Shanghai Bund Weather Signal Tower

Shanghai Bund Weather Signal Tower

The Shanghai Bund Weather Signal Tower is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

The Shanghai Bund Weather Signal Tower is one of the iconic buildings on the Shanghai Bund, and the Bund architectural complex has been listed as a nationally protected historical site. In 1884, the Xujiahui Observatory, established by the French Catholic Church, set up a weather signal tower on the "Yangjingbang" Bund (now the Bund along East Yan'an Road). The signal tower was a tall wooden pole erected upright on the ground that received meteorological information from the observatory. In 1907, a cylindrical weather signal tower was rebuilt, standing 50 meters in total height with a tower height of 36.8 meters, and was referred to as an "Atkinson-type" building. To protect this structure, it was moved 20 meters eastward as a whole during the 1993 Bund renovation project. The second floor now houses the Nostalgia Time Bar.

The history of the signal tower is closely linked to the development of international maritime activities. The economic growth and expansion of Western capitalism made both merchant and naval vessels heavily reliant on weather information. In August 1853, at the International Maritime Conference held in Brussels, weather was discussed as a crucial factor for navigation. In 1854, the British Board of Trade established a Meteorological Department, which began using signal codes to issue storm warnings for the first time in 1861. Subsequently, ports such as Newcastle in the UK started adopting flag signals to disseminate storm alerts, and major European ports followed suit by setting up their own signal towers.

After Shanghai opened as a port, missionaries from Britain and France successively conducted weather observations in the city. Later, the French Catholic Jesuits decided in August 1872 to establish an observatory in Xujiahui, Shanghai, and officially began meteorological observations in December of the same year. Starting from May 1873, they published meteorological observation data every other day in newspapers, and daily weather bulletins for parts of China and Japan were displayed on bulletin boards opposite the customs house, allowing merchant and naval ships to obtain weather information before departure.

To meet the safety needs of shipping, in December 1882, the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company obtained approval from Zuo Zongtang, the Viceroy of Liangjiang under the Qing government, to install telephone poles along Xujiahui Road leading to the Xujiahui Observatory in order to receive maritime weather updates. Upon hearing this, the French Concession Municipal Council swiftly responded and decided on December 21 to establish a weather alarm signal tower near the Huangpu River waterfront on the Bund, where foreign firms and companies were concentrated—specifically at the Yangjingbang Bridge approach (now the Bund along East Yan'an Road)—and to install a meridian ball for time synchronization. At the same time, they requested the French Consul-General in Shanghai, Flesch, to negotiate with Shanghai Daotai Shao Youlian to secure the right to install telephone lines along Xujiahui Road to the Xujiahui Observatory. At the time, France was invading Vietnam. To safeguard China's sovereignty, Shao Youlian twice firmly rejected Flesch’s request, citing that “Viceroy Zuo had already issued an edict approving the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company to erect poles and install lines beforehand.” The French Concession Municipal Council expressed strong dissatisfaction with this response and continued to object to the actions of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company on the grounds that Xujiahui Road was built by French troops and maintained with funds from the Municipal Council. They once again urged Flesch to negotiate with the Shanghai Daotai. As tensions between China and France escalated and French naval fleets became increasingly active along China’s southeastern coast—with the Sino-French War looming—Flesch wrote back to the Municipal Council on March 26, 1883, refusing to continue negotiations. He also stated that the Municipal Council “could not make any demands on the local authorities,” and that “all matters of an international nature fall under the authority of national representatives.”

Time Needed

1 hour

Transportation

Take Tunnel Line 9 and get off at the Guangdong Road Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu stop

Location

No. 1A, Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, Huangpu District, Shanghai