The Bund

Shanghai's calling card and a microcosm of its modern history: a 1.5 km riverside stretch on the west bank of the Huangpu River, running north from Waibaidu Bridge (Garden Bridge) to Yan'an East Road, is lined with 52 historic buildings in Gothic, Baroque, Art Deco and other styles, collectively known as the "World Architecture Exhibition". The HSBC Building (1923) was once hailed as "the most elaborate building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait of the Far East"; the Customs House (1927) has a great clock modeled on London's Big Ben; and the green copper spire of the Peace Hotel is its signature. After Shanghai opened as a treaty port in 1843, this area evolved from a boat trackers' towpath into the "Wall Street of the Far East", the hub of modern China's finance and foreign trade; at night its lights glow across the river against the Lujiazui skyscrapers, forming Shanghai's most classic cityscape.

Getting there: Metro Line 2/10, East Nanjing Road Station