TAIPEI 2015Winter Vol.02—Learning About Bangka’s Colorful History: Visiting Huaxi Street's Kushanyuan HotelPost date：2016-06-17
Updates：2019-11-18
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Article: Peggy Yu
Photos: Xu Yirong
Taipei City Major Ko Wen-je has recently taken on the role of spokesperson for tourism in Bangka by visiting the “Kushanyuan Hotel”, to seek out a national treasure “He Xiangu (何仙姑).” She learned the art of quilt folding, and informed the public that this hotel is representative of Huaxi Street's history. The Kushanyuan Hotel has undergone modernization while still preserving its 1960s retro design. By holding poetry readings and photography exhibitions and serving as a location in movies such as Bangka, it has been transformed into a hotel that foreign backpackers hope to stay in while in Taipei.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (left) learns quilt folding from He Xiangu (right) (Photo: Xu Yirong)
The hotel features the national treasure “He Xiangu,” who can fold the hotel quilts into 42 different shapes. She states that folded quilts were one of the main characteristics of early Taiwanese hotels. As a way of keeping the hotel orderly, all of the room attendants and cleaning staff were required to know how to properly fold the quilts into various shapes such as swans, women’s legs, cacti, bananas, etc.
She says that quilt folding requires a rich imagination because a 10-catty quilt is thick, heavy, and can only be folded into a limited number of angles. Her swan design secured her the top ranking at a quilt folding championship. According to the hotel staff, a number of tourists come specifically for the folded quilts and are reluctant to unfold them at bedtime. This just goes to show that folded quilts have become a major attraction of this hotel.
In 1951, according to the Kushanyuan Hotel, folded quilts were fashionable, but now only a small number of hotels have preserved this tradition. In addition to these three-dimensional folded quilt designs, the combination of preserved stonewashed floors, classical inlaid colored glass chandeliers, and simple rooms creates a nostalgic elegance.
SOP Illustration for Folding Quilt“ Swan”
1. Fold the quilt in half.
2. Pull the corner of the top layer of the quilt at an upward angle to create an indentation.
3. Cover the upper layer of the quilt to form a triangle.
4. Fold to the left.
5. Allow the left side of the upper folded layer of the quilt to stand to form a triangle.
6. Wrap and cover the upper right side of the triangle in step 5.
7. Wrap the left side of the quilt in step 6.
8. Roll up the quilt.
Hotel Telephone
古山園旅社Kushanyuan Hotel (02)2306-7408
松林大旅社Song Lin Hotel (02)2338-2233
直興旅館JS INN (02)2381-7021
帝華旅社Ti Hwa Hotel (02)2311-8411
洛碁新仕界大飯店Green World New World Hotel (02)2311-8863
美上美旅館Mei Shang Mei Hotel (02)2308-8105
班客飯店Hotel Banka (02)2306-5566
華冠商旅Hua Guan Hotel (02)2361-6076
華宮旅社Hua Gong Hotel (02)2314-2627
華麗大飯店Ferrary Hotel (02)2381-8111
龍山旅社Long Shan Hotel (02)2306-4990
＊ List of Huaxi Street area hotels. For more authorized hotels, go online to Taiwan Stay (taiwanstay.net.tw)
Photos: Xu Yirong
Taipei City Major Ko Wen-je has recently taken on the role of spokesperson for tourism in Bangka by visiting the “Kushanyuan Hotel”, to seek out a national treasure “He Xiangu (何仙姑).” She learned the art of quilt folding, and informed the public that this hotel is representative of Huaxi Street's history. The Kushanyuan Hotel has undergone modernization while still preserving its 1960s retro design. By holding poetry readings and photography exhibitions and serving as a location in movies such as Bangka, it has been transformed into a hotel that foreign backpackers hope to stay in while in Taipei.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (left) learns quilt folding from He Xiangu (right) (Photo: Xu Yirong)
The hotel features the national treasure “He Xiangu,” who can fold the hotel quilts into 42 different shapes. She states that folded quilts were one of the main characteristics of early Taiwanese hotels. As a way of keeping the hotel orderly, all of the room attendants and cleaning staff were required to know how to properly fold the quilts into various shapes such as swans, women’s legs, cacti, bananas, etc.
She says that quilt folding requires a rich imagination because a 10-catty quilt is thick, heavy, and can only be folded into a limited number of angles. Her swan design secured her the top ranking at a quilt folding championship. According to the hotel staff, a number of tourists come specifically for the folded quilts and are reluctant to unfold them at bedtime. This just goes to show that folded quilts have become a major attraction of this hotel.
In 1951, according to the Kushanyuan Hotel, folded quilts were fashionable, but now only a small number of hotels have preserved this tradition. In addition to these three-dimensional folded quilt designs, the combination of preserved stonewashed floors, classical inlaid colored glass chandeliers, and simple rooms creates a nostalgic elegance.
SOP Illustration for Folding Quilt“ Swan”
1. Fold the quilt in half.
2. Pull the corner of the top layer of the quilt at an upward angle to create an indentation.
3. Cover the upper layer of the quilt to form a triangle.
4. Fold to the left.
5. Allow the left side of the upper folded layer of the quilt to stand to form a triangle.
6. Wrap and cover the upper right side of the triangle in step 5.
7. Wrap the left side of the quilt in step 6.
8. Roll up the quilt.
Hotel Telephone
古山園旅社Kushanyuan Hotel (02)2306-7408
松林大旅社Song Lin Hotel (02)2338-2233
直興旅館JS INN (02)2381-7021
帝華旅社Ti Hwa Hotel (02)2311-8411
洛碁新仕界大飯店Green World New World Hotel (02)2311-8863
美上美旅館Mei Shang Mei Hotel (02)2308-8105
班客飯店Hotel Banka (02)2306-5566
華冠商旅Hua Guan Hotel (02)2361-6076
華宮旅社Hua Gong Hotel (02)2314-2627
華麗大飯店Ferrary Hotel (02)2381-8111
龍山旅社Long Shan Hotel (02)2306-4990
＊ List of Huaxi Street area hotels. For more authorized hotels, go online to Taiwan Stay (taiwanstay.net.tw)
