Everyone here originally thought that Chen Xiaobing had a somewhat chilling air, but now that they were talking, they found that his attitude was easy-going and his words were very humorous. He was not pretending to be polite, nor was he as straight-faced as some naturalized cadres. I don't think we are getting any closer.
The urban railway started slowly. Chen Lin was a young man after all. He was very curious about the many scenery along the way and asked questions from time to time. The scenery at the next stop was completely different from the previous one. Along the railway line was a small town with all kinds of strange-shaped buildings. Various flags were flying on some roofs. Suddenly he saw a tall tower in the town - but he recognized this: Isn't this the church of the Francois?
“The houses here seem to be from overseas!”
Wu Yijun has been to Macau and is well-informed. He said with a smile: "These are all European-style houses. In addition to the Flemish people, there are also red-haired people, English people, and German people in Europe. They are all different, and the houses are also different." "
"So, isn't this the same as Haojing Ao?"
"That's both right and wrong." Chen Xiaobing said, "It's right to say that this is the 'foreign residential area' of Lingao. The main residents are Europeans and their families who have come to work and do business in Lingao for a long time. There are also some A small number of foreigners came from other places. So the houses were built according to the characteristics of each country. There are even two churches. They belong to Europeans of different faiths."
“Don’t all Europeans believe in God?”
"Although they are the same God, their doctrines are different." Chen Xiaobing said, "The old and new factions are even more powerful. They are still at war with each other in Europe."
"Then they won't fight here? They all live together."
"Fights are unavoidable, but if you break the law you will be severely punished - it is not easy for them to get a green card in Laigao, so they don't dare to do it easily. After all, they come all the way to China just to make money."
"What is a green card?"
"The green card is an official certificate issued to foreigners that allows them to live in our country for a long time. With this official certificate, they can live and work in various places under the jurisdiction of the Senate. It is very convenient."
"Then what's wrong?" Chen Lin remembered something and asked again.
"What's wrong is that the Portuguese in Macau - what you call the Francois. They are nominally under the jurisdiction of the magistrate of Xiangshan County in the Ming Dynasty, and they have to pay land rent every year, but in fact they have their own town. Yes, there are courts, an army, and money is levied. Once you cross the border, it is like a foreign land. Here, they still have to act in accordance with the laws of the Song Dynasty."
When Chen's uncle and nephew heard this, they were just looking at a peep show, but Wu Yijun was quite emotional. Although he is not a foreign businessman, he deals with them a lot on weekdays: foreign businessmen who go to Luzon often traffic in large quantities of dried fruits. Learn more or less. I knew that the Ming government was extremely wary of foreigners and did not want them to come. The foreign businessmen all said that this was nothing more than giving the Francons in Haojingao a lot of money.
The Senate doesn't care about foreigners at all, and allows them to live in a corner, live and do business freely, and treat them as citizens, which is really rare!
The train moved forward and soon arrived at Bopu. Due to the poor hydrological conditions of the port, Bopu's port function has gradually been weakened in recent years. The status of Bopu's original "Lingao Maritime Gateway" has also been declining. A series of institutions such as customs, border inspection, and epidemic prevention that were originally located here have been relocated one after another, and even the cranes have been reduced. After the opening of Xinying and Hongpai ports, most of the goods and personnel imported and exported will enter Lingao through these two ports.
Although the passenger and cargo throughput has been greatly reduced, Bopu has a superior geographical location after all. It is like an outer port in Lingao. A large number of people and goods still meet here, and business is still very prosperous.
The delegation got off the bus at Bobu Station. The Longhao Bay Hotel where the delegation stayed is in Bopu.
As soon as we got out of the train station, a group of rickshaws were already waiting outside the station. Due to the local climate, it is difficult to raise and use horses in large numbers in Lingao. As a result, the work of promoting horse-drawn carriages continued to be frustrated. Except for a small amount of two-wheeled and four-wheeled carriages produced for private use, public carriage systems were only established in a few towns such as Bairen, Laoxiancheng, and Bopu. In addition, the commonly used short-distance transportation was rickshaws. Because it is light, convenient and low-cost to use, it is not only commonly used by indigenous people and naturalized people, but also many senators maintain their own rickshaws and drivers.
There were two people in the inspection team in one rickshaw, and seven or eight rickshaws set off for the hotel together.
The rickshaw convoy did not go to the southern town, but headed west after leaving the station area. Walk along a seaside promenade.
This seaside avenue is paved with cinders, which is wide and flat. The Venus Zero runs very smoothly on it, which is very strange to the Chen family's uncle and nephew who are riding a rickshaw for the first time. Compared to riding in a sedan, the rickshaw the two of them rode in was indeed a bit crowded, but it moved quickly and steadily, and was not as bumpy as an ordinary car. It's a wonderful thing to be able to look around at the scenery.
