Beijing Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Beijing Hotel is a five-star state-owned hotel
in the Dongcheng District
of Beijing
, China
.
Street, at the corner with East Chang'an Avenue
, 1.5km from Beijing Railway Station
with views of the Forbidden City
and part of Tiananmen Square
. Construction of the hotel began in 1900 and was completed in 1915, making the hotel one of the oldest in Beijing. During the July 7 incident
in 1937, the hotel was taken over by Japanese forces and later by the Kuomintang
government. Later, the banquet hall served guests such as Mao Zedong
and Zhou Enlai
at the inauguration of the People's Republic. Additional wings were added in 1954, 1974 and 2001, bringing the total number of rooms and suities to over 700.
The hotel usually caters for foreigners and wealthy domestic guests, providing restaurants and bars in a Western and Asian style. Various members of state have stayed there, including Richard Nixon
, U Nu
, Nikita Khrushchev
, Ho Chi Minh
and Sun Yat-sen
. The hotel has been awarded the Five Star Diamond Award for consecutive years.
In April 2005, Raffles Hotels and Resorts Limited
signed an agreement with the Beijing Tourism Group (BTG), to re-brand and manage two of the four blocks of the Beijing Hotel under the Raffles brand. After carrying out some renovations and refurbishment, it was re-launched as the Raffles Beijing in 2006.
During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the hotel served as the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee
.
The adjacent hotel is the Grand Hotel Beijing.
photographer Jeff Widener
took the famous "Unknown Rebel
" picture during the Tiananmen Square protests
. According to journalist Zhang Boli
, the last meetings between the students and government took place at the hotel on May 30, 1989, where no agreement was reached.
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
in the Dongcheng District
Dongcheng District, Beijing
Dongcheng District is an urban district in Beijing covering the eastern half of Beijing's urban core. It is 24.7 square kilometres in area and has a population of 535,558 . Dongcheng District covers several important parts of Beijing...
of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
.
Overview
It is located at the southern end of WangfujingWangfujing
Wángfǔjǐng , located in Dongcheng District, Beijing, is one of the Chinese capital's most famous shopping streets. Much of the road is off-limits to cars and other motor vehicles, and it is not rare to see the entire street full of people. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty there have been...
Street, at the corner with East Chang'an Avenue
East Chang'an Avenue
East Chang'an Avenue is a major road in urban Beijing, China. It forms part of the extended Chang'an Avenue.It leaves Tian'anmen Square heading east until the Dongdan intersection....
, 1.5km from Beijing Railway Station
Beijing railway station
Beijing Railway Station is one of Beijing's railway stations, opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture . It is located in the city's central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city's 2nd Ring Road...
with views of the Forbidden City
Forbidden City
The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum...
and part of Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square
Tiananmen Square is a large city square in the center of Beijing, China, named after the Tiananmen Gate located to its North, separating it from the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is the third largest city square in the world...
. Construction of the hotel began in 1900 and was completed in 1915, making the hotel one of the oldest in Beijing. During the July 7 incident
Marco Polo Bridge Incident
The Marco Polo Bridge Incident was a battle between the Republic of China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army, often used as the marker for the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War .The eleven-arch granite bridge, Lugouqiao, is an architecturally significant structure,...
in 1937, the hotel was taken over by Japanese forces and later by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
government. Later, the banquet hall served guests such as Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
and Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...
at the inauguration of the People's Republic. Additional wings were added in 1954, 1974 and 2001, bringing the total number of rooms and suities to over 700.
The hotel usually caters for foreigners and wealthy domestic guests, providing restaurants and bars in a Western and Asian style. Various members of state have stayed there, including Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
, U Nu
U Nu
For other people with the Burmese name Nu, see Nu .U Nu was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century...
, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, Ho Chi Minh
Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
and Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
. The hotel has been awarded the Five Star Diamond Award for consecutive years.
In April 2005, Raffles Hotels and Resorts Limited
Raffles Hotels and Resorts
Raffles Hotels & Resorts is a collection of luxury properties located in major cities around the globe. Each hotel is known to have its own distinct personality. Raffles Hotels & Resorts is owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, a Canadian-based hotel company with over 88 hotels in 27...
signed an agreement with the Beijing Tourism Group (BTG), to re-brand and manage two of the four blocks of the Beijing Hotel under the Raffles brand. After carrying out some renovations and refurbishment, it was re-launched as the Raffles Beijing in 2006.
During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, the hotel served as the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
.
The adjacent hotel is the Grand Hotel Beijing.
Significance
Many foreign journalists were based in the hotel during the spring of 1989. This was the site where Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
photographer Jeff Widener
Jeff Widener
Jeff Widener is an American photographer, best known for his image of the Tank Man confronting a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square during the 1989 Beijing riots which made him a nominated finalist for the 1990 Pulitzer...
took the famous "Unknown Rebel
Tank Man
Tank Man, or the Unknown Rebel, is the nickname of an anonymous man who stood in front of a column of Chinese Type 59 tanks the morning after the Chinese military forcibly removed protestors from in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 5, 1989. The man achieved widespread international...
" picture during the Tiananmen Square protests
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
. According to journalist Zhang Boli
Zhang Boli
Zhang Boli is a Chinese dissident.-Biography:Zhang Boli was born in Wangkui County, Heilongjiang Province. He worked as a journalist after graduating from a three-year college in Heilongjiang Province...
, the last meetings between the students and government took place at the hotel on May 30, 1989, where no agreement was reached.