Above is the link to the history page on theWeb site of the present-day five-star Grand Hotel Beijing
his is what is known today as building B, or middle building, of the Grand Hotel Beijing, but in the 1930s it was the hotel proper and considered one of the finest hotels in the Orient. Built in 1917 (an earlier building was begun in 1902), the French-funded Grand Hôtel de Pékin had 200 rooms with bath and a tea hall “with dancing every night.” The hotel had “its own orchestra, which renders a program of classical music during dinner.” A brochure from the 30s also tells of its “spacious roof garden commanding lovely views of the Forbidden City, the Legation quarter and 50 miles surrounding.”
The hotel was well known for its excellent “French cooking” and “wines of the best known districts of France.” The offices of Thomas Cook were located in the lobby. The same brochure describes it as located opposite the Italian Legation and three minutes from the train station. “Autobus and porters in uniforms meet all trains.” Needless to say it was a favorite of traveling Westerners. The photograph above is from the 30s.
NOTE: WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS,
NONE OF THE IMAGES
ON THIS WEB PAGE ARE
INCLUDED IN THE BOOK
“AN AMERICAN IN CHINA”
Another view of the Hôtel de Pékin
G.H. Thomas writes in October, 1936: The other morning I went to see Mr. de Hoyer at the Hotel de Pekin, where he has a large suite with a private balcony over-looking part of the Forbidden City and all of the Legation Quarter. His No. 2 boy sits in the hall of his suite and announces visitors and runs errands. M. de Pelotier, the editor of the French newspaper, was also there, and a little while later, a Baron Somebody-or-Other called. They spoke in English most of the time, in deference to the dumb American in their midst, but often lapsed into French. A great deal of the talk was naturally on the tense situation between China and Japan.
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1930s brochures, top left and right, for the Grand Hôtel de Pékin show somewhat disconcertingly, the famous landmark at the Temple of Heaven. Notice that the official name for Peking at this time — Peiping, for Northern Peace , — is given short shrift. It was not widely accepted by either locals or foreigners.
Keep abreast of news in China through this major
English-language newspaper, based in Beijing
An old 1930's photograph of the guardhouse
for Chien Men Gate. The guardhouse and the gate,
below, also from 1930s; train station
is visible at center
The other famous hotel in 1930s Peking:
The Grand Hôtel des Wagons-Lits
In the late 1880’s and early 1900’s, to receive a growing cosmopolitan clientele, the Compagnie des Wagons-Lits built hotels like the Ghezireh Palace in Cairo, the Pera Palace in Constantinople, the Hôtel de la Plage in Ostend (Belgium), the Hôtel Terminus in Bordeaux and in Marseille, the Riviera Palace in Monte-Carlo and ... the Grand Hôtel des Wagons-Lits in Peking.
The only hotel in the Legation Quarter, it was built in 1905 to accommodate travelers from Europe on the Trans-Siberian Express. A 1930’s guidebook says the original building stood in a large garden ornamented by stone fishponds, sole relics of ancient imperial offices.
In 1922 the Hong Kong Hotel Company acquired 85 percent of the Shanghai Hotels Limited, which held 60 percent of the share capital of the Grand Hôtel des Wagons-Lits. The hotel was sold and liquidated in 1950. The 1920’s poster by Dan Sweeney, a celebrated graphic artist, shows a priest at the Lama Temple.
This is the earlier hotel, built in 1905 in a Flemish-Gothic style. Don't forget, the founder of Wagons-Lits, Georges Nagelmackers (1845-1905) — who learned a thing or two about sleeper cars from George Pullman while on a trip in the U.S. — was Belgian. What did the local population make of this on a former imperial site? One can only wonder.
