Nothing makes news (good or bad) feel more immediate than having it emanate from a familiar locale. Shanghai is more than 7,400 miles from my digs on Long Island, but my daughter lives and works in Shanghai, so reports of the New Year’s Eve stampede that killed 36 people there hit too close to home.

The fatal chaos occurred on The Bund, Shanghai’s most scenic spot, a spectacular touristy waterfront. During a visit in 2011, we engaged in obligatory strolls along the mile-long Bund, had a drink in the restaurant atop the House of Roosevelt, one of a dozen historic buildings along the Bund’s walkway, overlooking the Huangpu River and the sparkling high-rises on the opposite bank. A more peaceful, carefree place is hard to imagine.

 

Also, I couldn’t help posing for a snapshot in front of the bronze statue of Chen Yi, who looked important. (Indeed, he was the first Communist mayor of Shanghai—1949-1958).

Initially settled by the British in the mid-1800s with Shanghai’s establishment as a trading post, the Bund experienced a construction boom at the turn of the 20^th Century, with commercial buildings springing up in architectural styles described as Beaux Arts, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, Baroque Revival, Neo-Classical and Art Deco. Terrific structures, even to a visitor with little knowledge of architecture.

Those remain, and across the Huangpu River, in the Pudong district (Shanghai’s version of Wall Street) is a series of shining skyscrapers, including the distinct “Bottle Opener,” Shanghai’s World Financial Center building.

All of the Bund’s atmosphere is a dramatic contrast to Shanghai’s old walled city, just a short walk–but feeling light years–away. Laundry hangs in its narrow lanes shared by pedestrians and bicycles riders.

And all of it an unlikely setting for death.