WH Ming Hotel Shanghai presents superb food, professional spa service and cosy accommodation in the coveted urban oasis in China’s most cosmopolitan city

WHM Group’s premiere five-star hotel presents a new concept in urban resort escapism where guests are pampered with the best of Shanghai cuisine, culture and wellness in a becalming natural setting 

Shanghai-based leader in upscale cuisine and lifestyle, WHM Group, unveils today its genre-defining five-star hotel brand, WH Ming Hotels. The brand’s premiere flagship hotel, WH Ming Hotel Shanghai, will become China’s first “Yi Po Erh Shih” Urban Resort when it opens its doors late September, 2012.

“Yi Po Erh Shih”, meaning “One Night with Two Meals”, is a holiday concept that boomed in Asia during the 1990s. It is still highly popular in the Ryokan culture of Japan. WH Ming Hotel Shanghai takes the “Yi Po Erh Shih” concept to new levels of indulgence for today’s most discerning guests, by offering an authentic experience of China with a luxurious hotel stay paired with Chinese culinary delicacies offered at dinner and breakfast plus a peek into the Chinese bathhouse scene with a 60 minutes massage.

WH Ming Hotels is named after Madam Wang Huimin, founder of WHM Group – the leading lifestyle group behind Chinese restaurant chains Shanghai Min and upscale restaurant of Maison de L’Hui.

Leveraging on 25 years’ experience in refined cuisine and lifestyle, WHM Group has now created a visionary hotel brand that perfectly caters to the lifestyle desires of today’s sophisticated travellers. A taste of local culture; superb design; seasonal dining; spa pampering; relaxation in nature; and value for money – these factors combine to create the ultimate Shanghai retreat: WH Ming Hotel Shanghai.

Specially developed to cater to busy city dwellers and travellers looking to escape to a place of relaxation and cultural refinement hidden in the heart of the Shanghai metropolis, every stay at WM Ming Hotel is a complete revitalising experience. The 188-room hotel has been custom designed to celebrate authentic aspects of Shanghai culture, enhanced with modern comforts. This extends to a 5,000 sqm spa and bathhouse, seasonal Shanghai cuisine, and an urban oasis setting overlooking Huang Xing Park.

The Stay: A Hideaway Urban Oasis
WH Ming Hotel Shanghai’s becalming ‘urban hideaway’ location overlooks the lush greenery of Huang Xing Park in Shanghai’s North East Bund area. Stretching over 600,000 sqm, this is a rare nature environment in Puxi and enjoys easy access to downtown business districts.

The hotel’s beautifully appointed guestrooms and suites by BilkeyLlinas Design reflect Shanghai’s elegant Art Deco design heritage. All guestrooms also feature magnificent park and lake views through floor-to-ceiling windows. Guests are pampered with state-of-art facilities and personal services, including Frette linens, Sealy mattresses and L’occitane bath products.

The Dinner: Authentic and Nostalgic Seasonal Delicacies
Included in every guest stay is a magnificent banquet set dinner. Seasonal menus showcase authentic and nostalgic local dishes and ingredients carefully sourced from across Shanghai and neighbouring areas to create the ultimate ‘Taste of Shanghai’ gourmet experience. These are elaborately prepared by Shanghai’s best chefs using top-quality, farm-direct produce. Seasonal dishes include Yanduxian Pork Soup in spring, Shanghai’s famous Hairy Crabs in autumn and Clay Pot Stews in winter, plus seasonal fruits like sweet Nanhui peaches for dessert.

The Breakfast: A Taste of Traditional Shikumen Dim Sum
Also included in the room rate, the daily breakfast is a celebration of Shanghai’s cherished traditional dim sum breakfast treats – many of which are disappearing from the streets today. Hand-crafted delicacies like Mini Wonton, Guotie (fried dumplings), Cifangao (stir-fried glutinous rice rolls), Xiaolongbao (steamed dumplings filled with juicy pork) and Jiuniang Yuanzi (mini rice balls in sweet glutinous rice wine soup) are just some of the delights on offer, all made with quality ingredients at interactive show kitchens. Guests can even learn how to fold their own dumplings under the guidance of the master chefs. An extensive selection of Western favourites is also available, reflecting Shanghai’s cosmopolitan heritage.

