Taipei Hotel

Taipei Hotel

Taipei Hotel is located in the Bo'ai special zone of Taipei city. It is the guest house of the Taiwan authorities. It is specially designed to receive important guests or hold celebrations. The Taipei Hotel was built in 1899 and completed in 1901. It was designed by Japanese architects Togo Fukuda and Ichiro Nomura, and then rebuilt with the help of Matsushita Moriyama. It is one of the representative works of Taiwan architecture during the Japanese occupation. It is also known as the most elegant Baroque residential building in Taiwan.

Hotel Introduction

The main body of the hotel building is concave, the roof of the building is in the style of mansard, and the column surface is high Roman column, which is the palace building style popular in the second period of France. Inside the hotel, there are Baroque flower and leaf carvings, hanging crystal lamps with fine foot patterns wrapped in gold foil, and gorgeous styles. Outside, there is a modern Chiquan style garden in Japan. It was designated as a historical site by the Taiwan authorities in 1998 and is now under the administration of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Taiwan authorities.

The Taipei Hotel was originally the "governor's residence" of the Japanese governor of Taiwan. It was only about 100 meters away from the then Taiwan Governor's Office (now the head and staff organization of the Taiwan authorities). During the period of Japanese occupation, there was an endless stream of Japanese nobility and dignitaries. Crown prince Hirohito (Japanese emperor Showa) also stayed here when he visited Taiwan. After Japan's defeat in the war, ye Gongchao, the head of Taiwan's foreign affairs department, and Japanese Foreign Minister Kada Lieh signed the "Sino Japanese peace treaty" here in 1953.

history

Interim governor's residence period

The old customs of Keelung in the former Qing Dynasty

On June 5, 1895, the Japanese army invaded Keelung in the war of conquering Taiwan. The former Keelung customs of the Qing Dynasty was used as the temporary residence of the governor and the seat of the governor's Mansion by the early governor, Huashan Ziji. It was also the temporary residence of Prince nengjiu in beibaichuan palace, the head of the Imperial Guard division. With the Japanese invasion of Taipei on the 14th, the temporary governor's residence was no longer used after about 10 days. In 1934, the Spanish style two-story brick and wood mixed building was converted into a local museum. After the Second World War, it was transferred to Keelung customs for use. Due to no maintenance of the foreign style building, it was decayed and damaged. Later, it was demolished and rebuilt into a customs dormitory, which is today's Renaissance Museum. The original location of the customs is around today's Keelung Zhongchuan road.

The government office of the former Qing Dynasty

After the Japanese army invaded Taipei City, it was convenient to set up the temporary governor's residence, the governor's office and the office of the army staff in the former Qing Dynasty chief envoy's Yamen. Governor Huashan lived in the preparation and defense Bureau on the west side of the yamen, which was not only the daily life, but also the office. In August 1895, the official residence was moved to the old west school again, and the original site continued to be used as the temporary governor's residence until 1920, when the new office of the governor's residence was completed. The Yamen of the chief envoy was demolished in 1932 and rebuilt into today's Zhongshan Hall. Some of the buildings were moved to the botanical garden for preservation. In 1985, it was designated as a second-class historic site.

Former Qingxi school

In August 1895, the governor's residence was moved to the former xixuetang in the Qing Dynasty. It is a building with three western style buildings in the shape of Pinyin. Liu Mingchuan, the founder, originally used to cultivate talents of Westernization, but later stopped because of lack of funds. After the Japanese army pacified Taiwan, it was used as the governor's residence. Because of its long service life, it was also regarded as the first generation of governor's residence. The third generation of governor naimuxidian lived here for the longest time, so it is also called naimuguan. After the completion of the new residence, the governor's residence became the headquarters of the brigade and regiment, which was later demolished due to urban planning. The building is located in the street outline surrounded by today's Baoqing Road, Taoyuan Street, Changsha Street and Yanping South Road, about a section of today's Changsha Street near the women's Federation.

First generation governor's residence

In 1899, he began to plan the construction of the governor's residence, which was ordered by the fourth governor, taro eryuyuan. At the same time, the construction of the Taiwan shrine on Jiantan mountain and the demolition of the Taipei city wall began to open up the Royal envoy road to the Taiwan shrine. The demolished wall stones were used as building materials for the governor's residence. Governor Eryu thinks that the purpose of the governor's residence is to show the governor's dignity and to convince the people. Therefore, at the beginning of the design, he asked for the most elegant and gorgeous. The civil affairs chief, shinhei goto, also agreed with this idea. On September 26, 1901, the official residence was completed, and the final cost was as high as 217000 Japanese yen. Because the cost was too large, and it was directly funded by the Japanese Treasury, it caused a strong criticism at that time. In addition, governor Eryu also used the accounting method to finance the remaining funds from the construction of the Taiwan shrine to build the governor's residence, which also attracted great attention.

