2011年 06月 17日 07:40

Agence France-Presse

上海夜景。

上

海的夜晚，黃浦江被江邊數(shù)十座用作全球金融機構(gòu)寫字樓的摩天大廈照得亮如白晝。世界級的飯店和夜總會里擠滿了當(dāng)?shù)厝撕屯鈬?。在各個購物區(qū)，國際知名設(shè)計師的旗艦店鱗次櫛比。

但是，上海的夜晚可不僅僅是techno音樂、摩天大樓和奢侈品。

據(jù)研究上海歷史的派翠克•克蘭利（W. Patrick Cranley）說，雖然上海老城區(qū)相當(dāng)多建筑被拆——存留到今天的老房子僅有大約20%，但在這個大都市的許多角落里，仍然可以發(fā)現(xiàn)很多可以追溯到二十世紀(jì)之初的建筑珍品。這些建筑中，一些已經(jīng)破敗不堪，人去樓空，另外一些則成了全城最頂級酒吧、餐廳和休閑活動中心的所在。

Hamilton House

圖片：上海老建筑里的夜生活

夜游上海老城區(qū)，首選從先前法租界安靜的林蔭道開始。先前的法租界所在地距離黃浦江沒有多遠(yuǎn)。

法租界最初于十八世紀(jì)中期劃定之后，又向西擴了一部分。到1914年，租界將老城墻內(nèi)的很大一部分也包圍在里面。現(xiàn)在，該地區(qū)的街道已不再沿用第一次世界大戰(zhàn)中法國英雄和僑居上海的歐洲居民的名字，但是上水井蓋上仍有“eau”（法語，水的意思）的痕跡。

隱身在高墻之內(nèi)的老宅邸有些已經(jīng)被改造成政府辦公室，其他一些則歸私人所有。這些私人宅邸進行了翻新，內(nèi)部和外墻都經(jīng)過了整修，重現(xiàn)了昔日的顯赫輝煌。

在東湖路（原名杜美路）一座建于1928年的建筑內(nèi)，開了一家名為“el-Willy”的西班牙餐廳，餐廳里經(jīng)常坐滿了在上海工作的歐洲人和富有的中國人。餐廳內(nèi)的主色調(diào)是富麗堂皇的紅色和橙色，還有磚塊裸露在外的拱門。戶外有一個天井，先前的主人曾在這里侍弄蔬菜。

餐廳主廚威利•特魯利亞斯•莫雷諾（Willy Trullas Moreno）來自巴賽隆納，他拿手的龍蝦海鮮飯、辣腸餡西班牙煎蛋卷、伊比利亞火腿等餐前小菜需要的所有材料全部從國外進口。餐廳附屬的那家小酒吧專營來自西班牙、阿根廷和智利的美酒。

樓上則是Sushi Oyama壽司店，這里的金槍魚腩卷（toro roll）堪稱滬上一流，你可以在壽司吧，也可以在日式雅間里享用美味壽司。周末訂餐要趁早，因為el-Willy和Sushi Oyama通常都會很早就訂滿了。

如果不去外灘（Bund）看看，此趟夜上海懷舊游就算不得完滿。外灘是黃浦江西岸的一條步行道，從這里可以眺望對岸燈火璀璨、美不勝收的浦東——上海的新興商業(yè)中心。

當(dāng)?shù)卣迯?fù)了外灘幾十座具有歷史意義的老建筑，恢復(fù)了碼頭區(qū)域幾十年前的繁華。費爾蒙和平飯店（Fairmont Peace Hotel）——原名華懋飯店（Cathay），是二十世紀(jì)三十年代上海最知名的飯店之一——經(jīng)過三年的裝修之后，于去年重新開業(yè)。據(jù)飯店老板稱，裝修費用高達(dá)6400萬元。最初，該飯店是地產(chǎn)大亨維克多•沙遜（Victor Sassoon）爵士名下的產(chǎn)業(yè)，是上海第一個裝飾派藝術(shù)風(fēng)格（Art Deco）的大型建筑——當(dāng)年的上海本來是極有可能成為世界裝飾藝術(shù)之都的。華懋飯店新潮的設(shè)計和奢華的內(nèi)部裝修，吸引了本地名流和在這座城市做短暫停留的外地名士——克蘭利說，劇作家諾埃爾•考沃德（Noel Coward）、蕭伯納（George Bernard Shaw）和電影明星查理•卓別林（Charlie Chaplin）都曾在此入住。

外灘還有華爾道夫酒店（Waldorf Astoria Hotel），它所在的大廈在一個世紀(jì)前是上海總會（Shanghai Club）的所在地。酒店內(nèi)有仿制的當(dāng)年上海總會著名的長吧臺（Long Bar）。這個名符其實的長吧臺一度被宣稱為亞洲最長的吧臺。長達(dá)34米的吧臺并不是這家酒店唯一的特色：大理石柱、彩色玻璃窗和華貴的墻板全部都是根據(jù)檔案照片還原而成的。這些設(shè)計旨在創(chuàng)造一種原汁原味的氛圍，就好像二十世紀(jì)二十年代的那個喧囂、充滿誘惑的舊上海根本沒有消失。

