Henry Fok and the White Swan

China's opening to the outside world actually started with the construction of hotels. After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, Deng Xiaoping plans to build several international-class tourist hotels in big cities all over the country. 1978, the State Council established the "Leading Group for Building Tourist Hotels with Overseas Chinese Capital" and proposed to build eight foreign-related hotels in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Nanjing, three of which are located in Guangzhou. Hong Kong Xinhua News Agency was ordered to do matchmaking work.

1978 in the summer, General Manager Zhang Gui of China Travel Agency asked Fok Ying-tung if he could invest in tourism in Guangzhou. Subsequently, Lu Xuzhang, director of the National Tourism Administration, hurried south to Guangzhou to pay a visit to Henry Fok, hoping that he could take the lead in building a modern hotel with 65,438+0,000 rooms in Beijing or Guangzhou.

Liao Chengzhi invited a group of Hong Kong businessmen to Beijing, including Li, Henry Fok, Li Ka-shing, Feng Jingxi, Peng Guozhen, Hu and others. Deng Xiaoping met with them. These wealthy businessmen quickly reached an understanding that one of the three hotels in Guangzhou was built by Henry Fok and Peng Guozhen (White Swan Hotel); Li Ka-shing,,, Feng Jingxi and Hu each build a (China World Hotel); Li, a family,, and Huang (Garden Hotel).

Fok Ying-tung and Peng Guozhen formed Hong Kong Weichang Development Co., Ltd.. 1979 65438+ 10. In October, Lin Xi, vice mayor of Guangzhou, led a leading group to Hong Kong, and Fok Ying-tung represented Weichang in Hong Kong to discuss the investment and construction of a high-class hotel in Guangzhou.

At that time, the two sides had not reached a consensus on the cooperation mode, hotel scale, capital use, construction and operation, etc., but in order to show sincerity and determination,1On October 23rd, Fok Ying-tung and Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau signed 65438+65438,0979 "White Swan Investment and Hotel Construction Plan Intention Draft". Later, Henry Fok wrote to Vice Governor Liang, indicating that he would never care about the profit in the future. After the opening of White Swan Hotel, all his personal income will be used for reinvestment in China or donated to education, medical care or other public welfare undertakings.

On April 5th, the leading group for establishing overseas Chinese-funded tourist hotels in the State Council officially issued a document and approved the project.

Hotel location should be convenient for customers and have good feng shui. Due to the inconvenient transportation in cities, foreign-related hotels in China are usually built near railway stations or friendship shops. However, Fok Ying-tung felt that this was not enough for guests to appreciate China culture and Guangzhou scenery. The Tourism Bureau gave Henry Fok 50,000 square meters of land opposite the Taojinkeng Friendship Store, but he thought it was a farmer's vegetable field. After the collection, the price of vegetables is expensive, and the people will scold him, so he will not want it. That land was later used to build a garden hotel.

"After a few days of personal observation of the city, I found a silted beach on the Shamian River", which made Fok Ying-tung shine at the moment. "I think it is ideal to build a hotel here. Therefore, it is required to obtain construction land by river filling, and the plan is immediately accepted. " Later, Henry Fok met Ye Jianying and told him to build a hotel in Shamian. Ye Jianying told him that this place is called White Swan Pool.

Shamian is located by the White Swan Pond at the fork of the Pearl River in Guangzhou, with an area of only 0.3 square kilometers. Some people say that Henry Fok chose this site because he borrowed the Oriental Hotel on the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, but Henry Fok doesn't think so. He said that the White Swan Hotel faces the White Swan Pond at the intersection of the Pearl River and the Sanjiang River, with a vast river surface and excellent scenery, which is even more magnificent than the Chao phraya River, and there is almost no demolition task. But the biggest regret is that 6000 square meters of Pearl River channel has been filled. At that time, there was no awareness of environmental protection and no emphasis on the protection of water resources. In order to improve the sand surface environment, Fok Ying-tung donated another HK$ 3 million to transform the Qiandi Garden and Queen's Garden in the former British and French Concession into a "sand surface park" for citizens' leisure.

