History of Shanghai Peace Hotel (a story belonging to Shanghai)

Victor Sassoon, this was the real owner of the Peace Hotel, a tycoon in troubled times, and the Peace Hotel, the most magnificent hotel on the Bund, became his most important legacy in Shanghai. .

There was a gunshot, and the boss Aping fell outside the revolving door of the hotel. This is the end of the movie "The Boss Story", with which Chow Yun-fat ended his career in Hong Kong and entered Hollywood. This hotel is the Peace Hotel, and the boss he plays is naturally the owner of the Peace Hotel. When this movie was released in Hong Kong, the title was "Peace Hotel".

Regardless of the era, whether it is the Chinachem Hotel or the Peace Hotel, it is the most famous hotel on the Bund. Guests it has received include the movie star Chaplin, the British Marshal Montgomery, and the American former President Clinton, Muhammad Ali, but it seems that only the fate of A Ping, played by Chow Yun-fat, can arouse such curiosity among ordinary tourists.

The story is really just a story. The real hotel owner Sir Victor Sassoon had a more exciting fate than Aping.

Sir Sassoon was born into a Jewish aristocratic family in England. He went to Harrow School for high school and Trinity College, Cambridge for college. He was injured in the Royal Air Force in World War I and his left foot was disabled. He came to the Eastern Colonies, first to Bombay and then to Shanghai, to take over the Sassoon family business, and in 1924 he inherited and became the helmsman of the family company. Finally, he officially moved to Shanghai in 1931 and established the foundation of the business.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Sassoon family was the most well-known and wealthy Jewish family in Shanghai. They were doing a variety of high-risk and high-profit legal and illegal businesses, and real estate was also their main business. At that time, the tallest buildings in Shanghai were owned by the Sassoon Company, such as Sassoon Tower, Riverside Building, Chinachem Apartments, Glenvenagh Apartments, Capital Building, Hamilton Building, etc. In addition to commercial projects, it also supported urban construction. . It can be said that Sir John Sassoon changed the city of Shanghai to a considerable extent, especially accelerating the development of the Bund. At that time, Shanghai was really a paradise for adventurers.

When the Peace Hotel was first opened in 1929, it was named "Chinachem Hotel". "Chinachem Hotel" should be said to be the greatest achievement of his life. During that period, almost the most important guests visited Shanghai. If you want to go to the beach or hold important events, you will choose here. Historical facts such as the engagement between Chiang Kai-shek and Song Dynasty, Chaplin's visit, Kaball's script for "Private Life", and Sun Yat-sen's call for "the revolution has not yet succeeded, comrades still need to work hard" at the Kuomintang withdrawal meeting are all related to this hotel.

The Chinachem Hotel at that time fully reflected the aristocratic Victor’s passion for a luxurious and elegant lifestyle. Sir Victor set up a private apartment overlooking the panoramic view of the city on the top floor of the Chinachem Hotel, which was made of dark oak. It is inlaid with panels and topped with a green copper pyramid roof, becoming the most distinctive landmark building on the Bund skyline. Today, this penthouse suite is the Sassoon Presidential Suite, overlooking the entire Bund. The remaining suites from nine countries, named after Germany, France, Japan, India, etc., are decorated with extremely luxurious and exotic atmosphere.

Victor Sassoon was keen on horse racing and hunting, so he named the original pub "The Horse and Hounds". Soon, the resident jazz band attracted visitors from all over the world, and the bar was renamed "The Jazz Bar." The old musicians of that time have long passed away. Now this band was reorganized in 1980 and consists of six old musicians who have been playing for more than half a century. Their stories were filmed into the documentary "As Time Goes By In Shanghai". Participants Participated in last year’s Toronto International Documentary Film Festival. Western audiences are surprised that there is such a group of musicians who have been playing so passionately for half a century in the "Far East" where there is no jazz tradition. Even visiting Clinton played the saxophone on the same stage with the elderly.

He also likes parties and dances, and introduced the European afternoon tea tradition to Shanghai. It is accompanied by wonderful music all day long except Sundays. The Chinachem Music Band, led by Jay Federoff, plays classical music and classic operas in the bar. Henry Nathan's All-American Chinachem Dance Company performs daily at 8pm. To this day, during every afternoon tea at Jasmine Lobby Bar, guests dance in floor-length dresses to the accompaniment of a band, and dance teachers will coach the enthusiasts.

As a theater lover, Victor recorded many movies and plays, especially at Shanghai Lyceum Theater. He also kept a record of all the parties that took place and had photographs of himself and many of his guests. An avid photographer, he used Shanghai's first Rolleiflex camera to capture photos of the city and things that interested him, such as sailing boats, lovers and horse racing.

Having struggled to resettle many European exiles, Victor came under increasing pressure from Japan and decided to leave Shanghai. The new postwar political landscape forced him to move to the Bahamas. After Sassoon withdrew from China, his properties in Shanghai were gradually nationalized. In 1956, the Chinachem Hotel was renamed the Peace Hotel. Two years later, all his businesses in Shanghai were confiscated by the government in the name of tax arrears. After that, he, who had no heirs, had no contact with China.

He married Evelyn Barnes, the nurse who cared for him, in 1959, by which time he had converted to Buddhism until his death from heart failure in 1961 at the age of 79. After his death, his wife hoped to donate to a local heart disease foundation, but found that no such organization existed at the time, so the Sassoon Heart Disease Children's Foundation was born.

Victor Sassoon, this was the real owner of the Peace Hotel, a tycoon in troubled times, and the Peace Hotel, the most magnificent hotel on the Bund, became his most important legacy in Shanghai. .