然而，就在外灘后面不遠(yuǎn)處，還矗立著很多破舊的建筑——要想保護好老上海的風(fēng)貌，還有很多事情要做。

沿著碼頭區(qū)向東，穿過主街，來到福州路和江西路的路口。這里有四座可以追溯到二十世紀(jì)初的老建筑。其中之一是漢密爾頓大廈（Hamilton House），當(dāng)年也是沙遜爵士的產(chǎn)業(yè)，如今改成了同名的餐廳兼酒吧。光線柔和、裝飾派藝術(shù)風(fēng)格的內(nèi)部設(shè)計讓這座建成于1934年的大廈成為享用睡前酒和極致美味甜點的好去處。

然而，隔壁那座當(dāng)初被設(shè)計為漢米爾頓大廈翻版的大樓卻被一家破敗的旅館所占用。街道對面的那座老樓計劃建成新的上海歷史博物館，目前仍舊空著。另外一個街角上矗立的則是上海公安局的一座大樓。Hamilton House餐廳的老板理查•賽維爾（Richard Xavia）說，這些具有重要建筑意義的大樓將來是否會得到修葺，現(xiàn)在還不得而知。

賽維爾說，“上海在往哪個方向發(fā)展，這很難說。它還是一個很年輕的城市，仍舊在不斷發(fā)展。”

 

夜晚的黃浦江被沿岸摩天大廈的燈火照得亮如白晝，世界級飯店和夜總會里擠滿了當(dāng)?shù)厝撕屯鈬?。而老建筑里的夜生活別有一番風(fēng)味。

In Shanghai at night, the Huangpu River is lit up by dozens of glittering skyscrapers that house the offices of global financial institutions. Locals and expatriates alike throng world-class restaurants and nightclubs. The city's shopping districts brim with flagships from internationally renowned designers.

But there's more to an evening in Shanghai than techno music, skyscrapers and luxury retail.

While much of Old Shanghai has been bulldozed -- only around 20% of the city's traditional housing remains today, according to W. Patrick Cranley, a local historian -- architectural gems dating to the turn of the 20th century and earlier can be found in many corners of the metropolis. Some are dilapidated and empty, but others are home to some of the best bars, restaurants and lounges the city has to offer.

A night out in Old Shanghai should begin on the quiet tree-lined streets of the former French Concession, a swath of land not far from the Huangpu River.

Annexed by the French in the mid-1800s and later expanded westward, the district surrounded much of the old walled-in Chinese city by 1914. The streets are no longer named after French heroes and European residents of Shanghai who fought in World War I, but the manhole covers are still marked 'eau,' French for water.

Behind high walls, some old mansions have been converted into government offices, while private owners have renovated others, restoring their interiors and facades to contemporary versions of their past glory.

On Donghu Lu (formerly Rue Dounier), a 1928 structure is now home to a Spanish restaurant called el-Willy often filled with a mix of European expats and well-to-do Chinese. The interior is in lush red and orange, with exposed brick arches, and outdoors there's a patio on the spot where a former owner grew vegetables.

Chef Willy Trullas Moreno, a Barcelona native, imports all the ingredients for his magnificent tapas dishes, which include lobster paella, chorizo-filled Spanish omelets and iberico ham. A small wine bar attached to the restaurant specializes in bottles from Spain, Argentina and Chile.

Upstairs in the same building is Sushi Oyama, whose sushi bar and private tatami rooms offer some of the best toro rolls in Shanghai. Book early on weekends, when both el-Willy and Sushi Oyama are usually packed.

An evening spent embracing Shanghai's past is not complete without a visit to the Bund, a promenade on the west side of the Huangpu River that offers stunning views across to glittering Pudong, the city's new business hub.

Dozens of the Bund's historic buildings have been restored, renewing the waterfront's splendor of decades past. Most recently, the Fairmont Peace Hotel, which as the Cathay was one of the city's most celebrated hotels during the 1930s, reopened its doors last year after a three-year refurbishment that its owners say cost about $64 million. Originally the property of real-estate tycoon Sir Victor Sassoon, it was the first major Art Deco building in a city that would become a world capital of the architectural style. With its stylish design and luxurious interiors, it drew the local elite and celebrities passing through town -- including, Mr. Cranley says, playwrights Noel Coward and George Bernard Shaw and film star Charlie Chaplin.

Also on the Bund, the Waldorf Astoria Hotel now occupies the building that a century ago was home to the Shanghai Club -- and includes a replica of the club's historic Long Bar, which, true to its name, was once declared Asia's longest. But its 34-meter length isn't its only distinction: With its marble columns, stained-glass windows and ornate wall panelling, all reproduced from archival photos, it creates an ambience so authentic that it's as if the bustling, seductive Shanghai of the 1920s never disappeared at all.

Just behind the Bund, however, are reminders that there is still more to be done to save the Shanghai of yesterday.

Walk east along the waterfront then cross back over the main thoroughfare up to the intersection of Fuzhou and Jiangxi Roads. Among four buildings dating back to the early 1900s is Hamilton House, another former Sassoon property that's now home to a restaurant, bar and lounge of the same name. The softly lit, Art Deco-inspired interiors make the 1934 building a great place for a nightcap or decadent dessert.

But next door, a building designed as a mirror image of Hamilton House is occupied by a run-down hotel, and across the street, another historic building, slated to become a new Shanghai history museum, sits empty. On the other corner is a Shanghai police building. Whether these architecturally significant structures will ever be restored remains unknown, says Richard Xavia, Hamilton House's owner.

'It's difficult to tell which direction Shanghai is going at the moment,' Mr. Xavia says. 'It is still so young. It is continuously moving.'

Lara Farrar