Chen Yi Square and Statue

The square and statue of Chen Yi, in Shanghai

The Chen Yi Square is one of the emblematic spaces of the Bund, dominated by the bronze statue of Marshal Chen Yi, first communist mayor of Shanghai, turned towards the Huangpu river and Pudong. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this figure of the history of the town and this gaze of a statesman cast towards the future of the metropolis.

The first mayor of the liberated town

You are here on the Chen Yi Square, one of the emblematic spaces of the Bund. In front of you, the bronze statue of Marshal Chen Yi stands in a calm and solemn posture, turned towards the Huangpu river and the modern town of Pudong. This orientation is no accident: it symbolises the gaze of a statesman cast towards the future of Shanghai. Chen Yi was the first mayor of the town after 1949. A fellow traveller of the revolution and a leading military figure, he participated in the taking of Shanghai and supervised its reconstruction in the 1950s. His action was decisive: he restored order in a town then marked by poverty, the legacy of the foreign concessions and the chaos of the post-war period. Under his authority, Shanghai transformed itself and gradually became again the great economic showcase of the country. The statue, larger than life, represents him in an attitude of tranquil dignity, simply dressed, his gaze fixed on the horizon of Pudong, as if he were contemplating the future metropolis that he would not have known. Around the statue, the small square shaded with trees offers a pleasant halt in the heart of the Bund, there where the crowd presses to admire the skyline. This monument thus links the revolutionary past of the town to its dazzling present. A square of the Bund and a statue of a building mayor, the Chen Yi Square is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

Here you discover, in the heart of the Bund, the larger-than-life bronze statue of Marshal Chen Yi, first mayor of Shanghai after 1949, who supervised the reconstruction of the town in the 1950s; turned towards the Huangpu river and Pudong, it symbolises a statesman's gaze towards the future, and the small shaded square that surrounds it offers a pleasant halt facing the skyline. The Chen Yi Square is an emblematic space of the Bund. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Chen Yi Square lies at the north of the Bund, in the Huangpu district, facing the Huangpu river, reachable on foot and by metro. It is a public open-air square, freely accessible, shaded with trees. You discover it during a walk along the Bund.

Who was Chen Yi, whose statue stands on the Bund in Shanghai?

The first mayor of Shanghai after 1949, a military figure of the revolution, who participated in the taking of the town and supervised its reconstruction in the 1950s; his bronze statue, larger than life, turned towards the Huangpu river and Pudong, symbolises a statesman's gaze cast towards the future of the metropolis.

Where is the Chen Yi Square in Shanghai?

At the north of the Bund, in the Huangpu district, facing the Huangpu river, in Shanghai, in China.