Grand hotel that makes Trump Tower seem drab
DONALD Trump threatened to cause a diplomatic rift with China when he received a phone call from Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen shortly after his election victory.
And if the US president visited the island – which China claims as its own territory – he would find a sultry, welcoming place. For a start it has the perfect place for him to stay – the Grand Hotel in the capital Taipei is even more ostentatious than Trump Tower.
Founded by Madame Chiang Kai-shek, the glamorous wife of the Nationalist leader who fled China in 1949, the hotel boasts an ornate golden archway, a lobby three storeys high, a fountain with a golden dragon spouting water, musicians playing Chinese music, and a staircase designed for Hollywood.
Trump would enjoy the displays of photographs of fellow leaders who have stayed there, from Eisenhower to Mandela.
From his balcony he could admire the bamboo-shaped 101-storey-high Taipei 101. In Taipei he could also feast his eyes on the treasures of the Palace Museum, the greatest collection of Chinese art in the world, with priceless jade carvings and 5,000-year-old bronzes.
If Trump and First Lady Melania fancy some pampering, they could go to Xinbeitou (30 minutes by subway from Taipei) to enjoy a soak in steaming sulphur-filled waters.
Trump will feel at home at beautiful Sun Moon Lake, where Chiang Kai-shek entertained foreign leaders.
From here he’d go to Taroko Gorge to gaze up at the towering cliffs and green hills of the east coast, and find out why Portuguese sailors named Taiwan the Beautiful Isle.
But it might be more his style to glide on Taiwan’s smooth high-speed railway down to the southernmost tip where he can top up his tan on some of the world’s best – and least crowded – beaches.
He could then end his visit at the temples swarming with dragons and bearded gods in Tainan, Taiwan’s southern city. And at the venerable Confucian temple there, he might ponder these words of wisdom: ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’