Old Bank of China Building, Hong Kong

Completed only a year after the Communist Party came to power in China, this building had a lot to prove! The neighbouring Hongkong and Shanghai Bank building, since demolished to make way for Foster's steel and glass concoction , had to be surpassed in every way, which it duly was. Continuing the patriotic theme, external loudspeakers encouraged passers-by to revolt against the colonial rulers during the heady days of the Cultural Revolution in 1967. No longer home to the Bank of China, the occupants now include the Sin Hua Bank as well as the exclusive, old Shanghai-style China Club.