社评0916 台北圆山饭店之贵气已退色

台北圆山饭店之贵气已退色

疫情过后我们首次踏进了有国门之称的台北圆山大饭店 ，偌大的大厅充斥着阵阵喧哗声 ，旅客们衣着简单， 并大排长龙 。这种平民化之景象， 圆山饭店真的变了 ，变得已经没有以往之贵气， 而是充分的平民化了。

当蒋介石退居台湾之后， 世界局势丕变， 以蒋夫人為首之对外关係至关重要， 因此由她一手策划建造了这座傲视全球特具中华色彩之圆山饭店。 同时接待了当时访问台北的无数政要， 当民主之风潮席捲台湾时 ，当年还是党外之民进党也在此华豪壮观之大厅宣告成立， 并澈底改变了由国民党主导之政治生态。

当年圆山饭店盖官云集之场面已不再多见，整个圆山都看不到一面青天白日之国旗， 说明国民党在台湾已经不断衰败之中。

当年这座盘踞在淡水河边代表中华文化之龎然大物 ，已经有了质和量的变化。 在大堂裡经常看穿着拖鞋口嚼檳榔的平民， 当然这也不是件坏事 ，它代表了民主社会之另外一面。

台北的政治气氛令人诡异不解 ，台北最高档的京华饭店之布斐大排长龙 。我们在美国常见街头到处是流浪汉之情景在台湾几乎没有 ，这代表这裡还是个富足之社会， 这种歌舞昇平之景象，他们根本不忧虑海峡两岸恶化之情势。

但是多数劳工阶级 ，他们仍然要為三餐奔波， 有些人认為如果两岸发生战争， 我们就投降吧。

The Luxury Of The Taipei Grand Hotel Has Faded

This is the first time we walked into the Taipei Grand Hotel since the pandemic ended. We saw a full

line of people waiting to check-in and the lobby was very noisy. This so-called "Gate of the Country" has changed.

In the 1950's when Chiang Kai-Sheik came to Taiwan, Madame Chiang was the one who built this very luxurious Chinese-style hotel in order to greet foreign visitors who came to visit Taiwan. Many important diplomatic events were hosted in this hotel.

In the late 1980's when the democratic movement started on the island, Taiwan's Democratic  Progressive Party announced its inauguration in the Grand Hotel. This also represented the changing of the government in Taiwan.      

Today we don't see any homeless people on the streets of Taipei and many high-end restaurants are still full of  customers. Most people don't feel any threats of a war for the Taiwan Strait, but some working class people have different views. One taxi driver told me, "when the war really comes, we just surrender."