By Ye Shuming
China's opening up to the outside world actually began with the construction of hotels. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping intended to build a few international standard tourist hotels in major cities across the country. 1978, the State Council set up the "Leading Group on Utilizing Overseas Chinese and Foreign Capital to Build Tourist Hotels", proposing the construction of eight foreign hotels in the four major cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Nanjing, of which three would be located in Guangzhou. The Hong Kong Xinhua News Agency was instructed to do the lead work.
In the summer of 1978, Zhang Guiyi, manager of the China Travel Service in Guangdong Province, suggested to Henry Fok that he could invest in the tourism industry in Guangzhou. Subsequently, Lu Xuzhang, director of the State Tourism Administration, hurried south to meet with Fok in Guangzhou, hoping that he would take the lead in building a modern 1,000-room hotel in Beijing or Guangzhou.
Liao Chengzhi invited a group of Hong Kong businessmen to Beijing, including Lee Ming-tse, Fok Ying-tung, Li Ka-shing, Fung King-hei, Pang Kwok-chun, and Hu Ying-shiang. Deng Xiaoping met them. This group of rich businessmen quickly reached a **** understanding, three hotels in Guangzhou, Fok Ying-tung, Pang Kwok-chun to build a (White Swan Hotel); Li Ka-shing, Lee Shau-kee, Kwok Tak-sing, Fung King-hei, Hu Ying-sheung to build a (China Hotel); Lee Ming-tse, Yip Hon family, Lee Shau-kee, Kwok Tak-sing, Wong Kau to build a (Garden Hotel).
Fok Ying Tung and Pang Kwok Chun jointly organized the Hong Kong Weichang Development Company Limited. 1979 January, Guangzhou Vice Mayor Lin Xi led a leading group to Hong Kong, Fok Ying Tung on behalf of the Hong Kong Weichang, specific negotiations in Guangzhou to invest in the construction of high-level hotel projects.
At that time, the two sides have not yet on the mode of cooperation, the scale of the hotel, the use of funds, construction and operation of a variety of details, to reach *** understanding, but in order to show sincerity and determination, January 23, 1979, Fok Ying-tung and the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau signed the "White Swan investment and the construction of hotels in the plan of the draft intention". Subsequently, Fok Ying-tung also wrote to Liang Weilin, vice governor, indicating that he personally will never care about the amount of future profit gains, the White Swan Hotel began operating, his personal share of the proceeds, will be used entirely for reinvestment in the country, or donated to the education, health care or other public welfare.
April 5, the State Council to use overseas foreign capital to build tourism hotels leading group officially under the document, approved the project.
The location of the hotel, both customer convenience, but also good feng shui. China's foreign hotels, because of the city's transportation is not convenient, usually built in the railway station or near the Friendship Store. But Fok felt that this was not enough for guests to enjoy the Chinese culture and the scenery of Guangzhou. The Tourism Board allocated a 50,000-square-meter plot of land opposite the Friendship Store in Amoy Gardens to Henry Fok, but he did not want it because he thought that it was a farmer's vegetable plot and that the people would scold him if the price of vegetables became expensive after the expropriation of the plot. That land was later used to build the Garden Hotel.
"After a few days of personal observation of the city, I found that there was a silted beach on the banks of the Shamian River," brightened up Fok's eyes, "I thought it would be most desirable to build a hotel here. Therefore, a request was made to obtain land for the construction by filling in the river, and the proposal was immediately accepted." Later, Fok Ying-tung met with Ye Jianying and told him that he was going to build a guesthouse in Sha Mian, and Ye Jianying told him that the place was called White Goose Pool.
Sha Mian is located on the shores of White Goose Lake at the fork of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, and has an area of only 0.3 square kilometers. Fok Ying-tung chose this location, some say, is borrowed from the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, but Fok Ying-tung did not think so, he said, the White Swan Hotel facing the Pearl River three rivers convergence of the White Swan Pool, the vastness of the river, the scenery is particularly good, than the Chao Phraya River is more majestic, and there is almost no demolition and relocation of the task. But the biggest regret is to fill up 6,000 square meters of the Pearl River channel, when there is no environmental awareness, not very much attention to the protection of water resources. In order to improve the environment of Sha Mian, Henry Fok donated another HK$3 million to convert the former Embankment Garden and Queen's Garden of the British and French Concessions into Sha Mian Park for public leisure.