Faye Spa + MIA Space: Unprecedented Feast for the Senses
The hotel’s 5,000 sqm Faye Spa is Shanghai’s most unique wellness destination. Encapsulating the best of Eastern and Western wellbeing traditions, the Spa is divided into two distinct settings – an Oriental Bathhouse and a Luxury European Spa.

A nod to Shanghai bathhouse culture, a separate garden annex houses 22 private spa suites. These suites offer exclusive spaces for spa and massage treatments, as well as to engage in social relaxation, and even enjoy fine dining if guests so desire. Faye Spa also offers a European-style Spa with nine private treatment rooms in the main hotel. This area has a Zen ambience, graced with soft music and aromatherapy scents. An extensive menu of professional spa and beauty services is offered in both areas.

Another highlight of the WH Ming Hotel Shanghai is the one-of-a-kind gourmet cultural attraction – MIA Space. This acoustic, light and imagery experience links visitors with Shanghai’s past, present and future through the evolution of its distinctive local cuisine. Guests will journey through life-like 3D scenes of a Qing Dynasty restaurant, the Paramount dance hall in the 1930s, shikumen lane houses, a steel factory canteen during the Cultural Revolution, and finally to modern Shanghai and future urban green spaces.

MIA Space is created by Shanghai-born Chinese-American film director Sherwood Hu as a companion work to his “Shanghai’s Development Seen from the Evolution of Vehicles” showcase that was a star attraction of the Shanghai Pavilion during the 2010 World Expo. The unique time-travel adventure is yet another example of WH Ming Hotel’s pioneering perspective of creating a luxury holiday experience infused with the best of Shanghai culture and style.

Deluxe Room   Grand Studio

Jiangwan Village is located in the eastern part of Wuyuan County, 28 kilometers (17 miles) from the county seat. The village was built during the early years of the Tang dynasty.

SHANGHAI – Restoration work is moving ahead at a steady pace in Jiangwan Scenic Area, Wuyuan County in northeastern Jiangxi province, as the county’s tourism arm continues the work that will earn the area the highly coveted 5A-class Scenic Area Rating, the highest rating bestowed on a tourist attraction by China’s National Tourism Administration. The Hui-style ancient buildings in Jiangwan Village, the culturally and historically rich hamlet within the area, as well as the ecology of the surrounding area, are being restored to the way they were one hundred years ago, when they formed an integral part of the Huizhou region of northeastern Jiangxi and southern Anhui provinces.

The village was built during the early years of the Tang dynasty, when families with surnames of Teng, Ye, Bao, Dai as well as several others inhabited the area immediately surrounding the bend of the river in Jiangwan. In the second “Yuanfeng” year during Renzong’s period of the Sung dynasty (the year 1079), Jiang Di, the eighth emperor of Xiaojiang, moved to Jiangwan, where his many children began what soon developed into a large clan. Several of the ancient Hui-style buildings in the village including Sanxing Hall, Dunchong Hall and Peixin Hall are still well preserved, while the public buildings including Donghe Gate and Shuiba Well retain great historical as well as ornamental value. Jiangwan, a bright pearl in the Wuyuan cultural and ecological tourist area, has already been rated as a national 4A scenic area by the Chinese tourism authority.

