White Swan Hotel

White Swan Hotel

The White Swan Hotel is located in the white goose pond of Shamian, Guangzhou city. It was invested and built by Mr. Huo Yingdong and the people's Government of Guangdong Province. The hotel opened in 1983. It is the first five-star hotel with Sino foreign cooperation in China.

In 1985, it became a member of the first world-class hotel organization in China; in 1990, it became one of the first three five-star hotels in China; in 1996, it ranked first among the 100 excellent and 50 best hotels in China; for many years, it has been rated as the preferred hotel for international business people to go to Guangzhou by international travel guides and other international well-known media. In 2010, Guangzhou white swan hotel was identified as a cultural relic in the third national cultural relic survey of Guangdong Province.

On July 15, 2015, Guangzhou White Swan Hotel, which has been closed for three years, officially opened.

Construction process

The first five-star hotel in the mainland of China, the first joint venture five-star hotel in the mainland, and the first five-star hotel designed, constructed and operated by Chinese people in the mainland White Swan's history of Weishui, which is talked about by people, starts from the reform and opening up.

At the invitation of Liao Chengzhi, who was in charge of overseas Chinese Affairs at that time, Huo Yingdong and others went to Beijing to discuss and formulate a plan: to build eight Sino foreign joint venture hotels in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing. As the forefront of reform and opening up, Guangzhou needs to build five-star hotels of international level. This task falls on Huo Yingdong, a patriotic businessman from Panyu. After many investigations in Guangzhou, Huo Yingdong finally chose the "urban oasis" of Shamian island.

Luo Zhaoxiang, who started working in Shamian street in 1974, will retire in a few months. He still remembers the preparation of white swan in those years.

"When Mr. FOK built the White Swan, he promised not to damage the environment of Shamian island and occupy the land of Shamian island". FOK, who has reclamation experience in Hong Kong, began to build land on the river cofferdam outside Shamian island and planned to build the hotel on the river. Luo Zhaoxiang said that this was a "pioneering undertaking" in China at that time.

Similar to the pragmatic character of Cantonese, the design of white swan is economical and luxurious. At that time, one of the main tasks of building white swan was to serve the growing foreign merchants in the Canton Fair. "There was a great demand for guest rooms. White Swan, China Grand Hotel and garden hotel were all built according to the target of 1000 rooms." Zhang Tian, deputy general manager of White Swan Hotel Group, recalled. However, when the height was set that year, because the white swan was located in the waterway, in order not to damage the sand landscape, the height of the hotel building was limited to less than 100 meters, and the height of the tower was controlled to about 99 meters.

It is a challenge for the design team to cram 28 floors and 1000 rooms into a building less than 100 meters high. Finally, the designers of white swan chose to control the floor height. Later, the height of white swan was set at 2.75 meters. With the ceiling, the height of the room was only about 2.6 meters, and the room area was 26-28 square meters

When white swan was first built, China was still in the era of planned economy. Many building materials were not available in China. Huo Yingdong asked people to buy them from abroad. "Almost all the equipment, building materials and furniture were imported," Zhang Tian said. Even a piece of wood was transported from the Philippines. "All the decoration materials are" hard Bang ", and the cement and steel bars clatter," said Luo Zhaoxiang. At that time, the staff of Shamian Street office participated in the safety inspection of white swan during its construction.

According to Zhang Tian, the architectural design of white swan was undertaken by Chinese people, but Huo Yingdong insisted on inviting foreign designers from the famous American Hotel design company, HbAS, to do interior design, so the interior design of white swan was the most high-end in the mainland at that time. And this time, the White Swan's transformation, once again with the cooperation of HbAS, invited American Japanese designers to complete.

Zhang Tian said that it is precisely because of the high standard of white swan that after the operation of the hotel, its advanced level and luxury degree caused a sensation in China, and the hotel industry from all over the country came to investigate.

According to public information, when preparing to build the White Swan, Huo Yingdong invested HK $50 million, Peng Guozhen invested HK $12.5 million and Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration invested RMB 4 million. In 1981, the white swan hotel also lent us $36.31 million to the Guangzhou Branch of the Bank of China. According to the exchange rate at that time, the construction investment of white swan hotel is nearly 180 million yuan. Huo Yingdong once said that he does not worry about the hotel and does not make money, but with the title of the first five-star hotel, leaders from the state to the local place have high hopes, and the operation of white swan is only allowed to succeed, not to fail. White Swan began to make profits in the year when it was built, and gained a net profit of 12.82 million yuan in the year.

White swan is the seed sown by the state in the experimental field of reform and opening up. Later facts have proved that the success of white swan hotel has led a large number of foreign capital into Guangzhou. The subsequent opening of five-star hotels, such as China Grand Hotel and Garden Hotel, made Guangzhou three of the eight five-star hotels in China at that time.

