Open the panorama of Zurich, the first thing you will see is the blue sky and the clear water. If you zoom in and out, you may find that the urban area of Zurich is not particularly large and you will see the sophisticated and unique houses nearby, the Limmat dividing the urban area into two parts as well as the quiet Lake Zürich and the magnificent Alps in the distance.
When you first came to Zurich, you will see rows of ancient buildings with streetcars roaring past, the streets paved with smooth and flat pebbles as well as the white swans and their babies playing in the Limmat. You will find it hard to imagine that Zurich is an international financial center just like New York and Hong Kong and that the funds mobilized here each year account for 20% of the world’s total funds, as you will not see high buildings here like in New York and Hong Kong. It is exactly the contrast that changes the way we think about financial centers and let visitors enjoy themselves so much as to forget to leave.
If you pay your attention to the spire of the Fraumünster and keep zooming in on the panorama, you will find the red word “UBS”. You know? It is the head office of the United Bank of Switzerland, the world’s safest and most mysterious bank. It manages the largest part of the world's private wealth. According to statistics, half of the world's billionaires are its clients. It is said that the bank has built a number of underground bunkers and storage facilities near the Alps.
The street at which the head office of UBS in Zurich is located is called Bahnhofstrasse (“Railway Station Street”). Like the “Fifth Avenue” in New York and the “Avenue des Champs-Élysées” in Paris, it is also one of the world’s most expensive streets. There is a rumor that there are gold reserves of many banks buried under the street and every step you take here is on the golds.