(smartshanghai.com)
Updated: 2007-10-15 10:45

What most people don't realize about The Bund is that Shanghai's most well-known district is actually deeper and more intriguing when you pull further away from the waterfront. The Bund only runs 1,500 meters, from the Baidu bridge (where the Huangpu hits Suzhou creek) to Jinling Dong Lu, but offers-or at least will offer in the near future-a whole spectrum of culture and nightlife destinations if one were to descend the ritzy patios and venture into the neighborhood itself.

Formerly an area that harked to the post-Opium War era of foreign commerce, The Bund today has been re-branded as a hip and sexy destination thanks chiefly to the efforts of a certain pioneering Chinese entrepreneur who bought and revamped 3 on The Bund. Others have followed suit, and several of these glorious and formerly dilapidated European buildings are being thankfully refurbished. The Bund's fashionable development is actually very recent; "3" is only four years old. Since its successful opening, high-end interests have proliferated and The Bund has provided tourists and locals alike with diversion and entertainment... for the right price.

Despite this boom of business interests and development, however, The Bund in the end feels rather homogeneous. As each new club or restaurant opens its doors and throws open its windows to that famous Bund view, each feels like a duplication of a familiar business plan, target group and focus, instead of real efforts to offer something different. Ultimately, The Bund today lacks the eclecticism that characterizes many other areas of Shanghai, and fails as a viable cultural and recreational destination once the dazzle of the waterfront becomes familiar.

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