Shanghai Customs Building

The Shanghai customs building was demolished in 1891 and completed in 1893 as a three story British Gothic building with brick and wood structure, which was designed by a British architect and constructed by Yang Sisheng, a Chuansha craftsman in Pudong. In 1925, the old house was demolished and rebuilt, which was completed at the end of 1927. The existing building, which is shoulder to shoulder with the elegant building of HSBC, complements each other and is known as the "sister building" of HSBC.

The end of Shanghai customs building facing the Bund is 8 storeys high, the top is a four storey clock tower with three storeys high, and the west is 5 storeys. The eastern wall is built with granite, the western one and two layers are built with stone, and the third and fourth layers are inlaid with brown tiles. The front 1 and 2 layers are treated like base, with rough stone wall. The entrance is a typical Greek Dorian column porch. The high cornice on the 7th floor.

The caisson in the entrance hall is exquisitely decorated with colorful mosaic patterns. The upper part of the building has the architectural characteristics of decorative art school. The flagpole of the bell tower is located at the geographical coordinates of 121 ° 29 ′ 0.02 ″ E and 31 ° 14 ′ 20.38 ″ n. It is the landmark of Shanghai's geographical location, and also the most elegant building on the Bund. The clock tower is Gothic, with a height of 10 stories. It is made in imitation of the big clock of the U.S. Capitol. It was built in the United States and then transported to Shanghai for assembly. It is said that it cost more than 2000 taels of silver. It is the largest clock in Asia and one of the world famous clocks. The customs building stands majestically on the Bank of the Pujiang River. Its sonorous and passionate bell symbolizes solemnity and mission.

Shanghai Customs Building

Shanghai customs building is located at No.13, Zhongshan East 1st Road, Shanghai. It is designed by yinggonghe company. In 1864, the Qing government set up jianghaibeiguan at the current site, which is a Chinese yamen style wooden house. It was destroyed in the uprising of the little Sword Society in 1853 and restored in 1857. Since then, China's customs has been effectively controlled by the tax committees participated by the consulates of Britain, the United States and France. The customs clock is the largest in Asia.

Historical evolution

The customs buildings in Shanghai have been built three times in three different forms.

The earliest Shanghai Customs was built in 1845, known as "Xinguan", "Beiguan", "xinbeiguan", also known as "Jianghai Beiguan". Jianghai Beiguan is a typical Chinese government building. Its plane is concave, with three entrances to the building. The main eaves are tilted, and there is a small pavilion on the roof. The gate is in the style of archway, and the lintel is inscribed with the four words "Jianghai Beiguan". It is said that the word was written by Yi Liang, governor of Liangjiang.

By the 1980s and 1990s, most of the original buildings on the Bund had been rebuilt. Compared with the surrounding buildings, "Jianghai Beiguan" looks shabby. In 1891, the Shanghai Customs was under the control of Hurd, an Englishman. Therefore, it was designed by British engineers and built by Yang Sisheng, a Pudong native. It was completed in 1893 on the 50th anniversary of the opening of Shanghai port. The new jianghaibeiguan uses the foundation of the old site, the plane is similar to the old one, it is concave shape, brick and wood structure, there is a six storey square clock tower in the middle, there are false four storey buildings on the north and south sides of the clock tower, and there are iron railings on both sides of the gate.

In 1925, the new jianghaibeiguan was rebuilt again. Wilson, the designer of HSBC, was invited to design it. The foundation was laid in December 1927 and completed on December 9, 1927. The building covers an area of 5722 square meters and a building area of 32680 square meters. The building is divided into two parts: the east facing Huangpu River, 11 stories high, the main building is 8 stories, above which there are three stories of four clock towers; the West directly to Sichuan middle road, 5 stories high, steel frame structure, the bottom wall is built with granite wide joints, and the other floors are overlaid with Jinshan stone. The gate is designed in the form of an ancient Greek temple. Four classic Greek Doric pillars support the huge building. The upper end of the pillars is square with carved patterns, giving people a sense of sacredness. It stands shoulder to shoulder with the elegant building of HSBC and complements each other. It is known as the "sister building" of HSBC.

Architectural features

The building covers an area of 5722 square meters and a building area of 32680 square meters. The end of the building facing the Bund is 8 stories high, the top is a three story clock tower, and the west is 5 stories, all of which are of steel frame structure. The height of the main building is about 120 feet (36.2 meters), the height of the clock tower is about 140 feet (43 meters), and the total height of the building is about 260 feet (79.2 meters). It is the tallest building on the Bund of Shanghai in the 1920s. The exterior wall is built with Jinshan stone, the eastern wall is built with granite, the Western 1 and 2 layers are built with stone, and the third and fourth layers are built with brown tiles. The front 1 and 2 layers are treated like base and rough stone wall. High cornice is raised above the 7th floor. The bell tower on the top is the longitudinal axis of the whole building. The doors, windows and carved patterns on both sides are symmetrical and harmonious. The East facade gate is supported by four stout Doric pillars, which is solemn and powerful. There are four Greek Doric columns at the entrance of the main entrance, forming a porch.

