The Bund: Shanghai's Historic Waterfront

The Bund (Waitan) is the mile-long waterfront promenade along the western bank of the Huangpu River, lined with over 50 early-20th-century buildings — neoclassical banks, trading houses and hotels built when Shanghai was a treaty port carved into foreign concessions. Walk it in one direction and you're looking at this colonial-era skyline; turn around and the Huangpu splits you off from Pudong's cluster of ultramodern towers, including the Oriental Pearl Tower, Jin Mao Tower, Shanghai World Financial Center and Shanghai Tower.

It's this contrast — a century of architecture facing itself across the water — that makes the Bund Shanghai's single most photographed spot, and the natural starting point for a first visit to the city.

The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel runs under the river to Pudong for visitors who'd rather not walk across, though the bridges and ferries nearby are just as scenic and considerably cheaper. Rooftop bars along the Bund's southern stretch, many inside the old bank buildings, charge a premium for the same skyline view you get for free at street level — worth it once for the novelty, not essential otherwise. Nanjing Road, China's busiest shopping street, runs directly inland from the Bund's midpoint.