To protect the ancient and renowned village that is emblematic of Huizhou culture, Wuyuan County created a management office for the specific purpose of gaining the national 5A designation for Jiangwan Village and the surrounding area, by adhering word-for-word to the requirements listed in the Regulation on the Protection of Famous Historical and Cultural Cities, Towns and Villages (Order of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China No.524) while carrying out the necessary restoration work. To fulfill the two mottos that embody the concept of the project, translated from Chinese as “Beautiful Village, Jiangwan in Dream” and “Space and Time Intertwining, Miraculous Transformation into One Hundred Year Ago”, all the buildings and other facilities have been upgraded or modified as per the rules for obtaining the 5A rating, including the new tourist centers, the ecological parking lots, maintenance procedures for the ancient village as well as the landscape surrounding the exit from the highway. Meanwhile, the support structure has also been upgraded and optimized, including an e-commerce website, the management system and training of the employees, all for the creation of a ecological living environment with strong local characteristics that is, at the same time, resident-friendly, employee-friendly and tourist-friendly.

Jiangwan scenic area was listed in the working report of the Jiangxi provincial government during the Fifth Session of the Eleventh National People’s Congress of Jiangxi Province.

Asian tourists walk past a sign that says “Welcome to Chinese” in a restaurant in the Myeong-dong district of Seoul. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg

Chinese tourists are the retailer’s most lucrative customers spending an average 1 million won ($893) per shopper, more than double the amount spent by Japanese tourists, it said. Their spending has helped made Seoul’s Incheon airport the world’s busiest for duty-free retail. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg

China’s dispute with Japan over
uninhabited islands is the reason Zhang Min vacationed in Seoul.

“I picked Korea because I’m reluctant to go to Japan,”
the 24-year-old from Hong Kong said in the South Korean capital
last week during a trip with friends. “I don’t want to visit a
country that makes me uncomfortable.”

South Korea expects a record 100,000 Chinese tourists
during a weeklong holiday starting Oct. 1 as vacationers switch
plans because of a consumer boycott of Japanese goods and travel.
The protests have been sparked by Japan’s move to nationalize
disputed islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in
Japanese.

“Chinese nationals have great feelings of patriotism
because of the Diaoyu incident,” said Lin Jiashui, a deputy
director at Xiamen CD ITS Co., the largest travel agency in
China’s Fujian province. “Their first reaction is — I don’t
want to step on Japanese soil.”

Chinese travel agents have canceled Japan tours and China
Southern Airlines Co. and Japan Airlines Co. have cut flights
because of a demand slump. More than 40 percent of Chinese
holidays booked in Japan during the weeklong vacation could be
canceled, with many travelers instead going to South Korea or
Southeast Asia, Citigroup Inc. said last week.

“We expect a significant increase in Chinese tourists if
the tensions escalate,” said Sisdivachr Cheewarattanporn,
president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents. “When there
is a tension, they will have to change their plans and look for
alternative destinations.”

China Travel

Mainland Chinese visits to Japan surged 72 percent through
July from a year earlier to 947,600, making it the second-
biggest source of visitors after South Korea, according to the
Japan National Tourism Organization. Overall outbound travel
numbers from China may rise to 100 million a year by 2020 as
economic growth makes travel affordable to more people,
according to the World Tourism Organization.

Taiwan hasn’t seen any extra increase in bookings as a
result of the spat, as flights are already close to full and
because tourists need to apply for visas, said Alice Chen, a
deputy director at Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau. Mainland bookings
for Golden Week are already about 20 percent up from last year,
said Anthony Liao, president of travel agent Phoenix Tours
International Inc. (5706)

Korea Visitors

Chinese visitor numbers to South Korea during next week’s
vacation may climb 36 percent from last year, according to the
Korea Tourism Organization. Leisure stocks rose on the forecast.
Duty-free retailer Hotel Shilla Co. and casino operators Grand
Korea Leisure Co. and Paradise Co. (034230) all jumped to record intraday
highs in Seoul trading, while the benchmark Kospi index fell.

Chinese tourists spent an average of $1,949 per person
during trips to South Korea last year, based on Ministry of
Finance data. That compares with $1,408 for U.S. visitors and
$1,075 for Japanese holidaymakers.

Lotte Duty Free, which operates outlets in the country’s
main airports, said total visitor numbers could double during
China’s Golden Week holiday, which marks National Day.