Rows of coconut trees are planted on both sides of the promenade - a considerable distance from the road to prevent the coconuts from falling and hitting people when they mature. There are flower beds along the road, planted with all kinds of unnamed flowers and trees. Although it is January, the weather in Hainan is warm, and the branches are still in full bloom. The green leaves and flowers, and the blue sky and coconut groves make people suddenly not know that they are in winter.
Although the promenade does not lead to the core area of the town, there are many pedestrians and vehicles on the road. There were both rickshaws and many heavily loaded ox carts, pulling various goods and moving forward slowly.
Not far away, there is a green fence and wall on the roadside, with lush flowers and trees inside, and the eaves of the houses are exposed. The Chen family's uncle and nephew thought to themselves that they didn't know where this place was. After walking not far, they saw a majestic figure gradually appearing on the horizon. Chen Xiaobing, who was sitting in the first car, turned around and said loudly:
"Look! This is the Holy Ship!"
As soon as they heard that this was the big iron ship that the Australians used to break through thousands of miles of sea territory, everyone widened their eyes and looked in the direction of the iron ship. Although the distance was far away, the towering figure of the big iron ship left a deep impact on everyone. Huge cranes, tall chimneys, and a body as huge as a castle...
Chen Lin lost his voice and said: "It's so spectacular!"
Chen Ding also said: "Sure enough, seeing it once is better than hearing it a hundred times!"
The rickshaw convoy passed by a gatehouse at this time. When Chen Lin saw the sign on the door, he knew that the place surrounded by hedges was "Lingaojiao Park". Since the liberation of Guangzhou, the Guangzhou municipal government also set up Baietan Park in Baietan, so he knew that the park was a place for people to relax and play.
The motorcade continued here and moved along the promenade. A red brick building began to appear on the horizon. Chen Lin was secretly surprised: This house is so tall!
This is the "Longhao Bay Hotel" where they will stay today.
The Longhao Bay Hotel is not the property of the Senate, but was built by local wealthy businessmen who jointly raised funds. These large households include both local indigenous people and immigrants who have moved from other places. The leader is none other than the Li family, who are engaged in real estate development in Lingaoda. Li Xiaopeng has made a lot of money since he developed several real estate projects for the big investors who relocated from other places. I also saw that the "Qiong'an Inn" that I originally opened specifically for wealthy households was doing well, so I thought that hotels could also be a way to make money. Then I started planning to open a hotel.
Hotels are not uncommon in Lingao. In particular, the hotels opened by Qiwei Group have always been famous for their low prices, good quality, hygiene and comfort. It not only enjoys high reputation in Lingao and Hainan, but also has many semicolons in Guangdong. Li Xiaopeng thought about it and found that he had no advantage in this area, so it was not easy to benchmark directly.
What are your own advantages? Li Xiaopeng learned the ropes from Qiong'an Inn. If he wanted to open a hotel, he had to get ideas from wealthy people. Open an "Australian-style hotel" that the locals have never seen before.
When it comes to Australian-style hotels, Li Xiaopeng also listens to veterans, especially Hong Huangnan. Because of his relationship with the No. 82 store, Mr. Hong invested a lot of energy in the manufacturing and operation of luxury goods. But store No. 82 is always the property of the Senate. After developing so many products by myself, the market capacity is limited after all, relying solely on seniors and family members to consume them. He has always deliberately chosen local collaborators to reproduce a new No. 82.
Li Xiaopeng happened to be one of the big local aborigines who had been working hard to camp in front of him for a long time. Especially when it came to opening the Qiong'an Inn, although it was Li Xiaopeng's idea, Mr. Hong made a lot of suggestions on the interior decoration, furnishings, and services. Li also heard many anecdotes from Mr. Hong about the "Australian Grand Hotel" and couldn't help but yearn for it.
So he found Hong Huangnan and expressed his thoughts. The support was immediate. However, Mr. Hong also said that the software for the design, management, and operation of this large Australian hotel can help, but the hardware construction of the hotel costs a huge sum of money, and I am afraid that the Li family cannot afford it with their personal financial resources.
Li Xiaopeng immediately said it didn't matter. He had many wealthy businessmen and friends who had moved to Laigao from other places. They all had a lot of money, but they just worried that they had no place to invest and make money. If there were good projects, they would all be willing to contribute money.
So the project officially started. Li Xiaopeng finally attracted a total of fifteen shareholders to raise funds to build this "Australian-style hotel". Named "Longhao Bay Hotel".
Longhao Bay Hotel is located on the shore of Longhao Bay on the Promenade. Not only is it adjacent to Lingaojiao Park, but it also has a private beach dedicated to the hotel. The hotel is a five-story neoclassical red brick building with three restaurants and forty-eight rooms. The interior decoration is all "Australian", not to mention the floors, running water, bathrooms, and flush toilets. For the first time, all electric lighting and manually operated elevators are installed in a civilian building. There is also an open-air restaurant on the roof of the building, which is lit up at night. It can be seen from miles away. As soon as it opened, it attracted a large number of people to watch and the streets were blocked.
