Huangpu Park 黄浦公园

About Huangpu Park

Its origins lie in the treaty-port Public Garden, later reshaped as a commemorative riverfront park.

The Monument to the People’s Heroes and Bund Historical Museum add two distinct historical elements to the landscaped setting. The park also provides a natural point to finish a Bund walk before Waibaidu Bridge. Its history of exclusion is documented, while the often-repeated “No dogs or Chinese” sign is a later myth rather than an authenticated sign.

The park is described as China's earliest modern park. Its predecessor was the Bund Garden (外滩花园), begun on 8 August 1869 with permission from the Shanghai Circuit Intendant (上海道) and built with funds from the Shanghai Municipal Council (工部局) as a recreation ground for the foreign community, under the name Public Garden. In 1886 the garden was rebuilt as a park designed by a Scottish gardener, adding a resting pavilion and a tennis court, and it was also known at the time as the Public Garden, Bund Park (外滩公园) and Bridge Park (大桥公园).

From 1890 the park was closed to Chinese people, apart from Chinese amahs accompanying children, until they were again admitted on 1 July 1928. It was renamed Huangpu Park in 1946 and was renovated in the 1990s. The Monument to the People's Heroes (上海市人民英雄纪念塔) within the park was completed on 27 May 1994, and the Bund Historical Museum (外滩历史纪念馆), housed in the monument's hall, opened to the public on 30 September that year. The historical name survives in nearby place names such as Garden Bridge and the New Bund Garden apartment building in Hongkou District.

What to look for

• The river junction shapes the triangular park.
• The Monument to the People’s Heroes and Bund-history displays add commemorative context.

Location & getting there

Getting to Huangpu Park

Approach the northern end of the Bund beside Waibaidu Bridge, where Suzhou Creek enters the Huangpu.