The Shanghai Club

A curving staircase winds around a cape-type elevator, which led up to resident members' rooms, bowling lanes, a barber shop, a smaller bar, and other amenities. Alone of all the clubs in Shanghai, these premises are still being uses by expatriates:  merchant seamen of many nations now enjoy the Seaman's Club on  its upper floors.

Located at No.2 the Bund, the Shanghai Club was built in 1910 by the British. It featured "the longest bar in the world", located in what is now a Kentucky Fried Chicken  restaurant, its old oak paneling done up in red, white and blue. Even the depredations of time and American fast food chains however have not destroyed the elegance of the lobby, its marble floor an impressive 40 by 90 feet, and over 40 feet high. It is encircled by an arcade on the mezzanine floor and its barrel ceiling is of frosted glass.