Swisshorn Gold Palace

All that glitters is gold, according to Lam Sai-wing.

View large image So much so that he spent HK$400 million (about US$51.3 million) to build the Swisshorn Gold Palace, a 7,000 square foot showroom resplendent with all things golden: furnishings, fittings, and a carriage studded with diamonds.

This is the man who created Hong Kong's famous HK$38 million solid gold toilet.

Lam claims the project was built "to realise the 'unfulfilled' promise of a Han Emperor who pledged to build a gold palace for his wife".

I don't get the Swiss-Han Dynasty connection, but no matter. Ostentatious doesn't begin to describe the place, which was created using two tonnes of gold and took five years to complete.

View large image Tourists will pay $25 to visit the showroom, while those with an extra HK$200,000 (about US$25,600) laying about can stay overnight on a bed with a solid gold bed frame, and avail themselves of such amenities as "two gold toilets, a gold bathtub, dining table, chairs, sofa and ceiling relief sculptures".

Lam's rationale:

We want to lure tourists from all around the world to come to the palace. But the majority will probably be from the mainland.

The showroom is quite special as it owes its origin to Chinese history. Hopefully it will become a new tourist spot in Hong Kong.

Do the security guards stay in your room all night long as well?

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