The Bund: stories behind 22 buildings

Starting point — the north end. Built 1873, the Bund's earliest Western building. Renaissance-style, the only Bund building with an English garden. Part of Rockbund today; the garden is open. From here, walk south along the riverside — the building numbers count down from 33, and we'll go all the way to No. 12.

Designed in 1937 by Luke Him Sau — the only Bund building by a Chinese architect. Originally planned for 34 storeys, but Sassoon insisted nothing top his hotel next door, so it ended at 17. The four Chinese pyramidal corners at the roof are a textbook compromise: a Chinese modernist on foreign-controlled ground.

Right next door, just south of No. 23. The 1929 Sassoon House — Art Deco; its 77-metre green-copper pyramid is a Bund icon. The Old Jazz Band on the eighth floor has played since 1980; members average over 75. The ground-floor lobby is free to wander.

1923, originally Chartered Bank — neoclassical. A 2004 renovation put a rooftop bar at the top, facing Lujiazui head-on. The Italian restaurant on the ground floor was among Shanghai's first fine-dining venues.

Designed by Palmer & Turner, 1927. Its 90-metre clock tower anchors the Bund skyline. The clock — British-made, same model as Big Ben — chimes the most reliable hour on the Bund. During the Cultural Revolution it was switched to playing The East Is Red.

Right next to the Customs House — together, the Bund's most commanding pair. 1923, also Palmer & Turner. Once called 'the finest building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait'. The lobby's eight mosaic dome panels were plastered over in 1956 and only uncovered in 1997 — you can walk in for free and look up.