Not only magnificent above the ground, the Grand Hotel in Taipei also boasts a network of mysterious underground tunnels. The public has always known about the secret passageways, designed to evacuate world leaders in case of emergency. A few years ago, the hotel opened up its eastern secret corridors for visits, which proved to be a hit with tourists. Now, after more than 50 years, the Grand Hotel is further revealing its secrets, allowing visitors to walk along a secret tunnel with an exit to the west.
Lu Chung-yu
FTV reporter
The Yuanshan Tunnel’s whereabouts have always been kept in secret. Some think the tunnel leads to the Presidential Office, others say to a secret military base. Now, on camera, we’ll give you the grand reveal. It all leads here, to Jiantan Park.
The exit of the tunnel is shrouded behind two stone walls 5 meters tall. If you weren’t aware of its existence, then you might have never even noticed the blue entrance gate. The escape tunnel was constructed to evacuate the president and international dignitaries in case of an emergency. Before the final reveal, though rumors abounded, no one except a select few knew where the exit was. But now, it’s no longer a mystery.
Lin Yu-sheng
Grand Hotel CEO
In the last two years, though we still had some losses from the pandemic, our turnover still came out third of all hotels in Taipei. As a culturally-oriented hotel, we actually attract many visitors from home and abroad.
Since their introduction to the public, guided tours of the underground tunnels have brought in a great share of the hotel’s revenue. In 2019, when the tunnel on the western wing opened to visitors, it attracted more than 50,000 in the first three months. And even during the pandemic, there were 170,000 visitors in 2020. Now that Taiwan is ready to reopen to tourism, the Grand Hotel has opened up another passageway to visit, in hopes of attracting the first wave of international tourists with its rich history and legacy.
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