The hotel was initially named the Goose Pool Tourist Hotel and later renamed the White Swan Hotel. Henry Fok invested 50 million Hong Kong dollars, Peng Guozhen invested 12.5 million Hong Kong dollars (Peng Guozhen died in 1983, Henry Fok bought his shares), Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau invested 4 million yuan. In addition by the White Swan Hotel to the Bank of China loaned 36.31 million U.S. dollars; in October 1982, Fok Ying-tung, Peng Guozhen and the White Swan Hotel legal representative Zhu Yiming, in the Oriental Hotel signed the "Agreement on Cooperative Operation of the White Swan Hotel," the loan was also backed up by Fok Ying-tung.
This agreement, attention is drawn to the cooperation of the A and B parties, is no longer the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau and Hong Kong Wichang, and became the White Swan Hotel and Hong Kong Wichang. In this way, the relationship between the White Swan Hotel and the Hong Kong Wichang, it is a bit ambiguous, the White Swan Hotel in the end is a project of cooperation between A and B, or is it itself the cooperation of the A side?
But Henry Fok in the spirit of cooperation, and does not care. Guangzhou and Hong Kong, the two sides, in the Macau Lisboa Hotel followed by a meeting, decided to Guangzhou and Hong Kong architects to do their own design program, the merit of the adoption. Guangzhou program architects, to She Jun Nan and Mo Bozhi two people as the leader. A native of Dongguan, Mok Pak-chi devoted his life to the study and design of Lingnan architecture. His early masterpieces include the Mountain Lodge on Baiyun Mountain, Shuangxi Villa, and the Mineral Springs Guest House.
On March 19, Guangzhou held a design seminar for the Overseas Chinese Mansion and came up with a "folded-plate" plan, which was sent to Hong Kong for comment on March 24, and was quickly endorsed by Hong Kong. The Hong Kong side quickly expressed support. 4 April, Hong Kong architects with their design to Guangzhou, they also put forward a "folded plate type" program. Once on the train, they claimed that the Guangzhou program is not the same, with both sides *** with the intention of collaborative design. But then Guangzhou has changed the design, another "drum-shaped" program.
"The competition turned into a war of words." She Junnan later recalled, "After two days of heated debate, the drum-shaped program had the basic elements of a high-rise building and was adopted." Soon, the Danish architects from Singapore, also with a design to join the competition, "but the traffic line through the sand to the hotel, and the overall layout is very chaotic, was not adopted."
Henry Fok attended the competition and listened carefully to the arguments of both sides. He sensed that the mainland architecture industry had been closed to the outside world for 30 years, and that architects lacked knowledge of new things, while Hong Kong architects did not know much about the mainland. "For example, mainland designs have to calculate earthquake prevention, the ratio of restaurants to kitchens, workers' dormitories, canteens and places to put bicycles, hotels have to organize their own fleet of vehicles, etc. Some departments even suggest installing anti-aircraft guns on the top floor of hotels. As the design work involved more than 30 departments, I thought it was more appropriate that a group of mainland architects who were familiar with the local situation must be responsible for the design." As a result, Fok invited mainland architects to visit Hong Kong to broaden their horizons. "Their wisdom was then brought into full play, and they finally designed a White Swan Hotel that stands like a jade screen, complete with waterfalls and streams, colorful flowers and grasses, and a garden in the hall that combines Chinese and Western elements."
Guangzhou program was finally adopted, which means that the White Swan Hotel will become the first mainland China's own design, construction, management of modern large-scale Sino-foreign cooperation hotel. She Junan said heartily, "This is thanks to the support of Dr. Henry Fok and the help of Mr. Timothy Fok."
Lindsay instructed the construction crew, "Respect the architect's opinion, and don't change anything that has been finalized and slapped down by the chief architect." At the time, there was a rule (not a suggestion) that, for reasons of war preparations, anti-aircraft guns should be mounted on the rooftops of all high-rise buildings over 30 storeys. This provision was resisted by Huo Yingtung not to be implemented.
July 19, 1979, the river reclamation project began. December 24, 1980, the hotel in a fluttering flags, drums and gongs, groundbreaking. Henry Fok continued to use contracting methods, contracting out the work to mainland construction companies. This 90 million yuan cost, covers an area of 30,000 square meters, 34-storey, 102.7 meters of Guangzhou's tallest building, in December 27, 1981 4:30 topped out, construction time of one year and three days.
