Historic Astor hotel to become finance exhibition center
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E-mail SHINE, December 30, 2017
The exchange will also establish a Shanghai Financial Cultural Development Foundation in the space to carry out cultural exchanges and social welfare activities.
The lobby of the historic Astor House Hotel, which will operate till the end of the month. [Photo/SHINE]
Furthermore, the educational center will aim to promote finance and stock knowledge to investors, the exchange said.
The exchange came into existence at the hotel on December 19, 1990. The trading center at the Peacock Hall, the main banquet hall, kick-started China's foray into the capital market.
Astor House has a unique place in Shanghai's history – when it opened in 1846, it was the first Western hotel in China.
Rebuilt in 1912 in a neo-classical Baroque style, Astor House was one of the lavishest hotels in the city – and in the Far East – in the early 20th century. It was listed by the city government as a heritage architecture in 1999.
The hotel's claim to fame includes the city's first electric lamp, telephone and ballroom. Cai Jun, then head of Shanghai, threw the first grand party in the city at Astor House in 1897 to celebrate the 60th birthday of Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
It was also at the hotel that the founder of Shanghai's first taxi company Xiangsheng, now known as Qiangsheng, started his business. Zhou Xiangsheng (1895-1974), known as the "King of Taxi," served as a bellboy at the hotel.
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