The story of the Fairmont Peace Hotel is also the story of Shanghai, one of the great cities of the world, the “Paris of the East”, the “Pearl of the Orient”. Once, the Fairmont Peace Hotel was The Cathay Hotel and it was the most glamorous hotel of 1930s Shanghai. It stood beside the Huangpu River, at the corner of the Bund and Nanjing Road, the most famous address in Shanghai. The Cathay Hotel w
as the enduring vision of Sir Victor Sassoon, Shanghai’s exotic property and finance tycoon, who had a passion for racehorses, high style and high society, and for giving fabulous parties and extravagantly flamboyant costume balls. The grand old hotel survived the dark years of World War II, and after Liberation in 1949 and the Communist victory in China, it re-opened as The Peace Hotel in 1956. The Peace Hotel used fewer rooms than its predecessor, was less luxurious and its doors no longer opened onto the Bund. However the famous old Peace Hotel Jazz Band played on, and the distinctive green copper pyramid tower was still a signature shape on the Shanghai skyline. The Peace Hotel was the place to which foreign delegations and distinguished visitors were shown during visits to the Shanghai of the PRC. By the 21st Century Shanghai was host to 2010 World Expo and the famous hotel on the Bund re-opened as the Fairmont Peace Hotel. There have been three years of careful, extensive restoration and the new Fairmont Peace. Hotel brings to Shanghai the very best of contemporary sophistication. While much of the old world has gone, much remains. There are still the 1920s Lalique glass ornaments and fixtures, especially designed by the Lalique workshops in France. The original Art Deco frieze of the two greyhound design, the emblem of the hotel, still surrounds the entrance atrium, and once again light pours through the original skylight, gilding all who stand below in the golden light of energy, optimism, and success. The grand old hotel still stands at the most famous address in Shanghai, overlooking the HuangPu River “Mother River of Shanghai” and welcoming visitors from all the world. It shimmers with the years that have made history. Peace Hotel stands as witness to the style and energy of Shanghai and to the promise of China.
