Shanghai’s hotels have long excelled in providing the comforts of home for residents and visitors. The story begins with the opening of the Astor House Hotel in 1858 at a time when huge fortunes were being made. Come the turn of the 20th century Shanghai was booming again, industrialization took grip, land values were spiralling upwards and many more foreigners came to know Shanghai as home. In response, the two leading hotel companies rebuilt their properties in extravagant style, as to compare with the best found in Europe and America. The Astor House Hotel advertised itself as the ‘Waldorf-Astoria of the Orient’ following the completion of a new building in 1903.
With the 1920s came thousands of round-the-world tourists, and as the city entered a phase of massive reconstruction, comparable to that of today, new luxury hotels sprouted as symbols of modernity and sophistication. Unfortunately the hey-day of establishments such as the Cathay Hotel and the Park Hotel proved short-lived. However Shanghai is fortunate in that many of its finest hotels from another era still stand proud today, at a time when many hotels are rediscovering their heritage.
Peter Hibbard will deliver a highly illustrated presentation on the coming of age of the hotel industry in Shanghai.
Peter Hibbard is an independent researcher/writer, president of the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai and author of Beyond Hospitality: The History of the Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited. Peace at the Cathay, a book on the history of the Peace Hotel, will be published this spring.
Entrance: RMB 30 (RAS members) and RMB 80 (non-members) those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Lecture. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.
