The Bund is the western riverbank of the Huang Pu river, a reminder of Shanghai's colonial past in many ways, as most of the very English looking bank buildings lining it were built by the British. The Bund has been closed for renovation for no less than three years, so a double-decker tunnel could be built beneath it. Since arriving in Shanghai all I've seen is worksite hoarding, dust and trucks. It was finally re-opened just over a week ago, and so I thought it was time to check it out and have a walk along the river. Yesterday was a gloriously sunny day so I took my bike on a meander through the Old Town, past Yu Yuan, via various back streets to the Bund itself. Once there I realised the rest of Shanghai had the same idea so we all took a walk along the river together. All 892,000 of us. A river of people.
I was forced to take a brief respite from the crowds upstairs at M on the Bund, nothing like a glass of Shaw and Smith Sauv Blanc and a slab of pavlova to build up enough energy to get back out there, find the bike again, and cycle home.
Later in the afternoon the crowds thinned a little and everyone was finally able to get a photo of themselves taken with the Oriental Pearl Tower (that big pink thing) in the background, which seems to be the main point of a walk along the Bund for most people.
It is an impressively lovely bit of river though - with the past on one side, and the pink and promising future on the other.
Labels: Shanghai, the Bund
