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Hongkong & Shanghai Bank (HSBC) Main Building Review

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Hongkong & Shanghai Bank (HSBC) Main Building

  • Address: 1 Queen's Rd., across from Statue Sq., Central, Hong Kong, China

Fodor's Review:

Designed by Sir Norman Foster, the headquarters of Hong Kong's premier bank (it's depicted on most of the territory's paper money) was completed in 1985 at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. At a time of insecurity vis-à-vis China, it was a powerful statement that the bank had no intention of taking its money out of the territory.

The two bronze lions outside the building also guarded HSBC's previous headquarters, built in 1935. The one with the gaping mouth is named Stephen, after the Hong Kong branch manager at the time; the other's called Stitt, after the manager in Shanghai. If you look closely, you can see bullet marks in them from the 1941 Battle of Hong Kong.

Architectural Assessment: With its distinctive ladder facade, many consider this building a triumph—a landmark of modern architecture, even. It sits on four props that allow you to walk under it and look up through its glass belly into the soaring atrium within. Even more interesting is Foster's sensitive treatment of high-tech details: the mechanics of everything, from the elevators' gears and pulleys to the electric signs' circuit boards, are visible through smoked glass. Because of all these mechanics, irreverent locals call this the Robot Building. Computer-controlled glass mirrors—480 of them—change position throughout the day to reflect natural light into the bank. You can get an insider perspective by taking the escalators through the public banking hall up to the third-floor atrium.

Feng Shui Assessment: Rumor has it that during construction, the escalators were reset from their original straight position so that they would be at an angle to the entrance. Because evil spirits can only travel in a straight line, this realignment was thought to prevent waterborne spirits from flowing in off Victoria Harbor. The escalators are also believed to resemble two whiskers of a powerful dragon, sucking money into the bank. Atop the building and pointing toward the Bank of China Tower are two metal rods that look like a window-washing apparatus. The rods are a classic feng shui technique designed to deflect the negative energy—in this case, of the Bank of China's dreaded triangles—away and back to its source.

  • Cost: Free
  • Open: Weekdays 9-5:30, Sat. 9-12:30
  • Metro: Central MTR, Exit K
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