A Beautiful Flower in Full Bloom—Okura Garden Hotel

美丽绽放花园饭店

Okura Garden Hotel Shanghai is located in the center of Shanghai with the busy Middle Huaihai Road on its southern side. The hotel occupies 3.7 hectares， of which the garden occupies 2.8 hectares. The hotel is composed of a main building and a smaller original building. The 34-floor main building is 120 meters high， with a total construction area of 5.93 hectares.

The hotel was in the past the German Garden Club， the Verdun Garden， the French Club and the Jin Jiang Club. The German Garden Club， which was designed by German architect Heinrich Becker， was built on this site in 1903 and no longer exists. In 1926 the French rebuilt the building and turned it into the French Club， the main place for social activities in the French Concession. It was very popular and famous at the time. After the liberation of China， the building and the garden of the French Club were taken over by the government. Mao Zedong used to stay here in the late 1950s. Since then， the building has been used as the Jin Jiang Club.

While British architecture embodies a sense of majesty， French architecture reflects a sense of elegance. The original French Club building boasts of the most significant architectural feature of the hotel. It is protected by the Shanghai Government as an example of excellent architecture of modern Shanghai. The design reflects the Baroque style of apartment building， such as the exterior columns with Collins heads and the painted wooden gable on the top of the gate. The interior décor is in an elegant European classic aesthetic style. The stairs near the east entrance of the lobby which leads to the second floor vividly reflect the trend of art decoration in old Shanghai. The finely cut metal railings are reputed to have been imported from France and were considered a masterpiece in the décor of the French Club. The banquet hall on the second floor embodies the spirit of the architecture of the French Club， and is still the best part of the Garden Hotel Shanghai. The Grand Ball Room was once the most prestigious ballroom in Shanghai.

On March 20， 1990， the Garden Hotel was officially opened to the public， managed by the world famous Okura Hotel Group Japan. As the only member hotel of World Leading Hotel Organization in Shanghai， it has been consistent in pursuing the best facilities， services and cuisines. After years of efforts， the Garden Hotel has accomplished a number of outstanding achievements. It was considered as one of the “Top Ten Star Hotels in China” as early as 1995 and was ranked 45^th in the list of 1996's “Top 100 Hotel in the World” judged by the world famous financial journal Institutional Investor. Moreover， since the beginning of the evaluation of national foreign-invested hotels organized by the Chinese Foreign-Invested Enterprise Association， the Garden Hotel Shanghai has always ranked in the top five among five-star rated hotels.

During the past 20 years since its opening， the hotel has received millions of domestic and overseas guests， including many state leaders and celebrities， such as former President of Russia Mr. Putin and Mrs. Putin， former French President Mr. Chirac and Mrs. Chirac， former Italian President Mr. Ciampi and Mrs. Ciampi， former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi， the former Chairman of the International Olympic Committee Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch， former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan， former Indian Premier Atal Behari Vajpayee， former President of the United States George Bush， the Chairman of Microsoft Bill Gates， the super model Cindy Crawford and the famous Chinese film actress Gong Li. Mr. Chirac is especially fond of the Garden Hotel Shanghai and stays here every time he visits Shanghai. Maybe here he can reminiscence about the old dreams of the former French patrons.

Okura Garden Hotel

Star rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

ADD: 58 South Maoming Road， Shanghai 200020， China

TEL: 86-21-64151111

FAX: 86-21-64158866

WEB: www.gardenhotelshanghai.com