Procurement of hotel equipment and supplies, is a complex and cumbersome thing, a hotel needs to purchase things, no less than 100,000 kinds of things, such as air-conditioning, elevators, as small as the special letterhead, envelopes, towels, toothbrushes, many of which can not be solved in the country to be purchased from abroad. Fok Ying-tung handed over the procurement work to the mainland responsible for their own, he only assisted from the side, the intention, for the mainland to train procurement talent.
As for the operation and management of the hotel, Fok decided to leave it entirely in the hands of the Chinese themselves, and in February 1982, the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau appointed Zhu Yiming, the deputy director of the hotel, to be the general manager of the hotel. The hotel's more than 2,000 employees, including the general manager, none of whom had ever worked in the hotel industry, were learning by doing. Henry Fok has a firm belief: "The children of the Yellow Emperor have an infinite wealth of wisdom and talent, and it is feasible for the Chinese to run and manage the hotel themselves."
The White Swan Hotel was scheduled for October 14, 1982, before the opening of the Autumn Fair, the five floors of the 200 rooms, the first trial operation. But until the morning of the opening day, when Fok toured the hotel, the rooms were not yet air-conditioned, and there was no hot water or meals available.
Fok invited Ren Zhongyi, the first secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, to attend the opening ceremony, but he was not sure whether Ren Zhongyi would be there. Later, on different occasions, he recounted a story he was proud of:
Ren Zhongyi not only came, but also wrote an inscription: "The apes on both sides of the river can't stop crying, and the light boat has already crossed ten thousand mountains".
The success of the trial operation, everyone was jubilant. 1982 November, the White Swan Hotel Board of Directors held its first meeting, chaired by the chairman of the board of directors, Liang Wei Lin, vice chairman of the board of directors, Mr. Henry Fok, Mr. Zhu Yiming, the directors of the board of directors, Mr. Timothy Fok, Mr. Cui Zhenqing, Mr. Chen Bin, Mr. Gong Enguang participated in the meeting. Fok decided that the hotel would officially open on February 6, 1983, before the Lunar New Year. Many people were worried whether it was too hasty, but Fok was worried about something else. After the Lunar New Year, it would be the rainy season and the weather would be humid, so if the hotel didn't open, many of the supplies would be composted. He believes that as long as everyone works together, the guesthouse will be able to open on time.
By early January, the progress of the hotel project was very slow, and Fok Ying-tung began to get a little anxious, he simply moved to the hotel and lived there for 13 consecutive days, personally supervising the progress of the project. During these 13 days, it is said that he did not take off his shoes to sleep, exhausted, and took off his human form, burying the cause of the cancer attack later. He once said in a helpless tone, Hu Yingxiang, they engage in China Hotel, Lee Ming Chak engaged in the Garden Hotel, are several consortiums to cooperate to engage in, only he engaged in the White Swan, is single-handedly, alone. the early 1980s, Hong Kong's real estate market collapsed, Pang Guochen's Carnival Properties Inc. lost a lot of money, facing liquidation, Pang Guochen self-care, and then there is no spare capacity to take into account the investment of the domestic.
February 6, 1983, a week before the Spring Festival, the White Swan Hotel officially opened. The days of the Spring Festival vacation, many people do not visit the flower market also ran to the hotel to visit. At that time, all foreign hotels were "free to enter" - almost all citizens are "free", and the White Swan Hotel opened the "open door Doing business" precedent, becoming the first domestic high-level hotel open to the public.
Including the hotel's senior managers, are worried about opening to the public in and out, safety, security work is not good; in case of damage to the material who is responsible for? Just the carpet in the hotel, a square foot is worth 10 Hong Kong dollars, can withstand so many people step on it? Fok said, "Guangzhou Sha Mian is a very sensitive place. In the past, there is the so-called 'Chinese and dogs are not allowed to people inside' of the historical wound: now repair a hotel does not allow the people to enter, and the foreigners in the past, what is the difference between the buyers and sellers?" He said that if the hotel's goods were damaged as a result, it would be on his account. Under his insistence, the door of the hotel, finally opened to the public.
At one time, people were like a tide, the door limit for wear. Countless people passed through the long drawbridge, pouring into the White Swan Hotel. Some people lost their children, the carpet was trampled, and even the toilet seat is rotten. The restrooms in the hotel's restaurant used 400 rolls of toilet paper a day, a record for any restaurant in the world, I'm afraid. It took a week for this tension to ease off a little.
