The Bund (which means the "Embankment") is Shanghai's famous waterfront running along the west shore of the Huangpu River.

Once a muddy towpath for boats along the river, the Bund was where the foreign powers that entered Shanghai after the Opium War of 1842 erected distinct Western-style banks and trading houses. From here, Shanghai grew into Asia's leading city in the 1920s and 1930s, a cosmopolitan and thriving commercial and financial center.

Looking out over the river I watched various cargo vessels, tourist ferries and other locally owned boats float by. The skyscraper on the far left is called the Oriental Pearl Tower.