Established in 1952 the Grand Hotel is a 14-story palatial building towering on the hillside of Yuanshan and surrounded by Keelung River in the front Mt. Yangmingshan in the back Songshan to the east and Tamsui to the west. With its signature red columns and golden roof the hotel rsquo;s magnificent exterior presents a sumptuously classic ambiance that reflects the beauty of traditional Chinese arts. The hotel is one of Taipei City rsquo;s world-renowned landmarks and also the premium choice for travel accommodation or business conferences for people worldwide. The beauty of the Grand Hotel comes from its stately Chinese-style structures and splendid classic setting; the mystique of the hotel lies in its legendary historic significance and the rumor about a secret underground passageway; one can chalk the hotel rsquo;s otherworldly serenity to its great location adjacent to a scenic belt away from the urban bustle. nbsp; The century-old golden dragons nbsp; nbsp; The bronze dragons were initially desgined statues guarding the entrance to Taiwan Jinjia (built in 1901 in the style of a Japanese Shinto shrine). They were carefully preserved during re-constructions of the Grand Hotel to be later perfectly displayed in the hotel rsquo;s Gold Dragon Restaurant; the dragons were accentuated with 24-karat gold plating as part of the hotel rsquo;s renovation efforts in 1987. It is worth noting that these dragons have three claws only compared to the four or five claws on dragons depicted in traditional Chinese paintings. nbsp; nbsp; Plum-flower caisson ceiling nbsp; nbsp; On the center of the hotel lobby rsquo;s ceiling is a plum blossom-shaped caisson with five golden dragons encircling a pearl suggesting the ldquo;Five Blessings. rdquo; Inspired by the Chinese pronunciation of ldquo;3 rdquo; sounding like ldquo;rise rdquo; and the number 16 plus the large plum blossom the 23 golden dragons and 16 phoenixes in the caisson were deli