Hankou Canton Bank

Hankou Canton Bank

Hankou Canton Bank is a protected cultural heritage site of Hubei Province.

Canton Bank

Intersection of Zhongshan Avenue and Yangzi Street, Jianghan District

Built around ?~1923

Municipal-level Outstanding Historical Building (Grade II)

This old building of the Canton Bank exhibits authentic aesthetics of Western architecture and is unique among Wuhan’s historic bank buildings.

In the late European Renaissance (early 16th century), the famous Italian architect Palladio created an architectural style featuring a colonnaded arcade with semi-domes. The Canton Bank building adopted this style, making it highly favored by architecture enthusiasts today.

The Canton Bank was established in Hong Kong in 1912 as the first bank founded by ethnic Chinese in the city, with branches later set up in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Siam, New York, and San Francisco (now known as San Francisco). Records indicate that the Hankou branch of the Canton Bank was also established in 1912.

The four-story reinforced concrete structure features a tripartite composition. The first floor’s exterior is clad in granite, with ten horizontally aligned granite columns forming a row—styled as ornamental Ionic columns. The spaces between the columns are fitted with square windows. The upper part of the entrance hall forms a semi-dome decorated with a grid-patterned bas-relief, giving it a solid yet simple appearance. The three sections are separated by deep cornices, creating a strong sense of depth. Inside the entrance hall, the side walls are paved with marble, and the doors are double-leaf dark brown wooden ones. It now serves as residential housing.