Waibaidu Bridge

In front of you is Waibaidu Bridge, or Garden Bridge, where Suzhou Creek flows into the Huangpu River. It was China's first all-steel bridge and it is the only camelback truss bridge still standing in the country.

1A toll bridge

In 1856, a group of merchants led by the Briton Charles Wills built a wooden bridge here and charged people to cross it, which sparked protests and boycotts. In 1873 the Municipal Council built a free bridge. The origin of the Chinese name is disputed: some translate it as “the outer crossing you pass for free”, others link it to a ferry crossing further upstream. The present steel bridge opened on 20 January 1908. It is about 105 metres long and was made by an English company.

In 2008 the bridge was dismantled and taken by barge to a shipyard for restoration. It returned to its place in April 2009.

2Where it all began

Behind you, among the trees, is the former British Consulate of 1873, the oldest surviving building on the Bund: the British settlement began here after the Treaty of Nanking. By the river, Huangpu Park opened in 1868 as the foreigners' public garden, and Chinese people were not allowed in until 1928. Across the water, Pudong was farmland and warehouses until 1990, when the government announced its transformation into a financial district. Today the Shanghai Tower reaches 632 metres.

3What to look for

• The arched trusses and their rivets.
• Broadway Mansions, from 1934, on the far bank.
• Pudong: the Oriental Pearl, Jin Mao Tower and Shanghai Tower.