Chapter 318: Luxury Toys
Li Xuan still maintains his usual style, and after releasing a big news, he habitually avoids interviews with various media. If you want to say that the two skyscrapers in Hong Kong have attracted the most attention before, they are none other than the fourth-generation HSBC Tower and the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong.
Construction of the former began in 1981, when HSBC invited Mr. Foster, co-founder of Norman Foster & Associates, one of the UK's most famous architectural firms, to design the fourth-generation headquarters building himself. And HSBC, which has deep pockets, has prepared $1 billion to build one of the most expensive buildings in the world.
The Bank of China Corporation in Hong Kong just acquired the land for Murray House from the Hong Kong government last year and is preparing to build a new skyscraper to serve as its headquarters in Hong Kong. Naturally, BOCHK could not have been as generous as HSBC, with only a meagre US$130 million construction budget. But they invited the world's most prominent Chinese architect, I.M. Pei, to design the building.
HSBC is the undisputed leader of all British-owned conglomerates in Hong Kong, and is known as the company that truly holds the lifeblood of Hong Kong. Bank of China (Hong Kong) is one of the four major Chinese-funded companies in Hong Kong, and now it coincides with the secret wrestling between China and the UK over the Hong Kong issue.
Therefore, the design and construction of these two skyscrapers have also been given a special political significance, completely stealing the limelight from other buildings under construction. And now the Oriental Building suddenly came out of the sky, attracting the attention of the whole of Hong Kong at once, and there seems to be a trend of turning the competition between the two powers into the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
"President Xu, you are too polite, Dongfang Electronics Company's optimistic view of Hong Kong's future prospects has never wavered. This time the Oriental Building project is just taking advantage of the low point of land prices in Hong Kong. A normal investment to make!"
Li Xuan hung up the phone with a playful smile on his face, and Xu Jiachun, the new president of the Hong Kong Xinhua Branch, called just now. He expressed his gratitude for his unwavering vote of confidence in Hong Kong's future at a critical moment. It's just that I don't know how much President Xu will have left after knowing Li Xuan's next move, and there will be a few points left of his full affection for him.
Li Xuan continued to browse through the unfinished text just now. Six of the world's top 10 architectural firms have expressed their willingness to compete in the design of the Oriental Tower. This made Li Xuan a little complacent, although the budget for the cost of the Oriental Building was only 300 million US dollars, which was much less than the 1 billion US dollars of the HSBC Building. However, the area of Oriental Building is also much smaller than that of HSBC Building, so the budget given by Li Xuan is by no means low in comparison.
Of course, these companies are only bidding for the time being, and the actual design will not be finalized until a year later. This time is the time to dismantle the former site of the Central Fire Station, and it is said that some cultural heritage scholars believe that the former site of the Central Fire Station has great historical value. It is hoped that the Hong Kong government can keep it intact and carry out demolition and reconstruction.
If the Hong Kong government agrees to this proposal, then the demolition of the old building of the fire station will be much more troublesome. Of course, there is no need for Li Xuan, the big boss, to have a headache for these things, and there will be special responsible personnel to negotiate and coordinate with the Hong Kong government.
"Everything is packed?" asked Li Xuan gently looking at his wife, whose belly was already slightly bulging.
"I've already helped my second sister-in-law sort it out!" Li Ying, the little sister on the side, hurriedly said, showing an expression of praising me.
"It's still my family's A-Ying who is the most considerate, your second sister-in-law didn't hurt you in vain!"
"Second brother, when are we leaving?" Li Ying is actually an eighteen-year-old girl. But in front of her brother, she still looked like a little daughter, and her big eyes narrowed into two crescent crescent bends with a smile.
"Now that we're all ready, let's go say goodbye to my parents and eldest brother, and we'll leave now!" Li Xuan said with a smile.
Soon. The Li family left their home at Victoria Peak in a black Cadillac stretch sedan and drove to Kai Tak Airport in Kowloon. Not long ago, the Hong Kong media devoted a lot of pages to reporting. One of the most luxurious private jets ever built in Hong Kong.
That's right, the private jet that Li Xuan ordered from Boeing a year and a half ago was converted from a Boeing 747. It was finally delivered to him not long ago. But how luxurious this plane really is, outsiders do not know!
Li Xuan did not open the plane to reporters to visit. The Boeing 747 is a wide-body airliner. After the modification, the interior space of the aircraft has reached a staggering 450 square meters.
For Hong Kong people, a house over 1,000 square feet (100 square meters) can be called a big mansion. The space in Li Xuan's private jet is equivalent to four large mansions, and the plane has luxurious bedrooms, living rooms, conference rooms, dining rooms, study rooms, etc.
"After arriving in the United States, listen to your brother and don't make trouble!" After Mother Li tirelessly told her little daughter, she turned her head to Li Xuan and said, "Ah Hong is pregnant, you have to take good care of her, and you have to learn to be more considerate!"
"I know, she is now the number one national treasure in the family, and her status is higher than mine!" Li Xuan hugged his wife's thin waist, and a funny word made the whole family feel a little less sad, "There is a medical assistant accompanying me on the plane, there will definitely be no problem." As soon as we arrived in New York, we would call home to report that we were safe!"
Finally, Li Xuan took his sister and wife in his arms, left the VIP waiting hall under the gaze of his parents and eldest brother, and disappeared into the boarding passage.
Although Li Ying had already visited the whole plane with her family when the plane first arrived in Hong Kong, she was still in high spirits after getting on the plane. In fact, it wasn't just her, everyone on the plane was stunned by the luxurious decorations inside. Where is this on a plane, it is literally in a luxurious private villa!
Li Xuan casually sat on the spacious leather sofa in the living room, comfortably tasting the freshly squeezed juice brought to him by the flight attendant. Well, this moment of elegant pretense with a glass of wine was replaced by his sister for a nondescript glass of watermelon juice. She also said that her second sister-in-law is pregnant, and your brother, who is a husband, consciously abstains from smoking and drinking is the minimum responsibility.
Of course, Li Xuan's private jet can be called the most extravagant toy on this earth. His initial budget was $50 million, but he added an additional $10 million. But the feeling of riding for the first time today made Li Xuan very satisfied, the money was well spent!
The total journey from Hong Kong to New York is 20 hours, and before the advent of the Boeing 777, it was impossible for ordinary civil airliners to go directly and need to land and refuel halfway. But Li Xuan's Boeing 747 has an expanded fuel tank on the basis of the original passenger aircraft version, and it carries fewer passengers and takes off much lighter than a passenger plane, so it can fly directly from Hong Kong to New York. (To be continued......)