Before we talk about the building, look at the two bronze lions at the door. They were cast in England in 1923 and given names by the bank staff, Stephen after Alexander Stephen, the bank's chief manager in Hong Kong, and Stitt after Gordon Stitt, the Shanghai manager. One roars and one sits quiet. Generations of Shanghai people rubbed their paws1 for luck, and you can see where the bronze has worn bright. The pair here are copies. The originals survived the war buried in a warehouse and are now in the Shanghai History Museum.
先不说楼，请各位看门口这两头铜狮。1923 年在英国铸的，行员给它们起了名字，一头叫史蒂芬，用的是香港总行总经理史蒂芬的名字，一头叫施迪，用的是上海分行经理施迪的名字。一头张口，一头闭口。几代上海人摸它们的爪子讨彩头，铜色磨亮的地方现在还看得出来。这里这一对是复制品，原件躲过战乱存在仓库里，现在在上海市历史博物馆。
The building opened in 1923, designed by Palmer and Turner, and it cost more than any other structure on this waterfront. A domed neoclassical2 block, granite outside, marble in. When it was finished the bank's own publicity called it the finest building from the Bering Strait to the Suez Canal, and the phrase has followed it ever since. Whether or not that was fair, the ambition is easy to read. It is built like a temple that happens to hold money.
大楼 1923 年落成，公和洋行设计，造价超过这排江岸上任何一幢。带穹顶的新古典主义体量，外面花岗岩，里面大理石。落成时汇丰自己的宣传文字称它是从白令海峡到苏伊士运河之间最讲究的建筑，这句话就此跟了它一百年。这个说法公不公道另说，那份野心一眼能看出来。它盖得像一座神庙，只不过里面放的是钱。
Step into the octagonal entrance hall and look straight up. The dome carries a mosaic of eight panels, one for each city where the bank had a major office. Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Bangkok and Calcutta. Each panel has a female figure and a landmark from that city, and above them run the twelve signs of the zodiac4. The Shanghai panel shows the goddess of the Huangpu with a junk behind her.
走进八角形门厅，直接抬头。穹顶上是八幅马赛克，一幅对应一座汇丰设过主要分行的城市，上海、香港、伦敦、巴黎、纽约、东京、曼谷、加尔各答。每幅里有一个女性形象和那座城市的地标，上方一圈是黄道十二宫。上海那一幅画的是黄浦江女神，身后是一艘沙船。
The mosaic was not visible for forty years. In 1956 the building became the seat of the Shanghai Municipal Government, and the ceiling was covered over with plaster and paint. Whoever did the work chose to hide it rather than strip it, which is why it survived. In 1997 a survey found the tesserae3 intact under the coating, and restorers spent months bringing it back. The bank moved out long ago. Today the building belongs to the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and the hall is open during business hours. Photography of the ceiling is not allowed, so let your guests look rather than aim.
这幅马赛克有四十年没人见过。1956 年大楼成为上海市人民政府所在地，天顶被石膏和涂料盖住。当时动手的人选的是遮，不是铲，它才留了下来。1997 年一次勘查发现涂层下面的马赛克小块完好，修复用了几个月才让它重见天日。汇丰早就搬走了。这幢楼现在属于上海浦东发展银行，营业时间里门厅可以进。天顶不许拍照，带团时让客人抬头看就好，别举相机。