Add comment

Then and now: Shanghai's British Consulate Building from 1873

Shanghai has a rich and long history, with echoes of the past reverberating into the present day

By Amy Snelling Posted: Monday April 29 2019

Photograph: courtesy The Peninsula Shanghai
Shanghai has a rich and long history, with echoes of the past reverberating into the present day. We take a look at historical buildings, then and now.

Research courtesy Historic Shanghai.
1873, The British Consulate Building

1873, The British Consulate Building

Three years after Shanghai opened its borders to trade, in 1846 the city’s first British Consul General George Balfour bought the Li Chia Chang property to build the new British Consulate compound (it was formerly located in the old Chinese city). Located at the northern edge of today’s Bund area, the first British Consulate building on the new site was built in 1849. 

However, a string of bad fortune saw the original collapse and the second destroyed by fire; the third and final iteration dates back to 1873. One of the oldest foreign-built buildings in Shanghai, except two breaks in 1941 and 1949, it remained home to the British Consulate until 1967.

Now, No 1 Waitanyuan

Now, No 1 Waitanyuan

Part of the Waitanyuan development, the former British Consulate – or No 1 Waitanyuan – is now a swanky event space. Since 2017, it has been managed by luxury hotel group The Peninsula (whose Shanghai outlet sits just next door). While the building and its grounds are largely used as an impressively opulent setting for the likes of corporate events, weddings and garden parties, onsite restaurant The Balfour is also a picturesque spot to partake in the hotel’s quintessentially British signature afternoon tea.

Read more

Comments