Bank of China Tower

Rising in front of you is the Bank of China Tower, designed by the architect I. M. Pei. Including its masts it reaches 367 metres. When it was occupied in 1990 it was the tallest building in Asia and the first outside the United States to exceed 305 metres. Pei said he was inspired by bamboo shoots, which grow node by node.

1A knife on the skyline

For many feng shui practitioners, the design was a provocation: sharp edges that, from certain angles, look like the blade of a knife, and large «X» shapes, a sign associated with negativity. In Cantonese it earned the nickname «the knife». According to the popular version, one edge pointed at the British governor's residence and another at HSBC. Pei changed part of the design before it was built. The bank wanted to finish it on 8 August 1988, a very lucky date, but construction was delayed.

2The house of ghosts

This site was once home to Murray House, an officers' quarters from 1846. During the Japanese occupation it was a command centre for the military police and a place of executions. Afterwards it was said to be haunted, and the government allowed two exorcisms, in 1963 and 1974; the second was televised. In 1982 it was dismantled stone by stone and rebuilt in Stanley.

The executions and exorcisms are documented; the ghosts are not.

3What to look for

• The white crosses drawing triangles on the façade.
• The two masts on top.
• The edges: find the angle from which they look like a knife.