Old and New Sights of Shanghai

As Expats living in Asia, our family was able to spend the New Year holidayin Shanghai with a couple of our friends. We were able to spend about four days in the city and one of these we spent exploring around the Bund. There is not actually too much to do on the Bund but it is filled with history.

If you have seen the movie Empire of the Sun, then you have seen the Bund. The beginning of the movie was shot on location here and once you have visited the Bund, you will realize what a massive undertaking that must have been. The movie, being the first major Hollywood production shot in China since the Revolution in 1949, obtained permission to completely block off the road. As you can see from the picture above, Zhongshan Dong Lu (a.k.a. The Bund) is an eight-lane street that carries heavy traffic during rush hour. However, in China, where massive undertakings take place everyday, this was taken all in stride.

The Bund, located on the west bank of the Huangpu River in the Pu Xi district of Shanghai, was the financial center of the city during the early part of the 20th century as well as a busy working harbor. Today you find a line of old European style buildings along the side of the road, most of which are either banks or different national consulates. It is a great place to take a picture as you can still see and feel the essence of what Shanghai was like back in the 1920's and 30's, before it was swept clean of all foreigners by the Japanese. One building that is definitely worth checking out from the inside is the Peace Hotel. This was the place to be seen during pre-war Shanghai and is still a place that caters to the rich. It was a little too pricey for us to stay there (okay, it was way too pricey) but you can always go in and take a walk around the place. You will find that it is still decorated much like it was in the old days.