The Bund, Shanghai

The Bund was once part of the foreign concession area (eg. British Concession, French Concession etc), and was out-of-bounds to locals. During the Qing Dynasty, the allied troops of eight countries attacked China, and the Chinese government eventually signed treaties to allow the foreigners to take over the concession areas, as well as handed over control of Hong Kong and Macau (to the British and Portugese respectively).

The Bund is Shanghai's financial hub, also known as the "Wall Street of the Far East". The buildings in this area are distinctly more "Western" in architectural styles, as they are mostly from the Concession era.

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The Huangpu River is a 97 km long river in China flowing through Shanghai. It is an average of 400 meters wide and 9 meters deep. Shanghai gets most of its drinking water from Huangpu, which thus plays an important part for the metropolis. It divides the city into two regions: Pudong (east) and Puxi (west). The Bund in Shanghai is located along the river.
We had a nice look of the river from the Bund. Plenty of ships plying this route. Probably the most visited and photograph river of Shanghai. And also the busiest.

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We visited The Bund two times in our trip to Shanghai. It was the first place I visited in Shanghai accompanied by my cousin who lives there. The view of the Pudong Area was obstructed due to the bad weather. It was raining that day. My mom slipped on the wet ground. Luckily she was ok.
We were able to fully enjoy the views the second time we went there. We had a great time clicking our cameras and were able to take plenty of shots. We were able to take pictures of the Pudong New Area across the Bund. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower and Jinmao Building across is very visible from here. Shipping vessels can be seen plying along Huang Pu River. The old French Buildings around the area provides a sharp constrast with the modern structures. This place is huge & requires long walk along the promenade. I wished though that we were able to see this place during nighttime. I'm sure it's quite nice here at night with the lights on the skycrapers.

Make sure to stop by and see this area in Shanghai as it is very scenic. All types of ships from tankers to older military ships and even advertising vessels sail along in front of an amazing backdrop of architecture that maks up the Bund. The area is overly bustling with Chinese tourists running about trying to get good pics, so it can be a little chaotic at times. Just take a moment and stroll along the walkway and maybe even stop at one of the little restaurants for a bite to eat.

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Took the biggest boat available for this activity. It cost RM70 per person. This boat offer 5 deck all together. Had to pay another RM60 per person to seat next to the railing on the top deck. This to ensure total access to view the night scenery of Shanghai without having to push around with other crowd. By paying the extra RM60, you are also being served with 2 soft drinks and 3 packets of nuts. A traditional live band also playing endless classic chinese tune all along the cruise.

Another activitiy not to be missed in Shanghai. Great view of Shanghai at night. The syncronization of lightings amazed all of my group members, even others.

One thing that really caught our eyes is that Malaysia Airline also participate in promoting Malaysia by placing a billboard along the river.

A MUST DO activity in Shanghai.

The 'Bund' is a mile long piece of waterfront in Shaghai. It has long history of being the commercial centre of the city in the days when foreign companies and their employees made Shanghai a byword for frivolity, hedonism and depravity !

These days the building have a much more 'staid' feel to them. The fifty odd important ones now come with some kind of preservation order on them.

It is still a great place to go for a stroll, taking in the sights on the Shanghai side, and looking over the buzy working river to Pudong as well. Despite it's unfortunate name Pudong is the gleaming 'New York' style sky-scraper area of the city that seems to expanding upwards at a terrifying rate.

What can I say? The Bund is 1,5 km's long "boulevard" next to the Huangpu-river. Those who are interested in architecture will find this place interesting as the buildings represent different architectural styles: Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Renaissance and Chinese-Western combined.

Even if not interested in architecture it is a tremendous place to spend a hour or a day and to enjoy sunshine and looking people passing by.

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The Sightseeing Tunnel is a very convenient but also very strange way to go from the Bund beneath the Huangpu River to Pudong. The tunnel starts on the Bund just across the Peace Hotel. It is about 650 m long.

In small electric waggons passengers drive through the tunnel. There are many lights, laser lights and electrical music. It reminded me of a ride on through a ghost train on a fun fair. A very strange experience!