China Merchants Bank Building, Shanghai

The China Merchants Building is one of the oldest surviving European-style commercial buildings on the Bund. Completed in 1897, it originally served as an office building for foreign trading companies, including the prominent American firm Russell & Company, one of the largest trading houses operating in Shanghai during the 19th century.

Over the years, the building housed a variety of financial and commercial institutions. Among its notable tenants were the Imperial Bank of China, one of the country's earliest Chinese-owned modern banks, and later the Commercial Bank of China. The building was also used for a time by the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, China's first modern shipping company.

Designed in a restrained Gothic Revival style, the four-story brick-and-stone building is distinguished by its pointed-arch windows with decorative tracery, corner turrets, and steeply pitched gables. Before World War II, a tall central spire crowned the roof, giving the building an even more dramatic silhouette than today. Following extensive restoration, the building continues to serve commercial purposes.