
Philip Kadoorie, the Hon Sir Michael Kadoorie, Lady Li, the Hon
Dr Sir David Li, Clement Kwok, Leon Lai, Cheung Man Yee, David Wang.

Thomas Kong, Stephen Wang, Philip Kadoorie, the Hon Sir Michael
Kadoorie, Shao Qi Wei, David Wang, Dao Shu Ming, Clement Kwok, Ying
Lin Wang.

The Hon Sir Michael Kadoorie, Philip Kadoorie, Stephen Wang and
David Wang unveil the commemorative plaque marking the opening of
the Peninsula Shanghai.

Musical Performance by Las Voces Del Mar, the official mariachi
band of the Government of México.

Florence Sloan, Vivian Wu, Gianna Jun, Jessinta Liu, Cora Wang,
Paul Tchen, Andrew Loo, Archie Kao.
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Martin Yan and Paul Tchen.

The Hon Rita McAulay, The Hon Dr Sir David Li, Lady Li.
ONE OF THE WORLDS
most respected hotel brands, the Peninsula, opened in Shanghai on
the auspicious date of March 18 with a gala that saw the whos
who of Hong Kong and mainland Chinese society.
It was billed as Shanghais most glamorous party, hosted
by joint owners the Hon Sir Michael Kadoorie, Chairman of the
Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels Ltd. and Mr David Wang, Chairman,
SPG Land (Holdings) Ltd.
The Kadoories have been associated with hotels
in the orient since 1890, when Ellis Kadoorie (knighted 1917) purchased
shares in a forerunner of the current hotel company. The Shanghai
hotels were added to the group through acquisition in 1923.
Although the new Peninsula hotel itself was open
to the public on October 18, certain facilities had not been completed.
Its art-déco-inspired design is meant
to bring back the romantic, prewar notions of a cosmopolitan Shanghai.
The location on the Bund has views of Huangpu River and Pudong.
The opening marks the return to Shanghai for the Hong Kong
and Shanghai Hotels Ltd., which had seen its properties in the city
either closed, disposed of or taken over during the SinoJapanese
War and in the postwar period. In 1954, the Chinese Communist Land
and House Bureaux took over its last property in the city, the Astor
House Hotel.
Sir Michael recalled, in his opening speech,
how he spent his childhood in Shanghai while the family business
operated there. We are proud to come home, he said.
Click
here to view a video from the opening. |