Hongkong & Shanghai Bank - Hankow - 1917
The Bund, British Concession.
The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation was formed in Hong Kong in 1865 by a group of China-based British colonials who were keen to apply their local knowledge and experience to the opening China trade. The Hankow branch was one of the first to be opened outside the main banking centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai. By the 1920's the 'Hongkers & Shankers' was the premier bank of the East with branches established at Amoy (Xiamen), Bangkok, Batavia (Jakarta), Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, Ipoh, Kobe, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Nagasaki, Peking, Penang, Rangoon, Saigon, Shanghai, Singapore, Tientsin (Tianjin) and Yokohama.
Whilst not as large as the Bank's Head Office in Shanghai (built in 1923 - see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/2330314221 ), the Hankow branch performed the same function by dominating the Bund along the British Concession; the solidity of the architecture confirming the status of the bank and embodying British financial power in China. The architects were the locally based British firm of Messrs Hemmings & Berkley.
The bank building can be seen on the reverse side of a $100 bank note issued in 1921 by the bank at:- Flickr: Explore! .
The interior retains its ornate marble floored banking hall. I was very surprised to see a long forgotten war memorial (Roll of Honour) to those HSBC staff who fell (or served) in the First World War still there; it features the British coat-of-arms (lion & unicorn) in marble above the corporate logo of the bank (scene of Hong Kong harbour). The three brass plaques bearing the names of the bank staff are no longer there. How such a British memorial survived the Hankow Riots, Cultural Revolution and decades of Communist neglect is anyone's guess.
The building continues to be used for its original purpose by the China Everbright Bank (中 國 光 大 銀 行 股 份 有 限 公 司).
Hongkong & Shanghai Bank - Hankow - 1917
The Bund, British Concession.
The Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation was formed in Hong Kong in 1865 by a group of China-based British colonials who were keen to apply their local knowledge and experience to the opening China trade. The Hankow branch was one of the first to be opened outside the main banking centres of Hong Kong and Shanghai. By the 1920's the 'Hongkers & Shankers' was the premier bank of the East with branches established at Amoy (Xiamen), Bangkok, Batavia (Jakarta), Bombay, Calcutta, Colombo, Ipoh, Kobe, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Nagasaki, Peking, Penang, Rangoon, Saigon, Shanghai, Singapore, Tientsin (Tianjin) and Yokohama.
Whilst not as large as the Bank's Head Office in Shanghai (built in 1923 - see my photo at www.flickr.com/photos/23268776@N03/2330314221 ), the Hankow branch performed the same function by dominating the Bund along the British Concession; the solidity of the architecture confirming the status of the bank and embodying British financial power in China. The architects were the locally based British firm of Messrs Hemmings & Berkley.
The bank building can be seen on the reverse side of a $100 bank note issued in 1921 by the bank at:- Flickr: Explore! .
The interior retains its ornate marble floored banking hall. I was very surprised to see a long forgotten war memorial (Roll of Honour) to those HSBC staff who fell (or served) in the First World War still there; it features the British coat-of-arms (lion & unicorn) in marble above the corporate logo of the bank (scene of Hong Kong harbour). The three brass plaques bearing the names of the bank staff are no longer there. How such a British memorial survived the Hankow Riots, Cultural Revolution and decades of Communist neglect is anyone's guess.
The building continues to be used for its original purpose by the China Everbright Bank (中 國 光 大 銀 行 股 份 有 限 公 司).