Glory of Guangzhou White Swan Hotel

Feel at home, the Queen of England has eaten roast suckling pig here.

The White Swan, which pioneered the reform and opening up, opened a window for China people to see the world, and also showed 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 members of the royal family from more than 40 countries over the past 30 years, and the most pleasant one was the visit of the Queen of England from 1986. Yang Chen, a commentator on current affairs, still remembers that it was the first time that Guangzhou people saw the brand-new Rolls Royce. "I seem to have three Rolls Royce in my memory." The motorcade passed through most of the old city of Guangzhou, and he also went to Renmin North Road to take photos. The negative film has been preserved to this day. "At that time, I sighed, wow, that's awesome! Needless to say, the car is beautiful. The driver is wearing a big cap and white gloves. These are so fresh and shocking in the era when the country has just opened up. "

Many people in Guangzhou still remember that the Queen of England's Rolls Royce was later displayed in front of the White Swan and became the symbol of the White Swan, but not many people know that the Queen of England ate authentic Cantonese food in the White Swan.

On 20 12, when the White Swan Hotel was closed, Peng Zaibo, the former deputy general manager of the White Swan Hotel, exposed the menu of "Queen Banquet" that had been kept in the hotel for 26 years: reflecting the moon fairy rabbit, playing pearls with dragons, swallowing milk in bamboo forest, scalding pig with golden red, phoenix tower of babel and splendid grouper. During the short stay of 130 minutes, White Swan cooked six classic dishes for her.

It is reported that before the Queen's visit, the Goose Catering Department learned about the Queen's eating habits through the British Consulate and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China during the day. "We just want her to eat Cantonese specialties." . "Moonlit Fairy Rabbit" is a Cantonese dim sum platter, and "Golden Red Pigskin" has always been the specialty of White Swan Hotel, which is the roast suckling pig familiar to Cantonese. In addition, Henry Fok also specially shipped lobsters and groupers from Hong Kong to entertain the Queen of England. The tableware used by the Queen of England in those days was specially made, ranging from silverware tea sets in Britain to ceramic tableware in China. Peng recalled that since then, the "Queen's Banquet" has been fixed as a classic dish of white swan. Before the closure, the package price reached 2000 yuan/person.

In fact, in 1985 and 1993, former US President Nixon stayed in the White Swan Hotel twice. Zhang Tian, who participated in the reception at that time, recalled that Nixon spoke highly of the hotel's service. 1985, White Swan also received George H.W. Bush and his wife Barbara, then vice president of the United States. Barbara later wrote a thank-you letter, praising "White Swan is the best hotel in the world".

1988 and 1997, former Singaporean prime minister lee Kuan yew visited Guangzhou twice and both stayed in white swan. Yang, the second general manager of White Swan Hotel, still remembers Lee Kuan Yew's love for soy milk. At that time, the hotel kitchen specially prepared freshly ground soybean milk for him every day.

Not only foreign guests, but also Deng Xiaoping is fascinated by French white swan bread. In the early days of reform and opening up, Deng Xiaoping frequently visited coastal cities and visited White Swan Hotel three times in two years: 1984 and 1985. Woodring, a white swan waiter who served in Deng Xiaoping, recalled that 1984, Deng Xiaoping dined in the white swan. The first course is foie gras, then lobster soup, the main course is beef tenderloin and the dessert is souffle. Deng Xiaoping also specially proposed to eat hard French noodles. Huang, the former office director of White Swan Hotel, recalled that when 1985 visited White Swan, he bought French bread and said, "It seems that we are going to open some cities again". Soon the country announced the reopening of 14 coastal cities.