Luxury boutique hotel Alila comes to China, located in the bamboo forests of Anji

Imperial Tours has compiled another roundup of what’s happening and what’s new in China luxury travel this spring.

Art, Culture & Fashion

This month will unveil the opening of the first Shanghai store for home-grown fashion designer Ms Min. Up until now her gorgeous designs were only available online or in department stores like Lane Crawford. The new store is designed by Italian architect Vincenzo de Cottis and is housed in the Shanghai Centre.

Hong Kong’s Art Basel has now been and gone but there’s still plenty to see art wise in Hong Kong. One of Asia’s hottest artists, Shahzia Sikander from Pakistan, has her first solo show at the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre until early July. Meanwhile Galerie du Monde is exhibiting 25 works from The Fifth Moon group of Taiwanese artists, running from April 20 to June 01.

Running until May 28 at Pekin Fine Arts in Beijing’s Caochangdi is an exhibition by Hong Kong’s late Wesley Tongson. His modern take on Chinese ink landscape paintings are both beautiful and haunting.   

Ms Min's designs are stylish and chic

Dining

There’s less news from the fine dining scene with only a few new places opening recently. If you’re in Shanghai and looking for a taste of something different then head to Alan Wong’s Shanghai at the Ritz Carlton. Alan is a celebrity chef from the US who specializes in Hawaiian regional cuisine, so if you love fish then you should definitely consider stopping by for a meal.     

In Beijing The Georg is a wonderful new fine dining spot that actually opened quietly late last year. The restaurant is part of the Danish silverware and lifestyle brand by Georg Jensen and the food is a ‘Scandinavian take on international flavor driven cuisine’.      

A touch of Danish class in Beijing at The Georg by Georg Jensen

Hotels

The St. Regis Macao opened just before the New Year on 17 December. They are the first property in Macao to offer a signature 24-hour Butler Service for every room and suite. In February the Grand Hyatt opened its doors in Chengdu, located in the same fashionable district as Swire’s Temple House.  

Currently in soft opening phase is Ahn Luh Zhujiajiao, the first in a new chain of luxury hotels set to open in second-tier cities in China by the founder of Aman. It’s billed as an urban resort and is located in the water town of Zhujiajiao near Shanghai. We presume this chain will be aimed at the domestic market what with their spa being run by a Tai Chi expert and a focus on TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).    

Recently opened St. Regis in Macao

Although this is now slated for a fall opening we are nonetheless already excited about the opening of the first Alila luxury boutique hotel in China. The setting will no doubt be stunning as the hotel will be situated next to a lake in the peaceful bamboo forests of Anji in Zhejiang province, where Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was filmed (see top photo).

Finally, we are still waiting in anticipation for the opening of the Waldorf Astoria in Chengdu. The property was originally slated to open in 2016 but seems now to have been moved back to 2017. Likewise, no news yet on the opening date of the Four Seasons Tianjin which is due to open sometime this year.

We look forward to seeing what else is in store on the luxury scene in China through the year. In the meantime, check out our luxury China travel collection of photos here or to keep up with all the information on luxury happenings in China please like our Facebook page.