The Bund derived from the Anglo-Indian term literally means a muddy embankment. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, it was a mere shallow waterfront covered with reeds. After the Opium War, it was the British who first set up their settlement, erected their consulate and western style buildings on the West Bank of the Huangpu River between a creek called Yangjiangbang and the Suzhou Creek. By the end of the nineteenth century, the change on the Bund became more conspicuous. Foreign companies and bank buildings of three or four storeys were erected along the Huangpu River. The two-path turned into a smooth avenue. Piers appeared on the waterfront. At the beginning of this century, the former brick and timber buildings were replaced by reinforced concrete structures of six or seven stories. In the early 1920s the Bund became the city's foreign street. Americans, British, Japanese, French, Russians, Germans and other Europeans built banks, trading houses, clubs, consulates and hotels on this strip of land in styles from neo-classical to Art Deco. These high-rises, some over ten stories, shot into the sky and remain there up to now. They are identical in their architectural tone and their skylines are harmonious though different architects designed at different times. These buildings, in a way, are one of the architectural complexes, symbolizing the city of Shanghai.