China today is about economic progress, technological prowess, organization and management. All this is on display at the Bund riverside and the business areas around it, including the Yuyuan Garden.
On weekends, tens of thousands of tourists throng the Bund riverside for cruises through the Huangpu River without any mayhem. Crowds simply follow the police, deployed in big numbers, simply guiding the tourists with right, left, and straight signs. This also offers management of huge crowds by both the police and local authorities. No arguments /disrespect for instructions and regulations. The walk from the road to the cruise ships itself reflects the management skills required to manage a large number of people. And doing this at the Huangpu Riverside, overflowing with local and foreign tourists, without any altercation is no mean achievement.
The Bund represents the rise of modern Shanghai as a global financial powerhouse. Stretching along the Huangpu River, its “Living Museum of Architecture” features dozens of Gothic, Baroque, and Art Deco historical buildings that housed international banks and consulates during its era as a prominent 19th-century treaty port. Historically dubbed the “Wall Street of the Far East,” the promenade now offers a direct view across the river to the futuristic Lujiazui skyline, creating a powerful visual bridge between Shanghai’s colonial past and its soaring economic future. This weekend we saw an incredible beeline, i.e., tens of thousands of tourists headed to The Bund riverside for cruises through the Huangpu River in Shanghai.
Yuyuan Garden serves as a vital window into Imperial China, preserving traditional Jiangnan-style architecture, ornate rockeries, and serene ponds amidst a hyper-modern metropolis. Built during the Ming Dynasty (1559), it stands as one of the few surviving classical Chinese gardens in Shanghai, anchoring the city’s historical identity before its Western expansion. Together with the surrounding Yuyuan Bazaar, it remains a lively cultural and commercial hub famous for folk arts and seasonal celebrations. While Shanghai embraces and expands hi-tech, its past identity continues to shine in and around Yuyuan Gardens.