"At that time, the white swan was like a" diversion bridge "and a symbol of reform and opening up to attract investment," Yang Bo, a veteran employee of white swan, told reporters. Yang Bo, who is over 70 years old, joined the White Swan power department in 1982. He is the "old minister" who is preparing to build the hotel. What impresses him most is that "Huo Sheng comes to paili every Spring Festival.". Since the establishment of the hotel, Huo Sheng will come to white swan in person every Spring Festival and Mid Autumn Festival to express his holiday wishes to every employee. White Swan also keeps the tradition of giving preferential treatment to employees.

Glory in the country

The queen of England has had roast suckling pig here

White Swan, the pioneer of reform and opening up, opens a window for Chinese people to see the world, and also shows foreign friends the social atmosphere of China in the new era.

According to the statistics of White Swan Hotel, the hotel has received 150 heads of state and royal family members from more than 40 countries in 30 years of operation. The most popular is the visit of the queen of England in 1986. Chen Yang, a commentator on current affairs, still remembers that it was the first time that Guangzhou people saw the brand-new Rolls Royce. "It seems that there are three cars in my memory.". The motorcade passed through most of the old city of Guangzhou. At that time, he also ran to the side of Renmin North Road to take photos, and the negative film has been preserved to this day. "At that time, I exclaimed, wow, what a prestige! The car is beautiful. Needless to say, the driver wears a big cap and white gloves. How fresh and shocking these are in the era when the door of the country has just opened. "

Many people in Guangzhou still remember that the Queen's Rolls Royce was later displayed in front of the White Swan's door, becoming the symbol of the white swan. However, not many people know that the queen ate authentic Cantonese food in the white swan at that time.

In 2012, when the White Swan Hotel was closed for renovation, Peng Shuting, a former deputy general manager of the White Swan Hotel, revealed on his microblog the "Queen's banquet" menu of the hotel which had been preserved for 26 years

Moon reflecting fairy rabbit

、

Double dragon play pearl

、

Swallow milk into bamboo forest

、

Golden red pigskin

、

Phoenix eight treasures tripod

and

Golden grouper

. During her 130 minute stay, white swan cooked six classic dishes for her.

It is reported that before the Queen's visit, the White Swan catering department learned about the Queen's eating habits through the British Consulate and the Chinese Ministry of foreign affairs, "we just want her to eat Guangdong specialties.". "Yueyingxian rabbit" is a Cantonese pastry platter, and "golden red pig" has always been the signature dish of White Swan Hotel, that is, roast suckling pig familiar to Cantonese. In addition, Huo Yingdong specially brought lobster and grouper from Hong Kong to entertain the queen. At that time, the tableware used by the queen of England was specially made, including silver tea sets from England and ceramic dishes from China. Peng Shuting recalled that since then“

Queen's banquet

”As a classic dish of white swan, the set meal was fixed, and the price of the set meal was 2000 yuan per person before the closure of the business.

In fact, in 1985 and 1993, former US President Nixon stayed in the White Swan Hotel twice. At that time, Zhang Tian, who participated in the reception work, recalled that Nixon spoke highly of the hotel's service. In 1985, white swan also received Bush Sr. and his wife Barbara, who was then vice president of the United States. Later, Barbara wrote a thank-you letter, praising her“

White swan is the best hotel in the world

”。

In 1988 and 1997, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore visited Guangzhou twice and stayed in white swan. Yang Xiaopeng, the second general manager of White Swan Hotel, still remembers that Lee Kuan Yew loved to drink Soybean Milk most. At that time, the kitchen of the hotel specially prepared fresh ground soybean milk for him every day.

Not only foreign guests, but also Deng Xiaoping's obsession with white swan's French bread. At the beginning of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping frequently visited coastal cities, and visited White Swan Hotel three times in 1984 and 1985. Wu Delin, a white swan waiter who once served for Deng Xiaoping, recalled that in 1984, Deng Xiaoping had a meal at the White Swan, with foie gras sauce as the first dish, lobster soup as the second, beef fillet as the main dish, and savory as the dessert. Deng Xiaoping also specially proposed eating hard French bread. Huang Kangmei, a former office director of White Swan Hotel, recalled that when he visited white swan in 1985, Deng Xiaoping paid for French bread and said, "it seems that we will open some more cities.". Soon after, the state announced that it would open 14 more coastal cities.

Historical evolution

Guangzhou white swan hotel is the first five-star hotel with Sino foreign cooperation in China, and also the first large-scale modern hotel designed, constructed and managed by Chinese people.

In 1985, it was accepted as the first member of world-class hotel organization in China;

In 1990, it was rated as one of the first three five-star hotels in China by the National Tourism Administration;

In 1996, it was ranked first in the 100 excellent and 50 best hotels in China held by the National Tourism Administration. It has been rated as the first place for international business people to come to Guangzhou by the international travel guide and international famous magazines for many years

Chinese PinYin : Bai Tian E Bin Guan