Buildings of the Bund

Sassoon House (now Peace Hotel) and Bank of China buildings							The building with the pyramidal roof was formerly known as Sassoon House. The fourth to seventh floors of this 77 metre high building were originally occupied by the Cathay Hotel. Constructed between 1926 and 1929, it was a steel frame structure and a height of 77 metres. Sassoon House was renamed the Peace Hotel in 1956 and is now the north wing of that hotel with the building - the former Palace Hotel on the opposite side of Nanjing Road being the south wing. "According to some sources it was in this hotel that Noel Coward wrote his classic play - Private Lives" The building immediately to the right of Sassoon House is the Bank of China building. Built in 1937, it was designed by Palmer and Turner - the same architects who designed Sassoon House. The 17 storey building has a reinforced concrete frame structure and is built to embody a Chinese style.
Originally the site was occupied by the German Club, built in 1907. After the first world war this building was transferred to China as war reparations. It was used as the original Bank of China before the current building replaced it.
The building with the two vertical columns was built as the Yokohama Specie Bank and now houses the Shanghai Textile Holding Corporation. "The architecture of the building combines neo-classical and Japanese styles. It has an exquisite facade treatment and splendid interior design." (Gao Da). Like both buildings to its south the Yokohama Specie Bank was designed by the firm of Palmer and Turner but this time to suit a Japanese rather than European client. It has a reinforced concrete structure with an exterior wall of granite.			Yokohama Specie Bank (now Shanghai Textile Holding Corporation) and Yangtze Insurance buildings
Shanghai Customs House			The Customs House was built between 1925 and 1927, replacing a smaller Customs House which stood on the same site. The clock in the tower was the largest in Asia when it was built, its face measuring 5.4 metres in diameter with a 3.17 long minute hand. The building has remained true to the purpose for which it was built as it houses the Shanghai Customs department.
The building in the centre of this picture originally housed the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. It was built between 1921 and 1923 and has a steel frame with a neo-classical style. Reflecting the seasonal variations common to Shanghai, the building was the first in Shanghai to have both heating and cooling systems. After liberation in 1949 the building became the home of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government until 1995.			Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (now Shanghai Municipal People's Government) building
Mural outside the Bund Museum							The mural in this picture depicts typical Communist party themes with soldiers from the People's Liberation Army walking together with the proletariat and helping women and children. The mural extends around the steps leading down to the pictorial museum of Shanghai which, as I mentioned above, is well worth a visit. You'll find the museum and mural at the northern end of the Bund just before the Garden (or Outer Free Ferry) Bridge.