Designed and completed by Japanese architects Toshio Fukuda and Ichiro Nomura, the appearance of the governor's residence is Renaissance style. The main body is concave and left-right asymmetric. It belongs to a two-story building made of brick and stone. The roof is made of wooden roof truss and slate tiles. The first and second floors are paved with parquet flooring, and the outer corridor and central gallery are paved with British tiles; The beams and columns on the second floor are made of iron and filled with concrete. The front and rear gardens are western style and Japanese style gardens, covering a vast area; in addition, the ancillary facilities include the guard house (the place where the guards are stationed), the Royal Martin dormitory and the stables (which were converted into reinforced concrete car parking lot in 1922).

The second generation governor's residence

More than ten years after the construction of the governor's residence, the original wooden roof had been eroded and rotten by termites because of insufficient space. Therefore, it was rebuilt in 1911 with a budget of 150000 Japanese dollars. The person in charge of the reconstruction was Matsushita Moriyama. During the period of renovation, the governor temporarily moved to the temporary official residence until the renovation was completed on March 31, 1913. The contents of the reconstruction include: 296 Ping on the second and third floors, 101 Ping on the balcony, 11 Ping on the car (porch) and 6 Ping on the dining hall. In addition, the architectural style has also changed from Renaissance style to gorgeous baroque style, the roof has been replaced with Massa style roof, the wooden roof truss has been replaced with steel frame, the balcony column has changed from single column to Roman double column, etc., which is the palace architectural style popular in the second period of France. The interior renovation includes beech parquet floor, Victorian tile and fireplace (imported from England), plush carpet and silk window curtain, Baroque flower and leaf carving, hanging crystal lamp with gold foil winding fine foot pattern, and gorgeous plaster sculpture and decoration everywhere.

In addition to continuing to show the status of the ruler, the hotel has also changed from the original function of the governor's residence to the main function of receiving distinguished guests and welcoming royal members. Therefore, in terms of reconstruction, it should be in line with the noble status of distinguished guests and royal families, and should not hesitate to transform it into a gorgeous hotel. After the reconstruction, the most important reception was the visit of Prince Hirohito (later emperor Showa) in 1923. In addition to visiting the construction projects in various parts of Taiwan, he also used the official residence to entertain local officials and perform activities.

Taipei Hotel after World War II

After the end of the Second World War, the hotel was taken over by the police headquarters of the national government and turned into the official residence of the president of Taiwan Province. In 1950, it was transferred to the head and staff organization of the Taiwan authorities, and its name was changed to Taipei Hotel. In 1952, ye Gongchao, who was then the head of Taiwan's foreign affairs department, signed the Sino Japanese peace treaty with Japanese Foreign Minister Hetian lie at the Taipei Hotel. In 1963, the hotel was loaned to Taiwan's foreign affairs department as a place for important guests and dinners. On July 30, 1998, the Taipei Hotel was designated as a historic site.

After the Second World War, the Taipei Hotel had not been maintained for a long time until 1977. On July 4, 2001, because of the serious damage to the building, the building was stopped using in September of the same year after the proposal of Taiwan's foreign affairs department, and the repair work was started in 2002. The hotel was restored on May 14, 2006, with a cost of more than 400 million yuan. From June 4, 2006, it will be open to the public on the first Sunday of every double month. Nowadays, apart from being open to visitors on fixed days, the Taipei Hotel is still a place for holding banquets, entertaining foreign guests and drinking parties. In recent years, there have also been charitable garden tours and cultural and artistic activities.

Internal configuration of official residence

First floor interior

Most of the first floor of the meeting room hotel on the first floor before reconstruction has the function of open space, which is mainly used for office and social activities. The east side of the first floor is full of office space, including the "reception room" (the place where visitors wait), the governor's secretary room, the adjutant's room and the Secretary's room next door, as well as the large conference room and its affiliated "reception room". In the west, it is a place for reception. There is a large space "guest room" for visitors and a "big dining hall" for large banquets. There is a sliding door between the two. The governor can walk down the stairs from the second floor to the guest room to meet the distinguished guests, and then to the dining hall for banquets. There are also kitchens, catering rooms, preparation rooms, and the "car mail" (porch), porch, "paid", "control center", "decapitation room" and "sleeping room" (night room) which are entered by the gate entrance. There is also a game room in the southeast corner of the East, which has billiard table and other functions. It is a place for gentry to have a rest, entertainment and chat after dinner.

The reconstructed first floor

After reconstruction, the governor's residence became more like a place for welcoming guests and socializing. The first floor is transformed into the first and second passenger rooms leading from Guangzhou to the East and West, and then the two large spaces enter the conference room and the dining hall respectively. The East passage is the way for the South clerks, adjutants and secretaries to enter and leave, while the West passage is the way for servants to enter

Chinese PinYin : Tai Bei Bin Guan