Probably our favorite panorama of Old Shanghai from our collection: an illustration from Harpers Weekly, September 12, 1900. Also an amazing reminder on how developed both the Bund on the Puxi side, as well as the Pudong side were already at that time. From a viewpoint most likely on top of the American Cigarette Company Co factory, on the Pudong side, we can see the building of the British Cigarette Company Ltd to the left (BAT was only established in 1902), on the right the Pootung Hotel, the International Cotton Mill and the Customs Signal Station close to Pootung Point.
Possibly also visible is the Pootung Cemetery and the Seaman's Church which sadly was torn down later in the same year. In the very far right corner what must have been the Farnham, Boyd & Co. shipbuilding yard can be seen.
Although Pootung was outside of the foreign concessions, it nonetheless was already packed with Western companies' mills, factories and wharfs in the year 1900. In the late 19th and early 21st century it even had a residential street where surprisingly many foreign families lived, called "Pootung Terrace".
On the Puxi side, the birds-eye view illustration prominently displays the Bund on how it would have looked in 1900. From left to right, we can see among others, the old French Consulate, the old Shanghai Club and the original Northern Telegraph Building. What sticks out the most is the Imperial Bank of China building, occupied by the bank in 1897, but built as Russell & Co's building in most likely 1881, which makes it the oldest building on the Bund still standing today. Then further right, the old Customs House, the old North-China Herald Office, the Central Hotel (after 1903 restructured and renamed to the Palace Hotel) and the old Yokohama Specie Bank building (later the location of the Cathay Hotel, now called Peace Hotel). On the right top we can see the pavilion of the Public Gardens and next to that the wooden precursor to the current Garden Bridge constructed in 1907. To the right of Garden Bridge, on the Hongkew side, it appears the old German and / or old Japanese Consulate buildings can also be seen - or possibly it is the Nippon Yusen Kaisha Line (N.Y.K.) Wharf.
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