Boxing Day

Boxing Day is the day after Xmas on 26th December. The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear and there are several competing theories, none of which is definitive. The tradition has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions. The European tradition has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown and there are some claims that it goes back to the late Roman/early Christian era; metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen. 

In the UK, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys' diary entry for 19 December 1663; This custom is linked to an older English tradition: in exchange for ensuring that wealthy landowners' Christmases ran smoothly, their servants were allowed to take the 26th off to visit their families. The employers gave each servant a box containing gifts and bonuses (and sometimes leftover food). 

This year we are spending Xmas at home having been away the last 2 years. Last year we were in Shanghai, China visiting friends and this photo was taken at the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Hotel on The Bund. The hotel is located in an old heritage building which has been wonderfully restored as you can see in this image.

Yellow Bank River

The Huangpu River, literally "Yellow Bank River", is a 97km-long river in China flowing through Shanghai. It is the last significant tributary of the Yangtze before it empties into the East China Sea.

Huangpu River is the largest river in Shanghai, and Suzhou Creek is its main branch.

It is an average of 400 meters wide and 9 meters deep. Shanghai gets most of its drinking water from the Huangpu, which thus plays an important part for the metropolis. It divides the city into two regions:Pudong (east) and Puxi (west). The Bund in Shanghai is located along the river.

The Bund

The Bund is an area of Huangpu District in central Shanghai, People's Republic of China. The area centres on a section of Zhongshan Road (East-1 Zhongshan Road) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu River, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District. The Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on this section of the road, as well as some adjacent areas. The Bund is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. Building heights are restricted in this area.

The word "bund" means an embankment or an embanked quay, and comes from the Urdu word band, meaning an embankment, levee or dam (a cognate of English terms "bind," "bond" and "band," the German term "bund," etc.). "Bund" is pronounced to rhyme with "fund". The term was brought to Shanghai by the family of Victor Sassoon, a Baghdadi-Nepali Jew. There are many "bands" to be found in Baghdad, even today. There are numerous sites in India, China, and Japan which are called "bunds" (e.g. the Yokohama Bund). However, "The Bund" as a proper noun almost invariably refers to this stretch of embanked riverfront in Shanghai.