The caisson in the entrance hall is exquisitely decorated with colorful mosaic patterns. The upper part of the building has the architectural characteristics of decorative art. The flagpole of the bell tower is located at 31 ° 14'20.38 "n and 121 ° 29'0.02" E, which is the landmark of Shanghai's geographical location. At the same time, it is also the most magnificent building on the Bund.

The most famous part of Shanghai customs building is its towering bell tower and big bell. The installation of a big bell in the customs building started in the second half of the 19th century. A big bell was installed on the church style Jianghai Beiguan building completed in 1893. The clock tower is of Gothic style, with a height of 10 stories. It is made in imitation of the big clock of the British Parliament building. After it was built in the UK, it was transported to Shanghai for assembly. It is said that it cost more than 5000 taels of silver. The bell tower is divided into bell drop, clock face, main engine and bell ringing, which is a group of harmonious bell ringing devices. This big clock is the largest in Asia and one of the world famous ones.

The customs building stands majestically on the Bank of the Pujiang River. Its sonorous and passionate bell symbolizes solemnity and mission.

Customs building clock

The most famous part of Shanghai customs building is its towering bell tower and big bell. The installation of a big bell in the customs building started in the second half of the 19th century. A big bell was installed on the church style Jianghai Beiguan building completed in 1893.

Historical reasons

First, the customs building built in 1893 was the tallest building on the Bund at that time. Foreign ships sailed into Huangpu River from Wusongkou. They saw the customs building and heard the bell from a long distance, and soon berthed at the port to go through the customs formalities and load and unload import and export goods, playing the role of navigation aids and lighthouse. Second, the towering customs building and the graceful bell brought life to the city Thirdly, there are historical reasons for the installation of big clocks in the customs building and the needs of customs business.

Since the 19th century, the Customs has learned from the customs of western countries to calculate the tonnage tax on ships by the number of days. One day will be added after 12 o'clock at night. Due to the fact that import and export ships come from all over the world, the clock errors provided by the ships themselves are very large, which often cause disputes. In order to unify the time reporting, the clock tower of the customs is the standard Big clocks are also installed in the Chaozhou customs, Jianghan customs and other buildings. In 1925, when Jiang customs invested 4.3 million taels of silver to build a new building, the Department of Taxation and the Customs Supervisor decided to rebuild the largest and world-famous clock in China. Two years later, the customs clock and the building were built at the same time.

The customs clock was designed and manufactured by Whitchurch company of England, with a total cost of more than 5000 taels of silver. It was made in 1927 and transported from London to Shanghai in August of the same year. The original packing wooden box and the clock weighed 6.25 tons. When the wooden box of more than 6 tons was hoisted to the clock tower more than 72 meters high, pedestrians on the Bund road stopped to watch the lifting spectacle. New year's day in 1928, the first sound, every moment, "play Westminster music.". The bell tower ranks first in Asia and third in the world.

At the top of the customs building are four bell towers which are folded up step by step. The daily accurate and melodious time chimes make it one of the core buildings of the Bund building complex at that time, together with the original HSBC building on the south side. The flagpole of the bell tower is located at 31 ° 14'20.38 N and 121 ° 29'0.02 e. it has become a landmark of Shanghai's geographical position in the 1920s. It is also the tallest and most magnificent building on the Bund.

Internal structure

Clock tower extension core room, copper bell base, flagpole platform three floors. The movement room is the heart of the clock. Hundreds of gears are engaged with each other. The wire rope with a diameter of more than 12mm replaces the fine wire in ordinary clocks and watches. There are three huge pendulums under the wire rope. One strikes the right time, the other is responsible for the time, and the biggest one weighs more than 1 ton. There are four clock faces around, each of which is made up of more than 100 pieces of 0.3-1m milky white tempered glass.

According to the data, this kind of glass was specially made. At that time, only a few countries such as Germany could develop it (now China can also make this kind of glass). The diameter of each clock face is 5.4 meters. There are 72 electric lights with automatic switch. At night, the whole body is bright, and the huge numbers can be seen clearly from a few miles away. The red copper minute hand on the clock face is 3.17 meters long and weighs 49 kg; the red copper hour hand is 2.3 meters long and weighs 37.5 kg. The spring of the clock is twisted with 0.01 m thick steel wire, 156 m long. Wind the clock three times a week, each time

Chinese PinYin : Shang Hai Hai Guan Da Lou