The Bund Panorama I

The building in the middle was built by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in 1923:

Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank built this building in 1923 to replace their previous home on the Bund. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank or HSBC was founded in 1865. Their first office was on Nanjing Road, but they moved to the Bund in 1873. The building is symmetrical with classic ionic pillars and a central 7 story domed section on the five story building. Two wings extend back toward another building, which was built as part of the complex. The courtyard in the center gives light to the interior rooms. It is one of the best Palmer and Turner buildings and reflected the commitment of the bank to a developing China. The two lions at the entrance were even named for the bank managers of the Hong Kong and Shanghai branches: Stephen and Stitt. They were designed by W. W. Wagstaff and poured by Zhou Yinxing.
The bank continued to finance trade during the 20's and 30's but also finance many public and private industrial and infrastructure projects. In 1941, the Japanese occupied Hong Kong and Shanghai and many of the personnel were made prisoners of war. Following the war, the bank began working to rebuild Hong Kong and China. Following the civil war in China, the bank concentrated its efforts on financing Hong Kong and the larger Asian region. In 1949, the building became the Shanghai headquarters of the Chinese Communist Party and between 1955 and 1995 it housed the offices of the Shanghai Government. Today it is the home of the Pudong Development Bank. It is also the home of the Norwegian and Spanish Consulates. Replicas of the two lions were cast and returned to their guard ! posts ne ar the doors in 1997. The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank built a new tower in the Pudong district. It is 46 floors and 203.4 meters tall.

The red building to its left is the China Merchant Steemship Company building:

The three story red brick or granite building was built for an English business in 1901. The second and third floors have windows that are recessed from the front of building by the balcony structure. Inside the building there was a winding staircase with fine flower carvings on the parapet. For most of its life, it was occupied by the China Merchants Steamship Company. After 1949, the harbor master was stationed here. Recently, the British Counsel had offices here, but they have moved. A Taiwanese fashion designer has a boutique here and several businesses concerned with shipping have offices.

To its left is another bank:

The building was built in 1907 and bought later by the Commercial Bank of China. When they outgrew it, it was acquired by the Bangkok Bank. The Bangkok Bank was founded in Thailand in 1944 after the Japanese occupied Thailand and closed all of the foreign banks. In the 1950's, it began expanding to support the increasing Thai trade and opened branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and elsewhere. The building is four stories in the Romanesque and classical styles. The architect used the suggestion of towers at the north and south sides to give the building more stature and strength. Suitably, the Royal Thai Consulate General now occupies the third floor and they have a nice picture of the building on their web site.

All quotes from Marilyn Shea.

This panorama was stitched from 7 photographs with PTGUI Pro and touched up in Aperture.

Original size: 10499 2951 (31.0 MP; 32 MB).

Location: The Bund (Waitan, ), Shanghai (), Peoples Republic of China (Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo, )

Majestic China ...