The hotel was originally named Etan Tourist Hotel, and later renamed White Swan Hotel. Henry Fok contributed 50 million Hong Kong dollars, Peng Guozhen contributed12.5 million Hong Kong dollars (Peng Guozhen died in 1983, and Henry Fok bought his shares), and Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau contributed 4 million RMB. In addition, White Swan Hotel borrowed USD 36,365,438+RMB 0,000 from China Bank; 1982 10, Fok Ying-tung, Peng Guozhen and Zhu Yiming, the legal representative of White Swan Hotel, signed the Agreement on Cooperative Operation of White Swan Hotel by Oriental Hotel, with the loan backed by Fok Ying-tung.

The remarkable feature of this agreement is that the partners of Party A and Party B are no longer Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau and Hong Kong paddock, but White Swan Hotel and Hong Kong paddock. As a result, the relationship between White Swan Hotel and Hong Kong Weichang is a bit ambiguous. Is White Swan Hotel a cooperative project between Party A and Party B or the partners themselves?

But Henry fok in the spirit of cooperation, don't care. Subsequently, Guangzhou and Hong Kong held a meeting at the Portuguese Hotel in Macau, and decided that the architects in Guangzhou and Hong Kong should make their own design plans and choose the best one. The architects of Guangzhou Project are led by She Yinan and Mo. Mo, a native of Dongguan, Guangdong Province, devoted his life to the research and design of Lingnan architectural art. His early representative works include Baiyun Mountain Villa Hotel, Shuangxi Villa and Mineral Spring Guest House.

On March 19, Guangzhou held a design seminar in Huaqiao Building, and made a "folded plate" plan, which was sent to Hong Kong for comments on March 24th. Hong Kong quickly agreed. On April 4th, Hong Kong architects came to Guangzhou with their design scheme, and they also put forward a "folded plate" scheme. As soon as I got off the train, I claimed that it coincided with the Guangzhou plan, which meant that the two sides cooperated in the design. But at this time, Guangzhou has changed its design and put forward a "waist-drum shape" scheme.

"The appraisal will become a war of words." She Yinan later recalled, "After two days of fierce debate, because of the basic factors of high-rise buildings, the waist drum scheme was adopted." Soon, Danish architects from Singapore also joined the competition with their designs. "But the traffic line has to go through the sand surface to get to the hotel. The overall layout is very chaotic and has not been adopted."

Henry fok attended the appraisal meeting and listened carefully to the arguments of both sides. He feels that the mainland construction industry has been closed to the outside world for 30 years, and architects lack understanding of new things, while Hong Kong architects do not know much about the mainland. "For example, mainland design, earthquake prevention, the proportion of restaurants and kitchens, workers' dormitories, canteens, and places where bicycles are placed, hotels should organize their own fleets, and some departments even suggest installing anti-aircraft guns on the top floor of hotels. As the design work involves more than 30 departments, I think it is more appropriate for a group of mainland architects who are familiar with the local situation to be responsible for the design. "Therefore, Fok Ying-tung invited mainland architects to visit Hong Kong to broaden their horizons." Their wisdom was fully brought into play, and finally a White Swan Hotel with a jade screen and waterfalls and streams was designed, with colorful gardens and a combination of Chinese and Western styles. "

The Guangzhou plan was finally adopted, which means that White Swan Hotel will become the first modern large-scale Sino-foreign cooperative hotel designed, built and managed by itself in Chinese mainland. She Yinan sincerely said: "This is thanks to the support of Dr. Fok Yingdong and the help of Mr. Fok Zhenting."

Linxi instructed the construction workers: "We should respect the opinions of the architects, and don't change what the chief architect has decided." At that time, there was a rule (not a suggestion) that all high-rise buildings with more than 30 floors should be equipped with anti-aircraft guns to prepare. This provision was resisted by Henry Fok.

