just after sunset, when the sky glows behind the skyline
- Watch for tea-house scams: friendly strangers inviting you to 'practice English' over tea end in astronomical bills
- The sightseeing tunnel under the river is kitschy; the ferry two piers south is 2 CNY and better
Photos
More in Shanghai
- Yu Garden
Ming dynasty rockeries, pavilions and the zigzag bridge of City God Temple area.
- Shanghai Tower
China's tallest building; observation deck on the 118th floor.
- Zhujiajiao Water Town
17-bridge canal town 45 km from downtown; gondolas under Ming bridges.
- The Bund
Shanghai's calling card and a microcosm of its modern history: a 1.5 km riverside stretch on the west bank of the Huangpu River, running north from Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge) to Yan'an East Road, is lined with 52 historic buildings in Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco and other styles, collectively known as the "World Architecture Exhibition"
- Lujiazui 'Big Three' Viewing
The heart of Pudong's financial-district skyline: Shanghai Tower, at 632 m China's tallest building, rises in a twisting spiral form that reduces wind load; its 546 m "Top of Shanghai" observatory ranks among the world's highest, and on floor 125 you can see the thousand-ton damper nicknamed the "magic needle that steadies the building"
- Oriental Pearl Tower
A 468 m TV tower completed in 1994, once the tallest tower in Asia: three 9 m-diameter slanted columns support 11 spheres of varying sizes, inspired by the verse "pearls large and small falling onto a plate of jade"