The Bund, also called the Zhongshan Road, is a famous waterfront and regarded as the symbol of Shanghai for hundreds of years. It starts from the Baidu Bridge, which is at the connecting point of the Huangpu River and the Suzhou Creek, to the East Jinling Road and winds a 1500 meters (less than one mile) length. Walking along the Bund, which is at the west shore of the Huangpu River, the Oriental Pearl TV Tower can be seen on the opposite side and also the Jin Mao Tower.Being one of the Top Ten Shanghai Attractions, the Bund is a really beautiful and special place which is worth visiting. The newly-built Flood Control Bank takes the function of preventing the oversize flood; the square with the statue of Marshal Chen Yi is an open air podium which gives new views of the Shanghai Plaza Culture; the Cenotaph which stands on the man-made island is a monument of people's heroes; the riverside greenbelt, the Electronic Waterfall Bell, and the Great Mural Carving are all representatives of the Bund.
The most famous and attractive sight which is at the west side of the Bund are the 52 various buildings of different architectural styles including Gothic, Baroque, Romanesque, Classicism and the Renaissance. The Bund was the centre of Shanghai's politics, economy and culture hundreds of years ago, consulates of most countries and many banks, businesses and newspaper offices were settled there, and that's why we have these art-like buildings. Although they were not designed by the same person or built in the same period, the architectural pattern is similar.
- The Asia Building - built in 1916 (No. 1, The Bund),originally the McBain Building, housed the Shanghai offices of Royal Dutch Shell and Asiatic Petroleum Company.
- The Shanghai Club Building - built in 1910 (No. 2, The Bund),which was the principal social club for British nationals in Shanghai.
- The Union Building - built in 1916 (No. 3, The Bund),housed a number of insurance companies.
- The Nishin Navigation Building - built in 1925 (No. 5, The Bund), housed a Japanese shipping company before 1949.
- The Imperial Bank of China Building - built in 1897 (No. 6, The Bund), is acknowledged as one of the oldest buildings on the Bund.
- The Great Northern Telegraph Company Building - built in 1907 (No. 7, The Bund), now houses the Bangkok Bank.
- The China Merchants Steam Navigation Company Building - built in 1901 (No. 9, The Bund),is the Bund's unique remaining example of neo-Classical external-corridor architecture of late Victorian era.
- The HSBC Building - built in 1923 (No. 12, The Bund),has been called "the most luxurious building from the Suez Canal to the Bering Strait.
- The Customs House - built in 1927 (No. 13, The Bund),is topped by a clock tower, which is eleven storeys or 90 metres tall.
- The Bank of Communications Building - built in 1948, (No. 14, The Bund), was the last building to be built on the Bund. It now houses Shanghai Council of Trade Unions and Bank of Shanghai Shang Gong Branch.
- The Russo-Chinese Bank Building - built in 1901, (No. 15, The Bund),is now Shanghai Foreign Exchange Trade Centre.
- The Bank of Taiwan Building - built in 1924, (No. 16, The Bund), is now the China Merchants Bank.
- The North China Daily News Building - built in 1921, (No. 17, The Bund), housed the most influential English-language newspaper in Shanghai at the time. Today it houses AIA Company and Zheng Xin Bank.
- The Chartered Bank Building - built in 1923, (No. 18, The Bund),housed the Shanghai headquarters of the Standard Chartered Bank.
- The Peace Hotel (Peace Hotel and Sassoon House) - built in 1906 and 1929, (No. 19-20, The Bund), the South Building now is the Swatch Art Peace Hotel and the Sassoon House (the North Building) houses the Peace Hotel, Citi Bank (No 19,the Bund) and United Overseas Bank (No 20, the Bund).
- The Bank of China Building - built in 1937, (No. 23, The Bund), houses the Bank of China.
- The Yokohama Specie Bank Building - built in 1924 (No. 24, The Bund), is now the Industry and Commerce Bank of China building.
- The Yangtsze Insurance Association Building - built in 1916 (No. 26, The Bund), is now the Agricultural Bank of China.
- Jardine Matheson Building - built in 1920 (No. 27, The Bund), now is the House of Roosevelt.
- The Glen Line Building - built in 1922 (No. 28, The Bund), today houses the Shanghai Clearing House.
- The Banque de l'Indochine Building- built in 1914 (No. 29, The Bund), is now China Everbright Bank, Shanghai Waitan Subbranch.