Former HSBC Building

The former HSBC building, in Shanghai

The former seat of the HSBC, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, is one of the most majestic buildings of the Bund, long considered as the most luxurious building of Asia. The Shanghai audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this neoclassical building of the 1920s, its great copper dome and its splendid mosaics.

The finest building between Suez and Bering

You are in front of one of the most majestic buildings of the Bund: the former seat of the HSBC, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Built between 1921 and 1923 by the British architects Palmer and Turner, it was then considered as the most luxurious building of all Asia. It was even said to be the finest building between the Suez canal and the Bering strait. Its neoclassical style, with its granite façade and its Ionic columns, embodies the elegance and the power of British colonial finance. At the top, the great copper dome contains splendid mosaics representing the main cities where the HSBC operated in the 1920s: London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and, of course, Shanghai, each symbolised by an allegorical figure. Long hidden under layers of paint after the nationalisation of the bank, these mosaics were rediscovered and restored, revealing again their splendour. The hall, vast and solemn, topped by its cupola, was among the most impressive banking spaces of the world. Two bronze lions formerly guarded the entrance, become famous themselves. Today occupied by a Chinese bank, the building has kept its original magnificence and remains one of the architectural jewels of the Bund. A former temple of finance and a setting of mosaics, the former HSBC building is a fine stop of the discovery of Shanghai.

What to see

You admire the former seat of the HSBC, built from 1921 to 1923 by Palmer and Turner, long held as the most luxurious building of Asia, with a granite façade and Ionic columns; its great copper dome shelters splendid mosaics figuring the cities where the bank operated, London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, rediscovered and restored after being long hidden. The former HSBC building is a jewel of the Bund. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The former HSBC building lies on the Bund, in the Huangpu district, along the Huangpu river, reachable on foot and by metro. You admire its façade and its dome from the promenade; today occupied by a bank, its hall is visited according to the conditions of the place, which vary. It is best to enquire before coming.

What is remarkable about the former HSBC building of Shanghai?

Its great copper dome shelters splendid mosaics representing the cities where the bank operated in the 1920s, London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, long hidden then restored; built from 1921 to 1923 by Palmer and Turner, this neoclassical building with Ionic columns was held as the most luxurious of Asia, the finest between Suez and Bering.

Where is the former HSBC building in Shanghai?

On the Bund, in the Huangpu district, along the Huangpu river, in Shanghai, in China.