The later version (also built pre-World War I) in a sparer French style is the hotel that defined a new standard of luxury in the city. The above postcard, offering a rare view, is possibly from the 1930s. The building to the left, which is still standing today, unlike the Wagon-Lits Hotel, was a Japanese bank (see photo at left). G.H. Thomas stayed in the hotel in Japanese-occupied Peking in March 1939. He writes:
“The hotels in town are crowded to capacity, to a great extent with Japanese, this being the first indication I had of the change here.” [The author had visited Peking earlier in 1936.]“Two and a half years ago, a Japanese in the Wagons-Lits or Hôtel de Pékin was somewhat of a rarity. ... From my window where I write I can see a considerable length of the wall dividing the Tartar City from the Chinese one. The Wagons-Lits is in the Legation Quarter, just at the Water Gate, where the relieving Allied troops came through in 1900 when the Boxers were on the rampage.”
New! Click here for interactive map of Peiping in 1936 by Frank Dorn.
This map is not included in the book "An American in China."
In the 1930s the bar at the Wagons-Lits, favored by diplomats and bigshots, was reputedly famous for a cocktail, Tiger's Milk No. 1.
(Note: The photographs and information on this page
are not included in the book "An American in China"
for space reasons but are published here to give
a better idea of the scale of these legendary hotels.)
Click above cover for modern Beijing guide
Tiananmen Square today, showing Chien Men Guardhouse, foreground, and Chien Men Gate. Mao Zedong Memorial is at center; Forbidden City at top.
Arch at the Hall of Classics in an old hand-colored postcard.
Yung-tingmen Gate and guardhouse, south of Chinese City in old Peking, early 20th century.
The Yokohama Specie Bank in the Legation Quarter, opposite the Wagons-Lits Hotel.
Forbidden City in 1930s.
Peking Train Station in 1930s.
The author arrived here from Tangku and Tientsin on Sept. 28, 1938
He writes:
"Just as it became dark, we came into the station. I had a difficult time getting my bags into one of the old Mode-T Fords that serve as taxis. I set out for the College of Chinese Studies. My trunk was tied to the running board, and I was sure that each jolt would throw it off. What a ride! I'll never forget it. I had no idea where I was going or what awaited me at the other end."
The magnificent walls of Peking are no more. They were demolished in the 1960s.
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Above left, photographs by Hedda Hammer (Morrison), a professional German photographer who lived
and worked in Peking from 1933-1946. Far left, the northwest corner watchtower,
the last of the remaining corner towers, was demolished in 1968.
It was built in 1553. Camels, used to transport coal, were a common sight even as late as the 1940s.
Right, a gate tower in the snow. Hedda's favorite camera was a Rolleiflex.
For other exquisite photographs of Peking and surroundings in 1930s, see Hedda Hammer Collection
Above, a painting by an unknown artist from around the turn of the 20th century.
Notice the pailou, or memorial archway, in background, one of many that at one time could be seen
throughout the city. Most were taken down in the 1950s to make room for traffic.
Day of infamy: Japanese troops enter Peking, September 1937. Chien-men Guardhouse at center.
Notice the pailou.
his is what is known today as building B, or middle building, of the Grand Hotel Beijing, but in the 1930s it was the hotel proper and considered one of the finest hotels in the Orient. Built in 1917 (an earlier building was begun in 1902), the French-funded Grand Hôtel de Pékin had 200 rooms with bath and a tea hall “with dancing every night.” The hotel had “its own orchestra, which renders a program of classical music during dinner.” A brochure from the 30s also tells of its “spacious roof garden commanding lovely views of the Forbidden City, the Legation quarter and 50 miles surrounding.”
This is the earlier hotel, built in 1905 in a Flemish-Gothic style. Don't forget, the founder of Wagons-Lits, Georges Nagelmackers (1845-1905) — who learned a thing or two about sleeper cars from George Pullman while on a trip in the U.S. — was Belgian. What did the local population make of this on a former imperial site? One can only wonder.
"Just as it became dark, we came into the station. I had a difficult time getting my bags into one of the old Mode-T Fords that serve as taxis. I set out for the College of Chinese Studies. My trunk was tied to the running board, and I was sure that each jolt would throw it off. What a ride! I'll never forget it. I had no idea where I was going or what awaited me at the other end." 