“We expected a big influx of Chinese tourists,” it said
by e-mail. The retailer is adding more interpreters and
information desks for Chinese travelers to help cope with the
surge. The company, part of Lotte Group, is also running
promotions to boost spending including offering the chance to
win a Sonata sedan made by Hyundai Motor Co. (005380)’s Chinese venture
and free stays at parent Hotel Lotte’s properties.

Lucrative Customers

Chinese tourists are the retailer’s most lucrative
customers spending an average 1 million won ($893) per shopper,
more than double the amount spent by Japanese tourists, it said.
Their spending has helped made Seoul’s Incheon airport the
world’s busiest for duty-free retail.

“I came here for the shopping and sights,” said Wang An
Quan, a 49-year-old Chinese men who visited Seoul with his wife
last week. “I didn’t consider Japan because of the
uncomfortable relationship with China.” The couple bought
cosmetics and traditional Korean souvenirs, including ginseng.

Japan’s tourism agency head Norifumi Idee said at a press
briefing in Tokyo last week that he didn’t expect the dispute to
have a big impact on long-term visitor numbers.

Jeju Tourism

Hotel Lotte said its Seoul hotel is about 90 percent full
for next week. Its branch on the bench resort of Jeju Island is
fully booked. The island, the only place in South Korea that
Chinese travelers can visit without a visa, is anticipating an
increase in visitor number next week, according to the Jeju
Special Self-Governing Provincial Tourism Association.

Many tourists spend two nights in Seoul and two in Jeju,
said Kim Seong Ming, a spokeswoman at Modetour Network Inc. (080160),
South Korea’s third-biggest tour agency. The company expects 20
percent more Chinese tourists during this National Day holiday
than last year, she said. It was too early to judge the impact
of the island dispute on the demand, she said.

Tourism from China has also been rising because of economic
growth, the popularity of Korean soap operas and a relaxation of
visa requirements that came into force Aug. 1. The number of
visitors rose 30 percent from a year earlier to 1.51 million in
the first seven months, according to the tourism board.

“I had wanted to visit Seoul to see how Korean women live
as I’m a big fan of Korean dramas,” said Hong Kong traveler
Zhang, as she shopped in the city. “I will visit Seoul again in
the near future.”

Health tourism

Modern care and a bit of shopping is just what the doctor ordered.

An increasing number of wealthy Chinese are flying overseas, but not to shop for luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. These people are looking for something not found on department store shelves. They are seeking beautiful faces, stronger hearts, clearer eyes or just a better understanding of their health.

Liu Yuan, a 31-year-old sales manager at an advertising company in Beijing, had laser eye surgery earlier this year. She was impressed with the care and the skill of surgeons at the private clinic she attended in Singapore.

“The long waiting time at public hospitals in China is so embarrassing and you can’t choose the surgeon you want. And laser eye surgery in Singapore has a good reputation,” Liu said.
The return flight cost her 5,000 yuan ($793) and she also had the opportunity to shop in Singapore. “It’s a double-gain trip,” Liu said.

She is one of the thousands of Chinese residents who choose to venture abroad for medical treatment. With the rising affluence and mobility of the country’s emerging middle class, there’s been a significant increase in the numbers of Chinese traveling overseas as medical tourists in the past decade.

Around 60,000 Chinese people travel abroad annually for healthcare services, especially for anti-aging therapy, cancer screening, to give birth and for treatment of chronic diseases, according to Yang Jian, CEO of the Shanghai Medical Tourism Products and Promotion Platform.

In January 2008, Shao Hui learned that his sister had been diagnosed with a 5 millimeter diameter tumor in her lung.
The diagnosis came from a hospital in Japan, which has some of the best cancer-screening technology in the world. Just a few months later, the same hospital told the 36-year-old businessman that he had cancerous growth in his stomach.

The results were beyond Shao’s expectations. “We have annual health checks at one of the best hospitals in Beijing and they didn’t reveal any problems,” he said.

