Oriental Wall Street -The Bund

The Bund is regarded as the symbol of Shanghai with its magnificent landmarks. It is actually a waterfront area of Pu Xi (West City/Shanghai Old Town) that faces the newer part of Shanghai - Pu Dong (East City/Shanghai New Town), with the renowned Huangpu River flowing in between. Here in the bund, you can see the essence of Shanghai, the prosperous, historical and elegant Shanghai. So, it is not exaggerating to say, if you have never been to the Bund, then you have never been to Shanghai.

The Bund is also an epitome of Shanghai's history. Dating back to the time from the 1840's to the 1930's, many foreign businesses snatched the Bund to establish concessions, banks, headquarters, and consulates and so on. Hence, Shanghai, a small seaside town one hundred years ago, rose to be the largest city in China. It also earned the reputation of 'The Oriental Wall Street'. Even today, visitors can still feel the prosperity of the old Shanghai, when looking at those old buildings at the bund.

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.

白渡桥至金陵东路的一段黄浦滩，因位于上海县城厢之外的浦滩，被习称为'外滩'。它是上海都市的最初轮廓线，曾被称作黄浦路、扬子路、黄浦滩路，1945年改名为中山东一路。　　这里原是一片荒芜的浅滩，沿滩有一条狭窄的泥路，供船夫拉纤时行走。滩的西边为农田，阡陌沟渠之间散。是由哥特式、罗马式、巴洛克式、中西合壁式等52幢风格迥异的古典复兴大楼所组成的旧上海时期的金融中心、外贸机构的集中带。南外滩的风华绝代、北外滩的后起之秀、东外滩的处女地开发与外滩源将逐渐融为一体，彰显'浦江第一湾'的磅礴气势，承载小上海浦西滨江复兴的伟大历史使命。1992年中国改革开放后上海外滩重新进入开发阶段，形成今天的外滩规模。