The Peace Hotel positioned on the Bund will close at the end of March for repairs. [File Photo: cnsphoto]

 

The most famous hotel in Shanghai, the Peace Hotel, will close at the end of March for repairs.

 

Built in 1906, the hotel, positioned on the Bund, has been branded the most luxurious "Number One mansion in the East ". It is a fusion of ancient and modern, Eastern and Western.

 

Many historical events have occured in the hotel. In 1911, Sun Yat-Sen left for Nanjing to assume the office of the provisional president of the Republic of China. During his stopover in Shanghai, a welcoming reception was held in the Palace Hall in the hotel. In 1927, former KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling held their “Engagement Ceremony” at the Palace Hall. In January 1964, former Premier Zhou Enlai met French Premier Edgar Faure at the Ninth Heaven Hall. Other celebrities, like Charlie Chaplin and Lord Noel Coward, have had steps in the hotel dedicated to them.

 

The upcoming renovation will be the most comprehensive since 1996.

 

  

(Monkeypeaches.com March 30, 2007)