Foreign settlement · 1845–1863
British Settlement
英租界
The first foreign settlement, laid out north of the walled city under the Land Regulations of 29 November 1845 and run by a Committee of Roads and Jetties until the Municipal Council was elected in 1854; it merged with the American Settlement in 1863.
- Dates
- 1845-11-29 – 1863-09-21
- Area
- 2,820 mu at its largestAreas are in Chinese mu (亩), the unit the sources use: 1 mu is about 667 m², a sixth of an acre; 15 mu make a hectare.
- Governed by
- Committee of Roads and Jetties (1846–1854), then the Shanghai Municipal Council elected by the land renters from July 1854.
Boundaries over today's map
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Boundaries in 1846
- British Settlement, 1845英租界（1845）1845-11-29–1848-11-27 · 1,080 mu
Boundaries in 1849
- British Settlement, 1848英租界（1848 扩展）1848-11-27–1863-09-21 · 2,820 mu
Boundary lines follow today’s streets where the old creeks and roads ran; dashed lines are inferred. Expect errors of a street or two, not more.
Timeline
Click a year on the axis to read what happened and set the map to that period.
Boundary1 of 6
Land Regulations set aside 830 mu
《土地章程》划定约830亩
Daotai Gong Mujiu published the Land Regulations agreed with Balfour, reserving about 830 mu between the Yangjingbang, Lijiachang and the river for British merchants, with no western limit and no Chinese residents.
Boundary2 of 6
Barrier Road closes the rectangle, 1,080 mu
界路划定西界，1,080亩
The western boundary was fixed at a new road, Barrier Road, today's Henan Road Central, and the settlement measured 1,080 mu.
Boundary3 of 6
Extension to Suzhou Creek and the Defence Creek, 2,820 mu
扩至苏州河与泥城浜，2,820亩
After the Qingpu incident, consul Alcock pressed for more ground and daotai Lin Gui extended the settlement north to Suzhou Creek and west to the Zhoujing creek, today's Xizang Road.
People4 of 6
The Small Swords take the walled city
小刀会占领县城
Chinese families fled into the settlements and the rule of separate residence collapsed; the settlement's population passed 20,000 that year.
Government5 of 6
The Municipal Council is elected
工部局成立
The land renters, under the British, American and French consuls, adopted revised Land Regulations and elected a Municipal Council with power to levy rates and hire police.
Boundary6 of 6
British and American settlements unite
英美租界合并
The two settlements north of the Yangjingbang were united under one council; from 1899 the merged area was called the International Settlement.
How it was run
How Shanghai's foreign settlements grew, 1845–1943
How the British, American, French and International settlements grew from 830 mu in 1845 to 48,000 mu by 1914, boundary by boundary.
Who could vote: the ratepayers' meeting, 1869–1941, and the jubilee of 1893
A city of a million run by a few thousand votes: the franchise in the Land Regulations, the polls, the meetings without a quorum, and the jubilee of 1893.
The creek that became Yan'an Road, 1862–1916
The Yangjingbang divided the two settlements for sixty years. The reports record its drains, its night-soil boats, the votes of 1909 and 1914 and the road.
Consul versus council: how the French Concession was governed, 1848–1875
A merchant's 2.4 mu, a council of five dissolved by its consul, the règlement of 1866, and the riot of 1874: the French Concession's first thirty years.
Places inside its final boundary
Computed from each place's coordinates against the boundary as drawn along today's streets; places close to a line are marked on their own pages.
The Bund
Asia Building亚细亚大楼
Bund No. 1: the 1916 McBain Building, home of the Asiatic Petroleum Company from 1917 and now an art venue with the Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum.
Bank of China Building中国银行大楼
The Bank of China's 1937 head office at Bund 23: a 17-storey tower by Luke Him Sau with a blue-tiled Chinese roof, cut down from a planned 34 storeys.
Bank of Communications Building上海市总工会大楼
The last building finished on the Bund before 1949: Gonda's late Art Deco Bank of Communications of 1948, now the city's Federation of Trade Unions.
Bank of Taiwan Building台湾银行大楼
Four-column bank of the 1920s at No. 16 the Bund, designed by Lester, Johnson & Morriss for the Bank of Taiwan; now a China Merchants Bank branch.
Banque de l'Indochine Building东方汇理银行大楼
A French bank of 1914 by Atkinson & Dallas at Bund No. 29, three tall storeys behind a Baroque doorway; now China Everbright Bank.
Chartered Bank Building (Bund 18)麦加利银行大楼
Five-storey Chartered Bank of 1922–1923 by Palmer & Turner, restored in 2002–2004 as Bund 18, a complex of shops, restaurants, bars and an art space.
China Merchants Steam Navigation Building轮船招商局大楼
Head office built in 1901 at No. 9 the Bund by the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company on the old Russell & Co. garden; restored in 2004.
Customs House上海海关大楼
Shanghai's 1927 Customs House by Palmer & Turner, whose clock tower, with a Joyce clock first struck in 1928, still sounds the hours over the Bund.
East Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street南京东路步行街
Shanghai's best-known shopping street, pedestrianised in the late 1990s and extended east to the Bund in September 2020.
Former British Consulate-General原英国驻沪总领事馆
The Bund's oldest surviving Western-style building: the British consulate rebuilt in 1872-73 after a fire, now an exhibition venue (Bund Origin No. 1).
Glen Line Building格林邮船大楼
1922 shipping office by Palmer & Turner at Bund No. 28; later the US consulate and Shanghai's radio station, now the Shanghai Clearing House.
Great Northern Telegraph Building大北电报公司大楼
Early-1900s Renaissance-style office of the Danish Great Northern Telegraph Company at No. 7 the Bund, designed by Atkinson & Dallas; now Bangkok Bank.
Shanghai's red-brick Gothic Revival Anglican church of 1869, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, now a national protected site on Jiujiang Road.
HSBC Building上海浦东发展银行大楼
Palmer & Turner's 1923 head office for HSBC, the widest building on the Bund, with a mosaic dome hidden under paint from 1956 to 1997; now SPD Bank.
Imperial Bank of China Building中国通商银行大楼
Gothic Revival bank at Bund No. 6, head office of the Imperial Bank of China, the first modern Chinese bank, founded by Sheng Xuanhuai in 1897.
Jardine Matheson Building怡和洋行大楼
Jardine Matheson's 1922 head office at Bund No. 27, granite with Corinthian columns, on a lot the firm held from 1845; now shops and restaurants.
Nissin Building日清大楼
Six-storey granite office of the Japanese shipping line Nisshin Kisen Kaisha, built 1921–1925 by Lester, Johnson & Morriss at No. 5 the Bund.
North China Daily News Building (AIA Building)字林大楼
Home of the North China Daily News, finished in 1924 as the Bund's tallest building; eight stone figures hold up its cornice. AIA's offices since 1996.
Palace Hotel (Swatch Art Peace Hotel)汇中饭店大楼
The Palace Hotel of 1906–1908, host of the 1909 International Opium Commission; later the Peace Hotel's South Building, now the Swatch Art Peace Hotel.
Rockbund Art Museum上海外滩美术馆
A contemporary art museum with no permanent collection, in the 1933 Art Deco Royal Asiatic Society building off the Bund, redesigned by David Chipperfield.
Russo-Chinese Bank Building华俄道胜银行大楼
Small classical bank of 1902-03 at No. 15 the Bund, built for the Russo-Chinese Bank, later the Central Bank of China; now a currency trading centre.
Sassoon House (Fairmont Peace Hotel)沙逊大厦
Victor Sassoon's 1929 granite tower with the green copper pyramid, home of the Cathay Hotel and since 1956 the Peace Hotel, now run by Fairmont.
Shanghai Club Building上海总会大楼
Former British Shanghai Club, opened 1910 with a 30-metre bar; today the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund and its restored Long Bar.
Three on the Bund (Union Building)有利大楼
Shanghai's first steel-framed building (1916) and Palmer & Turner's first Bund work, rebuilt by Michael Graves in 2004 as Three on the Bund.
Yangtze Insurance Building扬子大楼
1920 office of the Yangtsze Insurance Association at Bund No. 26 by Palmer & Turner, with a mansard roof; now the Agricultural Bank of China.
Yokohama Specie Bank Building横滨正金银行大楼
The 1924 Shanghai branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank at Bund No. 24, by Palmer & Turner, with a samurai and a bodhisattva on the facade; now ICBC.
People's Square
A Neo-Gothic Methodist church designed by László Hudec and opened in 1931, beside People's Square, with Sunday services.
Walks inside
Sources
- 1.Shanghai Concessions Gazetteer, Part 1 ch. 1 §1: Establishment of the settlements (上海租界志·第一篇 境域人口·第一章 租界境域·第一节 租界设立), 上海市档案馆（编）, 上海社会科学院出版社；上海市地方志办公室数字方志（在线）, 2001 — 第一节 租界设立gazetteer
- 2.Shanghai Concessions Gazetteer, Part 1 ch. 1 §3: Expansion of the settlements (上海租界志·第一篇 境域人口·第一章 租界境域·第三节 租界扩张), 上海市档案馆（编）, 上海社会科学院出版社；上海市地方志办公室数字方志（在线）, 2001 — 第三节 租界扩张gazetteer
- 3.Shanghai Concessions Gazetteer (Shanghai zujie zhi): General survey (上海租界志·总述), 上海市档案馆（编）, 上海社会科学院出版社；上海市地方志办公室数字方志（在线）, 2001 — 总述gazetteer
- 4.A Short History of Shanghai (A Short History of Shanghai: Being an Account of the Growth and Development of the International Settlement), F. L. Hawks Pott, Kelly & Walsh, Shanghai (digitised copy on the Internet Archive), 1928 — pp. 46–47, 67book