Bank of China Building

As I was leaving our Hongkong building (Citigroup Tower) when on a recent business trip, the fog had rolled off the harbour. Neon lights on the side of the Bank of China building were alit. I took this photograph standing only feet away from the base.

Unlike most other giant buildings in Hongkong, this one has no restaurants or stores in the base. It is purely a corporate headquarters building. Not all floors are occupied by Bank of China. Many other large buildings have malls incorporated into their base.

Next to this building is another equally tall -- seventy stories. It is called the Cheung Kong building. Goldman Sachs leases the highest available floors in the building. Li Ka Shing (Hongkong richest man and majority stake owner in Cheung Kong properties) is rumored to own the top floor as a private residence.

Like the Bank of China building, it also has no retail space or restaurants. Local lore has it that he did not want people to begrduge him for being associated with the wrong brands. Thus, he forbid retail space from the building altogether. Regardless, as much as the Bank of China building is praised for its beauty and size on the Hongkong skyline, the Cheung Kong building is literally less than one hundred meters away. It is a boxy, glassy, reflective, and uninspiring structure. Regardless, numerous foreign corporations have their Asia headquarters and operations in this well-located building.