Palace Hotel Building

Palace Hotel Building

The Palace Hotel Building is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

The Palace Hotel Building (PalaceHotel), now the South Building of the Peace Hotel, is located at No. 19 Zhongshan East First Road. Constructed in the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign during the Qing Dynasty (1906), it was designed by the British firm Morrison & Co. Covering a land area of 2,125 square meters and a total floor area of 11,697 square meters, it has six floors and is 30 meters high, built by the Wangfaji Construction Company. The structure combines brick and timber. Originally a three-story British-style building named the Central Hotel, it was rented out by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) when they established their Shanghai branch in the 4th year of the Tongzhi reign (1865). In the 29th year of the Guangxu reign, the Central Hotel was reorganized as the Palace Hotel. The new building was reconstructed in the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign, making it the tallest building in Shanghai at that time.

The exterior walls of the building feature granite on the ground floor, while the upper levels have exposed brickwork. The upper floors are adorned with white facing bricks, and red brick decorative bands run between the floors and along the top two levels of window spandrels, creating a striking contrast of red and white that defines the building’s distinctive appearance. Some window lintels are decorated with triangular and arched pediments, giving the structure an architectural style reminiscent of Italian Renaissance. The building has a rooftop garden, with large pavilions at both the eastern and western ends. Around the 3rd year of the Republic of China (1914), a fire broke out on the sixth floor, destroying all the architectural decorations on the roof. During the restoration, the roof was replaced with a flat one.

The interior of the building is exquisitely finished, mostly in woodwork. The handrails and balustrades of the grand wooden staircase are intricately carved with patterns. The ground floor includes two halls lined with teak wainscoting, and the ceilings are decorated with elaborate plaster moldings. The ground floor hall could accommodate a thousand people — in the 3rd year of the Xuantong reign (1911), after the success of the Xinhai Revolution, Shanghai dignitaries welcomed Sun Yat-sen here upon his return to assume the provisional presidency. After the outbreak of the Pacific War in the 30th year of the Republic of China, the hotel was occupied by Japanese forces. It reopened after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. In the 36th year of the Republic of China, the property was sold to the Chinese-owned Daqing Company. It ceased operations in 1952 and was lent to organizations such as the Municipal Construction Bureau. In August 1965, the hotel resumed business and was renamed the “South Building of the Peace Hotel.”

This building is one of the earlier multi-story structures among the Bund architectural complex and also one of the first in Shanghai to be equipped with an elevator, giving it significant historical value. It was designated as a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai in 1989.