In July 1979 and 19, the land reclamation project started. 1980 12/24, the foundation stone of the hotel was laid, colorful flags fluttered and gongs and drums roared. Fok Ying-tung still contracts the project to mainland construction companies by way of contracting. This 90 million RMB building covers an area of 30,000 square meters, with 34 floors, 102.7 meters, making it the tallest building in Guangzhou. 198/kloc-0 will be capped at 4: 30 every year, and the construction time will be one year and three days.

Buying hotel equipment and materials is a complicated matter. A hotel needs to purchase more than 6,543,800 kinds of things, ranging from air conditioners and elevators to special stationery, envelopes, towels and toothbrushes. Many of them can't be solved at home, so we have to buy them from abroad. Henry fok left the procurement work to the mainland, and he just assisted. His intention is to train purchasing talents for the mainland.

As for the operation and management of the hotel, Henry fok decided to hand it over to the people of China. In February, 1982, Guangdong Provincial Tourism Bureau appointed Deputy Director Zhu Yiming as the general manager of the hotel. There are more than 2,000 employees in the whole hotel, including the general manager. None of them have worked in the hotel industry, and all of them are learning by doing. Henry Fok has a firm belief: "Chinese people are infinitely rich in wisdom and talent, and it is feasible for China people to manage themselves."

White Swan Hotel plans to put 200 rooms on the fifth floor into trial operation before the opening of the autumn fair in June1982+1October1April. But until the morning of the opening ceremony, when Henry Fok visited the hotel, there was no air conditioning, hot water and food supply in the room.

Henry Fok invited Ren, the first secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, to attend the opening ceremony, but he was not sure whether Ren would attend. Later, he told a story that he was proud of many times on different occasions:

Ren Zhong Yi not only came, but also improvised an inscription: "The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the canoe has passed Chung Shan Man."

Everyone rejoiced at the success of the trial. 1982165438+10, the board of directors of White Swan Hotel held its first meeting, which was presided over by Chairman Liang and attended by Vice Chairman, Directors Huo Zhenting, Cui Zhenqing, and Gong Enguang. Henry fok decided to officially open the hotel on February 6th (1983) before the Lunar New Year. Many people are worried about whether this matter is too hasty, but Henry fok is worried about other things. After the Lunar New Year is the rainy season, and the weather is humid. If we don't open, many materials in the hotel will be destroyed. He believes that as long as everyone Qi Xin works together in Qixin, the hotel will be able to open on time.

By the beginning of 1, the hotel project was progressing slowly, and Henry fok began to feel a little anxious. He simply moved to the hotel and stayed for 13 days to personally supervise the progress of the project. During this 13 day, it is said that he never took off his shoes to sleep, was exhausted, took off his human form, and buried the cause of cancer attack in the future. He once said in a helpless tone that Hu et al. run the China Hotel and Li run the Garden Hotel, all of which are co-operated by several consortia. Only he fucked the white swan. He was alone. 1980 At the beginning of the year, the Hong Kong real estate market crashed, and Peng Guozhen's Jianian real estate company suffered heavy losses and faced liquidation. Peng Guozhen is too busy to attend to domestic investment.

On February 6th, 1983, a week before the Spring Festival, White Swan Hotel officially opened. During the Spring Festival holiday, many citizens went to hotels instead of visiting the flower market. At that time, all foreign-related hotels were "no admittance for idlers"-almost all citizens were "idlers". The White Swan Hotel opened its doors for business and became the first high-class hotel in China that was open to the public.

Including hotel executives, are worried about opening to the outside world and poor security; If the material is damaged, who will be responsible? Carpets in the hotel alone are worth HK$ 65,438+00 per square foot. Can it stand being trampled by so many people? Henry Fok said: "Guangzhou Shamian is a very sensitive place. In the past, there was a historical wound called "Chinese dogs are not allowed to enter": now hotels are built and ordinary people are not allowed to enter. What is the difference with the foreign comprador in those days? " He said that if the hotel items were damaged, they would be credited to his account. At his insistence, the door of the hotel was finally opened to the public.

