Built in 1927, this building replaced one built in 1843 in the English Tudor style. When the latter was demolished, the old clock "Big Ben" was put into the present tower. The story goes that after the clock was installed there were fewer fires in Shanghai. The Chinese attributed this to the bell, which struck every quarter hour. When the God of Fire heard the bell he thought it was a fire bell and decided that Shanghai had quite enough fires already-so he would not send them any more.

During the Cultural Revolution the bell works were dismantled and replaced with 40 loudspeakers which played the anthem praising Mao Zedong, "The East is Red ". On October 1, 1986, the clockworks of "Big Ben"-renamed "Big Ching"-were replaced in the tower, but now the sound of the bell is lost in the traffic roar of the Bund.

Like The Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank next to it, the Customs House lobby also features mosaics. In keeping with the building's maritime role, they are of Chinese junks.

This impressive building is one of the showcases of the Bund. It was completed in 1923 by the British firm Palmer and Turner, and was the second largest bank building in the worcd at that tme. Each wall of the magnificent marble-faced, octagonal entrance hall contained a mural depicting one of the Bank's eight major locations: Bangkok, Calcutta, Hong Kong, Long don, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Shanghai.

Under the dome the Royal Air Force Club had a specially-designed clubroom featuring mosaics of World War I aircraft. The Bank now serves as the office of Shanghai's Mayor and his considerable staff.

Flanking the front entrance up until 1966 were a pair of bronze lions, their noses and paws rubbed bright by passing Chinese hoping to improve their "joss" or luck. The lions were carted away during the Cultural Revolution and are now languishing in the basement of the Shanghai Museum, possibly awaiting reoccupation of the bank building by the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.