Initially, after a seven-day desert stargazing expedition, I didn't expect to revisit Xi'an, an ancient city I hadn't stepped foot in for years. To my surprise, what awaited me wasn't a legend in the traditional sense.
I have no intention here of rehashing the well-known hotel review tropes or the AI-generated, classical-humanist-leaning soft-sell articles.
So, I feel perfectly comfortable writing this as a first-person account, because AI lacks real-world social capability, and that's precisely where I found the beauty during my stay.
On check-in day, after being greeted at the front desk, I casually inquired in the lobby bar if there was a brief hotel introduction or tour available while I waited for my room. At 4:30 PM, led by Mr. He Jiahao, I embarked on a nearly hour-long guided tour from the lobby, covering the main entrance, corridors, pool, restaurant, museum, the Louis Bar on the seventh floor, the Presidential Suite, the Chang'an Suite, and then the hotel's garden, along with buildings 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the same group (including the Grand Auditorium). The tour encompassed the architecture, past and present, and the history of receiving guests. I was also fortunate enough to see and smell the olive tree personally planted by Zhou Enlai back in the day, as well as a few provincial-level ancient trees.
After dinner, upon arriving at Hanguang Gate, I unluckily encountered a torrential downpour and had to retreat dejectedly. To my surprise, Concierge Xiao He, holding an umbrella, had been waiting at the entrance for who knows how long. When he saw me get out of the car, he shielded me and presented me with a exquisite handmade souvenir, crafted that day by Ms. Shi Yuqian and her colleague Yu Chenxun, as the biggest surprise of my trip. Here, I again remotely express my gratitude for the thoughtful gestures of these three hotel staff members. As for the phrase 'Where life lives' on the back of the room card, I no longer care which translation is more precise or elegant. After all, we live in an AI-served world; the human heart is truly where legends begin.
Original TextTranslation provided by AI