1842年8月《南京条约》签订后,上海被辟为通商口岸。由于南京路外滩遥望驶进黄浦江的轮船的角度最佳,因此第一任英国驻上海领事巴富尔即把这一带选为外国人的居留地,其用意就是他说的:“英国的军舰在这里可以停泊,使英国人看得见而感到安全。我们的目的是要完全控制扬子江,以稳定我们的商业关系”。为了能长期租用房地产,使之“合法化”,1845年巴富尔和上海道台宫慕久签订了第一个地皮章程,其中有一条便规定了南京路的归属。于是外国商人蜂拥而至,展开了一场地皮争夺战。几所著名的大楼就是从这时候开始在 After the signing of the Nanjing Treaty in August 1842, Shanghai was turned into a treaty port. Since the perspective of the Nanjing Bund on the Huangpu River is best viewed from the Bund, the first British consul in Shanghai, Barval, to choose this area as a place of residence for foreigners was intended to mean: “The British warship Here you can park and feel safe for the British to see and we aim to have total control of the Yangtze River so as to stabilize our commercial relations. ” In order to be able to rent real estate over a long period of time and make it “legalized”, in 1845, the first land charter was signed between the two cities by Barver and Shanghai Wutai. There was one that stipulated the ownership of Nanjing Road. So foreign businessmen flocked to the ground started a battle for land. Several well-known building is from this time in the beginning