We are standing on the oldest shopping street in Shanghai. The British settlement laid it out in the 1850s, and for years local people simply called it Big Horse Road, because it was built so that people could ride out to the racecourse at the western end. The racecourse is gone. It became People’s Square, which is where this street still ends today.
我们站的是上海最老的一条商业街。英租界在十九世纪五十年代辟出这条路，本地人有很多年就管它叫大马路，因为修它本来是为了骑马去西头的跑马场。跑马场没有了，那块地变成了人民广场，这条街今天仍旧在那里到头。
In the early twentieth century this street became the place where China learned modern retail. Four great department1 stores opened within twenty years of one another: Sincere in 1917, Wing On in 1918, Sun Sun in 1926 and The Sun in 1936. They were not only shops. They had roof gardens, restaurants, hotels and theatres stacked above the counters2, and they were the first buildings in the city where an ordinary family could spend a whole day indoors. Three of the four are still trading, under different names.
二十世纪初，中国的现代零售业是在这条街上学会的。四家大百货公司在二十年间先后开张，先施 1917 年，永安 1918 年，新新 1926 年，大新 1936 年。它们不只是商店。柜台之上还叠着屋顶花园、餐厅、旅馆和剧场，这是这座城市里头一批能让普通人家在室内待上一整天的房子。四家里有三家今天还在营业，换了名字。
The pedestrian3 section we are on opened in 1999 and runs about one kilometre, from Henan Road in the east to Xizang Road in the west. If you come back after dark you will see why people photograph it. The neon4 here is not a recent decoration. Shanghai had neon signs from the 1930s, the city was famous for them, and the modern ones are deliberately built in that spirit. There is also a tram5 that runs the length of the street if anyone would rather ride than walk.
我们脚下这段步行街 1999 年开通，全长约一公里，东起河南路，西到西藏路。要是天黑以后再来，你就明白大家为什么都在这儿拍照。这里的霓虹不是近年才装上的装饰。上海从三十年代起就有霓虹招牌，这座城市因此出名，今天这些是照着那股劲头做的。街上还有一趟观光车，谁不想走可以坐。
Keep your bearings by the two ends. Walk east and you reach the Bund and the Peace Hotel. Walk west and you reach People’s Square, with the Shanghai Museum and the Grand Theatre on it. One end is the old waterfront, the other is the city’s living room. Watch your bags in the crowd, and please be careful of the tram, it is quieter than you expect. We meet at the Xizang Road end in one hour.
认方向就认两头。往东走到底是外滩和和平饭店，往西走到底是人民广场，上海博物馆和大剧院都在广场上。一头是老江岸，另一头是这座城市的客厅。人多，包看好，另外留意那趟观光车，它比你以为的安静。一小时后我们在西藏路那头集合。