For a time, the crowd was like a tide, and the threshold was to wear it. Countless citizens poured into the White Swan Hotel through the long approach bridge. Some people lost their children, the carpet was trampled, and even the toilet seat was broken. Hotel restaurants use 400 rolls of toilet paper a day, which is probably a record in restaurants all over the world. It took a week before the tension eased slightly.

When people are used to a few cents a loaf of bread for decades, a cup of white swan coffee is staggering. Wonton Noodles on the streets of Guangzhou, 50 cents a bowl, white swan sells for four dollars; 8 1 bottle of beer cost more than two yuan in the hotel. Even the manager in charge of the hotel can't agree, but Fok Ying-tung thinks that people who eat in the guest house should not only eat delicious food, but also enjoy beautiful environment and excellent service, which costs money. Long-term pain is better than short-term pain, and there is no way out without change.

"This is an inevitable pain in the transition of market economy." Scholar He Bochuan declared that he regarded the expensive coffee of White Swan as "one of the earliest detonators that may completely overthrow the planned economy". Talking about the high consumption of white swan, Henry Fok also said: "Price affects the market, and the market affects production. These are all factors that affect the whole body. "

Another big move of White Swan Hotel in promoting banking in China is the first hotel in China to use credit card for settlement. People in China who are used to cash transactions don't believe that a small card can replace cash. Even the management of White Swan advocated waiting and seeing, but Henry Fok once again pushed the herd and decided to take the lead in using credit card business. As a result, many hotels in Guangzhou followed suit.

In fact, Henry Fok's hotel is a positive challenge to the old rigid system. Trial implementation of the contract system among employees and the reform of wages, bonuses and commodity markets, the shock wave involves all aspects of prices, wages and ideology. Henry Fok said, "Some people cried when they visited the White Swan Hotel, saying that they would go back. How can this be without hesitation? " But he still crustily skin of head. Compared with other tangible contributions, his innovation in system and concept has far-reaching significance.

1979, just as the White Swan Hotel began to fill the river, a nearby agricultural and sideline products market covering an area of 6 173 square meters also opened. Henry Fok often goes to Qingping Road to feel the atmosphere of domestic market recovery. He was deeply impressed by the popularity and turnover of the goods. He always thought that Lu Tong would make money. So, 1985, he donated another $50,000, asking Guangzhou to build a footbridge between Shamian and Qingping Road to facilitate people's communication, so that more people can buy and sell agricultural and sideline products while visiting the White Swan Hotel. In June 5438+February of that year, a double cantilever simply supported steel beam overpass with a length of 22 meters and a width of 2.5 meters surged over the sand surface.

According to the initial cooperation agreement between Fok Ying Tung and Guangdong Province, the operating period of White Swan Hotel is 15 years, which is 5 years shorter than that of Garden Hotel and China World Hotel. Later, the two sides revised the agreement to 20 years to show fairness. On February 6, 2003, the cooperation of White Swan Hotel expired and was officially taken over by the Guangdong provincial government.

Fok Ying-tung summed up the achievements of White Swan Hotel with "12345": it is the first five-star hotel with Sino-foreign cooperation in China built in the early days of China's reform and opening up; Twenty years-from the opening of/kloc-0 on February 6, 1983 to the return to Guangdong Province, it has gone through a glorious course of twenty years; Sanzi is the first modern large-scale Sino-foreign cooperative hotel designed, built and managed by itself in China. Four doors wide open-the first high-class hotel in China that opens the door for ordinary people to stay; Top 50—— Ranked first in "Top 50 Star Hotels in China" twice.

From laying the first pile on the beach to becoming a world-class hotel with a total income of more than 5.35 billion yuan, Henry Fok has made great efforts and suffered a lot of grievances. Some people even say that he didn't invest at the beginning. However, as far as Fok Ying-tung is concerned, his efforts and achievements are historic today. He can have a clear conscience.

Read the article number and taste Guangzhou's past;

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Miss water, it's a human cat.