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Behind the Bund
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Lodged between the vibrant hub of People’s Square and the glamorous refurbishment of the Bund,
the city's iconic promenade, is some of Shanghai's most majestic modernist architecture. For decades
these buildings have stood deserted and disused, as if frozen in time. Recently, however, they have
been brought back to life.
The furious pace of China’s urban transformation has led many to assume that all that is old has been
destroyed – razed and replaced by the new. Yet, despite its science fiction skyline, Shanghai’s 21st
century ambitions are crucially entwined with recalling its historical heyday. In Shanghai the relics of
modernity are not so much being preserved as revived. It is in reanimating its past that the city hopes
to catapult itself into the future.
Today, in the blocks behind the Bund, tangled webs of hanging wire mask Neoclassical and Art Deco
masterpieces. Massive columns, carved window frames and a lobby with tile murals and stain glass
stand in contrast to the street peddlers and hanging laundry that sways overhead. On sunny days
makeshift tables pour out onto the sidewalk offering a place for workers to sit and slurp their noodles.
The chef is set up in a corner of a lane house (or lilong) where the slow rhythms of an older way of life
prevail.
Yet - like everything else in Shanghai - this long neglected neighbourhood is changing fast. Trendy
restaurants, luxury shopping plazas, avant-garde galleries, and stylish hotels have all opened - or are
due to open soon. Here, the layers of time collide, making this the perfect zone within which to
explore all the complexities and contradictions of contemporary Shanghai.
The ethnic chic ‘Lost Heaven on the Bund, a four-story branch of one the city’s most popular
restaurants, signals the area's current revitalization. Intricately carved dark wood chairs, elaborate
brass table settings, embroidered cushions, massive door-frames, and hanging masks create the
atmosphere of a hidden jungle temple deep within the city. The restaurant specializes in the tribal
cuisine from a region described as the ‘Mountain Mekong,’ an area that includes China’s Yunnan
province, Tibet, Burma, and Northern Thailand. The menu of exotic dishes features fish steamed in
banana leaves, stir fried pomegranate flowers and papaya salad. After dinner climb up to the roof
top bar for a peek at the view beyond.
17 Yan’an East Road, 6330 0967, www.lostheaven.com.cn
A few blocks away, Hamilton House, at the octagonal intersection of Jiangxi Lu and Fuzhou Lu, is an
emblem of the futurism of 20th century Shanghai. The Art Deco high-rise was commissioned by the
legendary tycoon Sir Victor Sassoon, a Baghdadi Jew who arrived in the city in the late 1920s, and
built a real estate empire whose remnants still shape the urban core. The ground floor of the building
was recently converted into a fashionable bistro, where stylish patrons can sip cocktails and dine on
fusion cuisine in the Art Deco-inspired interior.
137 Fuzhou Road, 6321 0586, www.hamiltonhouse.com.cn
Across the street, Hong Kong heiress Pearl Lam, has opened Contrasts - one of the city’s finest
galleries. It is located on the first floor of a 1934 modernist tower, once the Commercial Bank of China,
that was built as a minimalist mirroring of the Art Deco twins across the street. Devoted to a
contemporary version of China’s ancient ‘literati tradition’ the gallery shows the work of China’s neotraditional avant-garde. Don’t miss the basement, where Lam keeps her collection of designer
furniture.
81 Jiangxi Middle Road, 6323 1989
Further down Fuzhou Lu, towards the Bund, are two small shops dedicated to a reinvention of
tradition. Suzhou Cobbler and Blue Shanghai White, which share the same old grey brick building,
both give a contemporary touch to time-honored Chinese craft. Suzhou cobblers sells silk slippers
large enough to fit Western feet, while Blue Sanghai White specializes in the hand panted porcelain
of the ancient ceramic capital Jingdezhen. Teapots, mugs, plates, vases and even furniture are
decorated with the owner’s original designs.
17 Fuzhou Road, 6321 7087, www.suzhou-cobblers.com
17 -103 Fuzhou Road, 6323 0856, www.blueshanghaiwhite.com
Immerse yourself in the old British flavor of the area with a stop at Bund Garden. This garden villa was
once a part of the Neo-Gothic Holy Trinity Cathedral and School, made famous by its former student
JG Ballard. The complex was built in stages at the end of the 19th and early 20th century and has
recently undergone a multi-year restoration. The villa – designed as the rector’s house - has been
converted into a restaurant and boutique hotel. Upstairs large rooms are furnished with original
antiques, but the real treat is the back garden, a hidden oasis that backs onto the old cathedral.
Here you can retreat completely from the city, sitting under the trees, sipping tea and listening to the
old church bells. Not surprisingly, this is a popular venue for wedding parties.
200 Hankou Road, 6322 3855
The refashioned Bund Tea Company offers a taste of traditional Chinese tea culture. Occupying a
1908 building designed in the Queen Anne style with its intricately detailed brickwork, it is located in
the same spot as an old British shipping company’s original ‘Bund Tea Company'. Inside rows of white
tins contain a large variety of green, black and flower teas. Sit under the chandeliers, at a table
ceremonially set up for tea tasting to get a sense of what it was the British got addicted to.
100 Dianchi Road, 6329 0989, www.bundtea.com
Two doors down in the same red brick building is a small gallery made larger by its super-tall ceilings
and oversized windows and doors. East Asia Contemporary, which opened in 2007, is dedicated to
showing the painting, video and installation of cutting edge artists from the region.
110 Dianchi Road 6321 9678, www.eastasiacontemporary.com
LAN club, which occupies a four-story neoclassical building opposite the upcoming Waldorf Astoria is
striking for its over-the-top opulence. Extravagances include a cigar bar, a huge private banquet
room with a wall-size painting of the three gorges dam, hallways with colourful hanging lanterns and
a stuffed peacock. On the top floor the French restaurant Papillon has a garden interior with
comfortable couches, a glass ceiling and living wall. Go for lunch when everything is half price.
102 Guangdong Road, 6323 8029
What guarantees the future of the neighbourhood, however, is a vast new development emerging at
its northern tip, close to where the Huangpu meets Suzhou Creek. Headed by the Rockefeller group
and known as the RockBund, this massive restoration project encompasses 11 heritage buildings and
is part of a refurbishment of the entire Waitanyuan (or Bund Origin), which includes the sprawling
grounds of the former British Consulate and a newly landscaped park at the rivers edge. The old
headquarters of the Royal Asiatic Society, which has been remade as the Rock Bund Art Museum will
be the first building to open on May 4th with an exhibition from the famous firework artist Cai Guo
Qiang. “We don’t preserve the past, we free it,” reads the PR slogan of the project, “The origin of
yesterday is the origin of tomorrow .”
20 Huqiu Road, 33109985, www.rockbundartmuseum.org