Guests checking into the Jinling Hotel in Nanjing these days will notice the 40th anniversary badge imprinted on the card that holds their room key. Some may not, however, be aware that in 1983, this was the tallest building in mainland China.
这些天入住南京金陵饭店的客人会注意到房间钥匙卡上印有40周年纪念徽章。然而，有些人可能不知道，1983年，这是中国大陆最高的建筑。
With the Jinling celebrating this momentous anniversary over the recent National Day holiday, it is therefore worth The Nanjinger checking in on how the iconic, cultural and epicurean hostelry came to be.
随着金陵饭店在最近的国庆假期庆祝这一重要的周年纪念日，《南京人》值得一探究竟，看看这家标志性的、文化的、享乐主义的旅馆是如何诞生的。
Before that, by way of contrast, it should be noted that the Jinling and associated brands today operate in the order of 250 hotel properties in cities across China, as well the Jinling Resort Tianquan Lake, in Xuyi of Huai’an in our very own Jiangsu Province, that has become a benchmark in senior healthcare.
在此之前，相比之下，值得注意的是，目前金陵及相关品牌在中国各城市拥有约250家酒店物业，其中位于江苏省淮安盱眙的天泉湖金陵山庄已成为老年医疗保健的标杆。
And, back in Nanjing and 2017, the Jinling’s then-recently opened Asia Pacific Tower became the first commercial building in Nanjing to make an annual tax contribution in excess of ¥1 billion.
而在南京，2017年刚刚开业的金陵亚太大厦成为南京第一座年纳税额超过10亿元的商业建筑。
Cutting to the crux, in March of 1980, ground was broken on what would be the Jinling Hotel in Nanjing’s Xinjiekou. At that point, China’s tallest building was the Shanghai International Hotel, with 24 floors. The Jinling was to far eclipse that, at 37 floors and a height of 110.4 metres.
言归正传，1980年3月，位于南京新街口的金陵饭店破土动工。当时，中国最高的建筑是上海国际饭店，共有24层。金陵大厦楼高 37 层，高度 110.4 米，远超这一水平。
But even with the first stone about to go in the ground, there was still a question of money, since in the China of those days, there was not so much of it to go around.
但即使第一块石头即将落地，仍然存在钱的问题，因为在当时的中国，没有那么多钱可以流通。
In August of 1979, with the vocal, if not financial, support of local officialdom, the Nanjing branch of China International Travel Service (CITS) signed for a US$40 million loan with a company under Singaporean-Chinese businessman, Tao Xinbo. At that time, there were no legal provisions related to guarantees in China, and thus this decision could be thought of as risky. As a result, the Jinling Hotel became the first state-owned enterprise in the country to take on a foreign loan.
1979 年 8 月，在当地官员的口头支持（如果不是财政支持）下，中国国旅南京分社与新加坡华裔商人陶心波旗下的一家公司签署了 4000 万美元的贷款协议。当时，中国还没有与担保相关的法律规定，因此这一决定可能被认为是有风险的。金陵饭店由此成为全国第一家对外贷款的国有企业。
There was also a multitude of other problems, as related to the actual physical building, as Nanjing Daily has reported. The effort would involve realising that never before seen in a hotel in China; today seemingly simple things such as a 24-hour per day hot-water supply.
据《南京日报》报道，还存在许多与实际建筑相关的其他问题。这项工作将涉及实现中国酒店中从未见过的情况；今天看似简单的事情比如每天24小时供应热水。
And 3 and a half years later, the Jinling Hotel was not only the tallest building in China, it was also the first with a rooftop helipad, the first with high-speed lifts and the first with a high-rise revolving restaurant.
三年半后，金陵饭店不仅成为中国第一高楼，也是中国第一家拥有屋顶直升机停机坪、第一家拥有高速电梯、第一家拥有高层旋转餐厅的酒店。
Over those 40 years, the Jinling Hotel has seen its fair share of the world’s powerful elite walk through its doors and sleep in its beds. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, was just one; together with Chinese President, Li Xiannian; while 2003 saw the revered Jiang Zemin rest his head at the Jinling and meet with Fidel Castro.
40 年来，世界上相当多的权贵精英都曾在金陵饭店的大门上走进来，睡在金陵饭店的床上。德国总理安格拉·默克尔(Angela Merkel)就是其中之一。与中国国家主席李先念一起； 2003年，德高望重的江泽民在金陵长眠并会见了菲德尔·卡斯特罗。
Circling back to its origins, it was in fact China’s modern reformer, Deng Xiaoping, who paved the way for the Jinling to come into being. In 1978, Deng, in a meeting with William T. Seawell, Chairman and CEO of Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) that was also a founding member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told representatives of the tourism and civil-aviation departments that their respective industries were very “worthwhile”.
追溯其起源，实际上是中国近代改革家邓小平为金陵的诞生铺平了道路。 1978年，邓小平在会见国际航空运输协会创始成员、泛美航空公司董事长兼首席执行官威廉·T·西威尔时，对旅游和民航部门的代表说，各自的行业非常“值得”。
Deng pointed out that it was necessary to use overseas-Chinese and foreign capital to build hotels to speed up the development of tourism. Soon, the State Council approved the construction of the first batch of six hotels in China aimed primarily at tourists. The Jinling Hotel was among them.
邓小平指出，要利用华侨、外资兴建宾馆，加快发展旅游业。不久，国务院批准在中国建设首批六家主要面向游客的酒店。金陵饭店就是其中之一。
