The Bund’s Most Famous Former Residents
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Standing along the Huangpu River, The Bund is more than just a postcard-perfect skyline or a collection of grand architecture—it’s a living museum of Shanghai’s cosmopolitan soul. For over a century, this stretch of waterfront has been the stage for financiers, dreamers, exiles, and legends. While millions of visitors flock here to capture the glittering Pudong views, few pause to imagine the lives that unfolded behind those neoclassical facades. This is where East met West, where fortunes were made and lost, and where some of the most fascinating figures of the 20th century once walked, worked, and wondered.
From banking tycoons and revolutionary writers to Hollywood starlets and underworld kings, the old buildings of The Bund have housed personalities whose stories are as compelling as the skyline itself. Let’s step away from the crowds and step back in time, into the suites, offices, and apartments of The Bund’s most famous former residents.
No name is more synonymous with The Bund than Sassoon. The Sassoon family, Baghdadi Jews who built a trading empire across Asia, were the undisputed kings of colonial Shanghai. It was Sir Victor Sassoon who left the most visible mark on The Bund’s landscape.
An aristocrat, a financier, and a bon vivant, Sir Victor Sassoon inherited the family fortune and poured it into Shanghai real estate in the 1920s and 30s. His company, Sassoon Properties, erected some of the city’s most iconic Art Deco landmarks, including the Cathay Hotel (now the Fairmont Peace Hotel) and the Sassoon House (now the north building of the Peace Hotel).
Sassoon didn’t just own these buildings; he lived in them. His penthouse suite atop the Cathay Hotel was legendary. It was a place of immense glamour, hosting lavish parties for international socialites, Hollywood actors, and politicians. From his terrace, he literally looked down upon the city he helped shape. He was a resident who embodied the roaring twenties spirit of The Bund—opulent, ambitious, and wildly international.
Another towering figure from the Iraqi Jewish community was Sir Elly Kadoorie. While his Marble Hall mansion was in the French Concession, his power base was firmly on The Bund. He co-founded the Shanghai Electric Construction Company, which provided the city’s power and its tram system. His office was a hub of commercial activity, and his influence meant that a flick of a switch in his building could literally change the city's rhythm. The Kadoorie family’s legacy of philanthropy began here, setting a precedent for corporate responsibility.
Amidst the bankers and traders, The Bund also attracted and inspired some of the greatest literary minds of the era, who found in Shanghai a subject of endless fascination and horror.
It was in a suite at Victor Sassoon’s Cathay Hotel that the famed British playwright and composer Noël Coward, stricken with the flu, wrote his celebrated play Private Lives in just four days. The room, number 314, is now preserved as a memorial to his whirlwind creativity. Lying in bed, looking out at the bustling river traffic and hearing the sounds of a city teetering on the brink of war, Coward channeled the sophisticated, witty, and slightly desperate energy of the expatriate life into his work. His brief residency is a testament to The Bund’s role as a crucible of art under pressure.
While not a resident of the grand western buildings, China’s greatest modern writer, Lu Xun, was a frequent walker along The Bund. He observed the opulent display of foreign power with a critical and nationalist eye. His essays and short stories often reflected on the social inequalities represented by this dramatic waterfront—the foreign elites in their clubs juxtaposed with the struggling Chinese masses. For Lu Xun, The Bund was not a symbol of glamour but a stark, stone embodiment of semi-colonial humiliation, making his intellectual presence a crucial counterpoint to its narrative.
In its heyday, Shanghai was the "Paris of the East," a magnet for performers and actors from around the world. The Bund was their playground.
As the first Chinese American Hollywood movie star, Anna May Wong was a global sensation. Her visits to Shanghai were major media events. She invariably stayed at the Cathay Hotel, becoming a close friend of Victor Sassoon. Photographs of her on the hotel’s iconic green copper pyramid rooftop or stepping out of a car on The Bund were splashed across newspapers. She represented a complex bridge between East and West, and her presence there added a layer of cinematic star power to the avenue’s allure.
During his famed round-the-world trip in 1936, Charlie Chaplin and his new wife, Paulette Goddard, spent their honeymoon in Shanghai. They were guests of Sir Victor Sassoon at the Cathay Hotel. Chaplin was reportedly fascinated and horrified by the city's contrasts—the extreme wealth and the extreme poverty. His visit, though brief, cemented The Bund’s status as a mandatory stop on the global celebrity circuit.
Not all the famous residents sought the spotlight. For some, The Bund’s international legal ambiguities provided the perfect cover.
While his primary base of operations was in the old Chinese city, Du Yuesheng, the notorious leader of the Green Gang, had immense influence over the activities on and around The Bund. His control over the docks meant that every shipment that came in or out was subject to his approval. He owned nightclubs, engaged in "protection" rackets, and even sat on the board of directors of French Concession utilities. Though he may not have had a formal address on the waterfront, his shadow fell long across its stones, a reminder that beneath the glamour lay a ruthless underworld.
Following the rise of Nazism in Europe, thousands of Jewish refugees found a safe, if precarious, harbor in Shanghai. While many settled in the Hongkou district, the community’s support networks often connected back to the established Jewish families like the Sassoons and Kadoories on The Bund. Their organizations worked to provide aid and housing. These refugees, including future leaders and artists, were temporary residents whose story adds a profound layer of resilience and hope to The Bund’s history.
How can you connect with this rich history on your visit? Here’s how to see beyond the bricks and mortar.
For the ultimate immersive experience, book a night at the Fairmont Peace Hotel. Request a room with a Bund view and imagine yourself among the socialites of the 1930s. Have a cocktail at the legendary Jazz Bar, where the band's members are in their 80s and have been playing since the era of those famous residents. Visit the hotel’s museum to see artifacts from Sir Victor Sassoon’s time.
Visit the former Shanghai Custom House, with its iconic clock tower (a replica of Big Ben). This was the seat of economic power and regulation. Take a moment to appreciate the mosaic ceilings in the lobby and imagine the countless bureaucrats and traders who passed through, shaping China’s economic destiny.
Housed in the former Royal Asiatic Society building, the Rockbund Art Museum represents the new spirit of The Bund. It connects the area’s historical legacy with cutting-edge contemporary art, much like the original residents who were themselves modernizers of their time.
The best way to appreciate the scale and grandeur of The Bund is from the water, just as arriving residents would have seen it a century ago. An evening cruise offers a stunning perspective of the old and new skylines, allowing you to literally see the view these famous figures would have enjoyed from their balconies.
The stones of The Bund have witnessed it all: ambition, creativity, despair, and reinvention. It’s a place where history is not locked away but is palpable in the air. The next time you find yourself there, pause for a moment. Look beyond the camera flashes and the neon glow of Pudong. Listen closely, and you might just hear the faint echo of Noël Coward’s typewriter, the clink of glasses at one of Sir Victor’s parties, or the determined footsteps of Lu Xun on a thoughtful walk. They are all still there, the most famous residents of all, forever a part of Shanghai’s greatest street.
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Author: Shanghai Travel
Link: https://shanghaitravel.github.io/travel-blog/the-bunds-most-famous-former-residents.htm
Source: Shanghai Travel
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