His sister decided to act on the suggestion of the Japanese physicians and have the tumor excised, but not to undergo any other treatment such as radiation or chemotherapy. The Japanese doctors also guaranteed that the cancer would not reappear.

“I talked with some doctors in Beijing and they were astonished. It’s highly unlikely that such a small tumor could be detected in a hospital in China, and the doctors would never promise that there was no chance of a recurrence,” said Shao.

Shao himself underwent a gastroscopy, an examination of the stomach and alimentary canal, in Japan. The treatment left a good impression on him. The procedure, usually performed through the mouth in China, is performed nasally in Japan, significantly reducing patient discomfort.

Shao and his sister were screened as part of a trial for his company, L’Avion, a travel agency that specializes in private medical tourism. Two years after the company was founded, Shao’s family traveled to Japan for medical checkups in 2008. He later included the tour in the company’s routes because of the treatment he had received.

Clients, most of whom are entrepreneurs aged from 40 to 50, pay thousands of yuan for overseas consultations and hundreds of thousands for surgery. At the high end, the service can include interpreters, tour guides, a first-class air ticket, a private driver and specially prepared Chinese or local cuisine. The company’s most popular routes are anti-aging treatment in Switzerland and cancer screening in Japan.

Last year, the number of individuals in the Asia-Pacific region with more than $1 million at their disposal rose 1.6 percent to 3.37 million, according to the seventh Asia-Pacific Wealth report compiled by the consultancy Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management. Moreover, 17 percent of Asia’s millionaires are located in China.

“Some, but still very few, of those wealthy people are aware of the importance of disease prevention. We are trying to promote the idea of enhancing the quality of life, rather than simply treating disease,” said Shao.

Sheep serum therapy

Xiao Bo is familiar with medical treatment overseas. The 45-year-old from Jilin province in Northeast China works in international trade and spends most of the time in Beijing. A decade ago she started to pay regular healthcare trips to foreign countries, including the United States, Japan, Germany and Switzerland, seeking better technology and services than those provided in China.

Earlier this year, she paid 380,000 yuan for a trip to the Clinique Biotonus Bon Port in Geneva, Switzerland, where Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, was treated in 1992. The clinic mainly provides treatment for intense fatigue, burnout and problems linked with aging.

The purpose of Xiao’s trip was sheep placenta treatment, which she first had two years ago. The treatment is typically used to produce clear and healthy skin, free of wrinkles and blemishes. “Just compare the photos before and after the therapy, you can see a more youthful appearance and I feel I have more energy. The injection of serum has also boosted my immune system and I’ve been almost illness-free for the past two years,” she said.

Chinese patients need to be better informed about the impact of lifestyle. They need to learn the value of good nutrition and exercise and to be aware of the importance of preventative medicine, said Mara Bianchi, assistant director at the clinic.

She said that the clinic has received more Chinese patients since 2006, when it started its cooperation with L’Avion. The influx of Chinese patients has brought changes to the clinic. Most of the physicians and nurses can speak at least two or three sentences in Mandarin and the menu now includes Chinese favorites such as porridge and pickled cabbage.

Growing demand

An aging population and rising incomes have increased the demand for medical and healthcare products and services throughout China. According to the Ministry of Health, mainlanders aged 60 or older accounted for 13.3 percent of the population in 2010, an increase on the 10.3 percent recorded 10 years ago.

“It is understandable that people choose to get medical treatment overseas. Generally speaking, Western countries are better off than us in terms of economics, medical technologies, and care services,” said Liu Zhongjun, director of the Orthopedics Department of Peking University No 3 Hospital in Beijing.

For the wealthy, receiving treatment overseas may provide mental relief, if the medical care, services and hospital environment are taken into consideration. However in Liu’s opinion, the price of treatment is too high – as much as a dozen times more expensive than in China – and far beyond the reach of the average person, said Liu.

