Grand Hotel’s century-old dragon rises again after decapitation

Grand Hotel’s century-old dragon rises again after decapitation

2023-07-06

The Grand Hotel’s famous golden dragon fountain lost its head recently after a ceiling collapse accident. But just one week later, the century-old dragon is looking as good as new, thanks to the work of a bi-national restoration team.

The red cloth is removed, revealing a dragon that’s once again gazing at the heavens. Recently hungry termites brought down the roof over the fountain, decapitating the dragon. But with help from a Japanese specialist and one week of restoration, the dragon is once again in tip-top shape. Even a clogged fountain pipe was repaired.

Yinghua Academy teacher
It’s cool, really cool. I see so many people are excited about it, and the students probably really enjoyed this experience.

Hong Kong tourist
We just happened to come at the right time. This dragon is really great with its head lifted up like that.

The dragon is a remnant of a shrine from the Japanese colonial era. It only has three claws, in contrast to the five-clawed dragon of Chinese lore. The hotel invited Japanese scholar Dr. Suzuki Eka as well as scholars and experts from Taiwan to restore the statue. After they got to work, an unexpected discovery was made: the dragon had been broken before.

Pan I-ling
Restorer
There was concrete at the breakage point. Because this concrete is a relatively recent material, we judged that it was added in for the purpose of connecting parts or providing filler.

The team came to the conclusion that the dragon’s shape had been changed during an earlier relocation. Comparing the dragon to old photographs, there are clear differences in its color, shape, and the angle at which it holds up its head.

Lin Yu-sheng
Grand Hotel CEO
Two days before the dragon broke, a staff member said he dreamed that the dragon said it didn’t want to be in its current body, because it didn’t used to look like that. A week later, our scholars told us that the dragon should be restored to its original form.

Lin said that in the future, there will be a second round of restoration, with the goal of returning the golden dragon to its original appearance.

天花板坍砸龍頭圓山"百年金龍"修復重新亮相

2023-07-06

圓山飯店，先前發生天花板坍塌事故，砸中底下的百年金龍，造成金龍的頭身斷裂，經過一周的修復工程，今天百年金龍重新亮相，圓山也邀請參與修復的專家舉辦揭幕儀式，不過團隊在修復過程中，發現金龍斷裂處的材質，並不是黃銅，而是由混凝土連接，因此判斷金龍不只斷過一次。

掀開紅布，圓山飯店的百年金龍，再次仰望天際。先前因為天花板遭白蟻蛀蝕坍塌，砸下來、毀了龍頭，隨後邀請日本專家來台，經過一週修復，已經順利接回，原本堵塞的噴泉管道，也一併修復完成。

[[美國英華學院老師]]
“很酷，真的很酷，有看到這麼多人很興奮，學生應該很喜歡這個經驗”

[[香港旅客]]
“我們正好這個時間過來，這個龍挺好，抬頭向上”

這座金龍前身是日治時期臺灣神社的遺物，因此與中國傳統，龍有五爪不同，圓山金龍只有三爪，飯店找來日本博士鈴木惠可，與台灣專家學者一同進行修復，不過，卻有意外發現，金龍不只斷過一次。

[[資深修復師潘怡玲]]
“它的斷面處又有混凝土的結構，因為混凝土本身，我們判斷是比較後期的材料，證實說它應該是，當初為了銜接或填覆所後加的”

團隊研判，金龍是早期在遷移過程中，曾被改造過，與先前照片相比，身體顏色、形狀、仰角角度，都與日治時期明顯不一樣。

[[圓山大飯店董事長林育生]]
“(員工)他說他在金龍斷裂的前兩天，夢到這個金龍說不想在現在身體裡面，因為它說它原來不是那個外觀，再過一個禮拜之後，我們的學者來，說這個金龍應該恢復原來的樣子”

林育生表示，未來還有第二階段的修復工程，目標是要讓金龍恢復成最初的樣貌。

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Think tank researcher and former White House National Security Council staff member Ivan Kanapathy praised Lai as a strong leader. He did not look favorably on the KMT candidate’s plan to cut down conscription to four months.

Ivan Kanapathy
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My view on the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement and reducing conscription, or holding it back to four months, both of those would not be very welcome decisions by most people here in the United States. Yeah, I think deterrence is a very, very important part of peace.

The scholar had diverging views on the two candidates’ cross-strait policies. Meanwhile, the KMT’s Hou Yu-ih took issue with Lai’s four pillars, saying they were built on a foundation of Taiwan independence. They would lead to Taiwan’s collapse, he said, drawing a sharp rebuke from the DPP.

Hou Yu-ih
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The path he has chosen is that of Tsai Ing-wen, and it’s a path that’s laden with the risk of war. The four pillars are built on the foundation of “practical Taiwan independence.” I believe that if Taiwan proceeds with them, it will swiftly collapse.

Lii Wen
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In the op-ed, Vice President Lai Ching-te very clearly stated that maintaining the status quo serves the best interests of the Republic of China, Taiwan and the international community. The international community has affirmed the cross-strait and foreign policies of the Tsai administration and the DPP government, and that is because they’re highly predictable and stable, and because their cross-strait and foreign policies are consistent. We hope that Hou Yu-ih will not continue his misrepresentations and malicious smears.

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Cheng Li-wun
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Rika Tanaka
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A leafy bishop wood stands tall next to rice paddies that stretch into the distance. Many visitors line up here to snap a photo with the famous tree, which is known as the Takeshi Kaneshiro Tree. But rumor has it that the tree will soon return to its former name: the Tea-Offering Tree.

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The Takeshi Kaneshiro Tree is considered one of Taiwan’s most famous trees. Ten years ago, EVA Air hired Kaneshiro to do a commercial here, “adopting” the tree in the process. It’s now a must-visit tourist destination. But Kaneshiro’s contract with the airline is up, and the airline proposes changing not only the tree’s name, but also all related road signs, direction signs, and tourism brochures.

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Wong Lee Lan
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For the semester final exams, we take the students to Taipei City Mall, to the Indonesian Street, for a visit. If it happens to be Eid, the Eid Festival, and there’s a carnival, then we take the students to really experience the culture viscerally, with all their senses, tasting the food.

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Wong Lee Lan
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What I really look forward to is everybody having contact with different cultures and developing communication skills, and then we won’t be afraid or anxious about it, or have misunderstandings.

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This story was provided by the program "We Are Family"
Funded by New Immigrant Development Fund

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