A roundup of those historically unique buildings.
Block One
No. 1 – The McBain Building, Asia Building | 亚细亚大楼
Built in 1916.
Past: Asiatic Petroleum Company (oil & gas), a joint venture between the Shell and Royal Dutch oil companies founded in 1903 (Royal Dutch and Shell merged into The Royal Dutch Shell Group in April 1907)
Now: Japanese control, East China Petroleum Company, China Pacific Insurance Company (insurance)
No. 2 – The Shanghai Club | 上海总会大楼
Rebuilt in 1909.
Past: The Shanghai Club, the principal men’s club for British residents of Shanghai, founded in 1861. The club was originally named “The Correspondent’s Club”.
Now: leased by the Hilton group in 2009 and converted to become the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund, a luxury hotel. The new hotel opened in 2011.
In between: Japanese Navy Base, International Seamen Club, Dongfeng Hotel, from 1990 to 1996 for hosting the first KFC restaurant in Shanghai.