While people are still accustomed to a few cents a loaf of bread, which has been the same for decades, a cup of coffee at the White Swan is eye-wateringly expensive. Wonton noodles on the streets of Guangzhou, fifty cents a bowl, the White Swan sells four dollars; forty-eight cents a bottle of beer, the hotel sold to more than two dollars. Even the manager in charge of the hotel did not dare to agree, but Fok believes that people who come to the hotel to eat, not only eat the food, but also enjoy the beautiful environment, superior service, which are costly. A long pain is better than a short one, and there is no way out without change.
"This is the inevitable pain of the transformation of the market economy." Academic Ho Pok Chuan declared that he saw the White Swan's expensive coffee as "probably one of the earliest triggers for the wholesale overthrow of the planned economy". Fok also said of the White Swan's high spending, "Prices affect the market, the market affects production, and all these things affect the whole body."
The White Swan also had a big push on China's banking industry, pioneering the use of credit card checkouts in hotels across the country. Chinese people, accustomed to cash transactions, did not quite believe that a small card could replace cash. Even the management of the White Swan was mostly in favor of waiting and seeing, but once again, Fok decided to take the lead in the credit card business. As a result, many hotels in Guangzhou have followed suit.
In fact, Fok engaged in hotels, the old rigid system, is a positive challenge. Trial contract system in the staff, on wages and bonuses, commodity market trial reform, the shock wave, involving prices, wages and ideological aspects. Henry Fok said, "Some people cried when they visited the White Swan Hotel, saying that they were going backward. How can there be no hesitation about this?" But he went ahead anyway. He revolutionized the system, the concept of its significance than other tangible contributions, especially far-reaching.
In 1979, when the White Swan Hotel began to fill the river construction at the same time, the neighboring Qingping Road, an area of 6,173 square meters of agricultural and sideline products market, also firecrackers, opened for business. Fok Ying-tung often to Qingping Road, feel the atmosphere of the recovery of the domestic market. He was y impressed by the popularity of the market, and the fact that the goods were as popular as the wheels of the market. He has always believed that only when the road is open will the money flow, therefore, in 1985, he donated another 50,000 US dollars to ask the Guangzhou Municipality to build a footbridge between Sha Mian and Qing Ping Road to facilitate the movement of people, so that more people can patronize the White Swan Hotel while trading agricultural and sideline products. In December of that year, a 22-meter-long, 2.5-meter-wide double-cantilevered simply supported steel girder structure footbridge, it spanned the sand surface Chung.
Henry Fok and Guangdong Province, the original cooperation agreement, the White Swan Hotel's operating period of 15 years, than the Garden Hotel, China Hotel 20 years less than five years, and then both sides to amend the agreement, changed to 20 years, in order to show fairness. February 6, 2003, the White Swan Hotel, the expiration of the cooperation period, officially returned to the Guangdong Provincial Government.
Henry Fok has used "one, two, three, four, five" to summarize the achievements of the White Swan Hotel: a horse first - it is China's first Chinese-foreign cooperation in the early stages of China's reform and opening up of the five-star hotels; twenty years - from February 6, 1983, the first five-star hotel in China, the first five-star hotel in China. -from February 6, 1983 opening to the handover to the Guangdong Province, a whole 20 years of glorious course; three since - it is China's first "self-designed, self-constructed, self-managed" modern large-scale Sino-foreign cooperative Hotel; four doors wide open - China's first open door to allow the people to visit the high-level hotels; fifty best - two times in a row, "the country's fifty best star-rated hotels," the first list.
This white swan with wings to fly, from the time when the first stake in the mudflat reclaimed land, to become a world-class hotel with a total revenue of more than 5.35 billion yuan, Henry Fok has paid a huge amount of effort, but also suffered a lot of grievances, and some people even said that he did not invest in the first place. However, insofar as Henry Fok is concerned, his efforts and achievements, when viewed today, are historic. He can do so without shame or subterfuge.
Read this article, tasting the past of Guangzhou:
White sand residence: was a light in the long night
Central Park, Guangzhou people are still accustomed to call this (Ye Shuming)
Haizhu stone: a thousand years of the Pearl sinking to the bottom of the river (Ye Shuming)
Nostalgia for a humane cat A Shui