|
Astor Hotel
Tianjin Astor Hotel was originally established in 1863. The story began with a British priest who wanted to build a complex integrating storage, a bank, and a hotel. He bought a piece of land covering an area of 0.4 hectares on Haihe bank to build a British-style building named Astor. In 1886, a local comprador renovated it into a classic Western-style building with the help of two expatriates from Germany and Britain. In 1924, another four-story, western-style building was set up to the north of the original building to meet the demand of an increasing number of upper-class customers.
In March of 1943, when the Pacific War broke out, Japanese forces took over the hotel and changed its name to Asian Hotel. Then, in 1945, the Republic of China returned the hotel to its original owner. However, because of debt, the hotel was trusted to the government in 1952 and became the Tianjin Grand Restaurant. Following the great changes in 1984, when Tianjin Tourism Company and a Hong Kong based bank co-invested in the reconstruction of hotel, a splendid, seven-story luxury Hotel was born on the Haihe bank in 1987.
Over the past century, Astor Hotel has seen a lot of celebrities come and go. Sun Yat-sen has been accommodated in Room 208 three times; American president Herbert Hoover lived in Room 309 during his 15-year stay in China; the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty and his queen were frequent guests; famous Peking Opera artist Mei Lanfang lived in Room 332.
Frequently visited by royal family and high rank officials of the Qing Dynasty, the leaders of the Republic of China, and even top world officials, Astor has witnessed the great changes of the Chinese nation over the past century, and many historical relics have been kept there. In 1996, Astor hotel, the only museum-style four star hotel in China’s hotel industry, was designated as a Cultural Relic of National Importance by the State Council.
|
