Like a smaller, more condensed version of the Bund, the pedestrianised, cobblestone Yuanmingyuan Rd is lined with a mishmash of colonial architecture. Running parallel with the Bund, just one block back, the road features some fine examples of renovated red-brick and stone buildings dating from the 1900s. Look for the art deco YWCA building (No 133) and Chinese Baptist Publication building (No 209), the ornate 1907 red-brick Panama Legation building (No 97) and the 1927 neoclassical Lyceum building.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
1.03 MILES
With its shaded alcoves, glittering pools churning with fish, plus pavilions, pines sprouting wistfully from rockeries, and roving packs of Japanese…
0.28 MILES
Symbolic of concession-era Shanghai, the Bund was the city’s Wall Street, a place of feverish trading and fortunes made and lost. Originally a towpath for…
2.54 MILES
One of Shanghai’s few active Buddhist monasteries, this temple was built between 1918 and 1928. The highlight is a transcendent Buddha crafted from pure…
1.16 MILES
China’s tallest building dramatically twists skywards from its footing in Lujiazui. The 121-storey, 632m-tall, Gensler-designed Shanghai Tower topped out…
2.51 MILES
Tianzifang and Xintiandi are based on a similar idea – an entertainment complex housed within a warren of lòngtáng (弄堂, alleyways). Unlike Xintiandi,…
1.62 MILES
With its own namesake metro station, Xintiandi has been a Shanghai icon for over a decade. An upmarket entertainment and shopping complex modelled on…
1.18 MILES
This must-see museum escorts you through the craft of millennia and the pages of Chinese history. It's home to one of the most impressive collections in…
2.4 MILES
Shanghai may be known for its glitz and glamour, but it's got an edgy subculture too. The industrial M50 art complex is one prime example, where galleries…
Nearby attractions
0.04 MILES
Housed in the magnificent former Royal Asiatic Society building (1932) – once Shanghai's first museum – this world-class gallery behind the Bund focuses…
0.07 MILES
The original British Consulate was one of the first foreign buildings to go up in Shanghai in 1852, though it was destroyed in a fire and replaced with…
0.1 MILES
In the Rockbund district, this commercial gallery is devoted to contemporary sculpture by Chinese and overseas artists.
0.11 MILES
Standing at No 27 on the Bund is the former headquarters of early opium traders Jardine Matheson, which went on to become one of the most powerful trading…
5. Banque de l'Indochine Building
0.12 MILES
Built in 1914, this French Baroque–style building was originally the Banque de l'Indochine Building. Today it's a Chinese bank with a lavish lobby you can…
0.12 MILES
This elegant 1922 neoclassical building served as the office of a British shipping company before being occupied by the Japanese during WWII and serving…
0.15 MILES
China’s first ever public park (1886) achieved lasting notoriety for its apocryphal ‘No Dogs or Chinese allowed’ sign. The park today is blighted by the…
0.15 MILES
One of several buildings along the Bund designed by British architecture firm Palmer & Turner, the Yokohama Specie Bank was built in 1924 mixing…