“If some people think that overseas doctors have better skills than their Chinese counterparts, they are wrong,” he said. “Doctors in the larger hospitals not only have up-to-date skills, facilities and equipment, but also a broader view of individual cases than their counterparts overseas.”

“I will not go abroad for treatment if I become ill,” he added.

New wealth in Asia

Medical tourism has become a boom industry in the past decade, not only in China, but the whole of Asia, mainly because of the emergence of new wealth in the region.

Industry experts predict that medical tourism in Asia will grow at a rate of 15 to 20 percent a year, according to reports from Reuters. Meanwhile, the Medscape News website predicts that the practice could generate $4.4 billion in the region this year.

That raises the question of whether competition from foreign providers might help to lower the cost of private medical treatment in China, but Deng Kaishu, vice-president of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, said that’s unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future because the number of patients is too small to make a difference.

“But the value of treatment for foreigners in China will inject new vitality into the domestic medical system,” he said. “Traditional Chinese Medicine has great influence on patients overseas and we should better promote these services to attract them,” he said.

Some medical service companies in China are making efforts to keep patients at home. Ciming Health Checkup Group, a leading private healthcare agency in China, set up the Oasis International Wellness Club in Beijing in mid-2011.

Membership services include free, extensive health checkups, tailored health management guidance, private doctors and overseas medical tourism services. Its clients, currently numbering around 50, are all Chinese and pay at least 120,000 yuan for a year’s membership and around 3 million yuan for life membership.

Xu Qiong, a publicity officer for the group, says only 10 percent of clients aged between 35 and 55 have conditions that require surgery. “Most have non-life-threatening conditions and traditional Chinese medical treatment will always be the first choice. Thus, high-end medical services in China still have great potential,” he said.

Girls representing 8 different countries and regions as world tourism image ambassadors presented a fashion show on Kongtong Mountain at the 9th China Folk Art Festivalon in Pingling city, Gansu Province,  on September 12, 2012.[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The 9th China Folk Art Festival kicked off in Pingliang, Gansu province on September 12. The festival, themed “Beautiful Kongtong Mountain”, aims to promote the Chinese folk art exhibition and tourism in Pingliang.

Twenty girls representing 8 different countries and regions as world tourism image ambassadors presented a fashion show on Kongtong Mountain on the first day of the festival.

Mao Weiyang, vice-president of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said China’s Taoist culture will present its unique charm by combining with travel culture, which also accentuates the advantage of regional culture. Differentiation is the essence of travel culture.

Pingliang is a well-known tourist destination for those traveling to the Kongtong Mountains, one of the sacred mountains of Taoism and highlighted as one of important places for health maintenance. During peak tourism months, organizers pull out all the stops, demonstrating Gansu’s own paper-cutting art, lion dancing and local snacks.

The China Folk Art Festival is the largest national folk cultural event in China and was launched in 1989. It has made great contributions to preserve Chinese folk culture and promote the development of tourism.

SHANGHAI (Japan Times) — The China Comfort Travel Group will cancel Japan-bound tours in light of Japan’s nationalization of the Senkaku Islands this week.

According to local media, the company, a major player in China’s tourism industry, stopped accepting reservations to Japan at all 5,500 outlets run by its 220 affiliated travel agencies across China.

Officials of the company said the group will not resume Japan-bound tours unless the territorial issue over the islands in the East China Sea is resolved, adding that the company will offer refunds to those who have already made reservations.

China Comfort Travel, affiliated with the municipal government of Beijing, has business tieups with several Japanese travel agencies. In April, the company said it hoped that some 50,000 Chinese would travel to Japan on its tours this year.

The Japanese government on Tuesday purchased three of the five islets in question, called the Diaoyu in China, from their private-sector owner in Saitama Prefecture.

China has a major holiday period between late September and early October. If other travel agencies follow suit, Japan-bound tourism during the period could languish as a result, hurting related Japanese industries heavily.

Graham Reid leaves the clash and chaos of Kunming behind for a day of quiet.

Kunming – the capital of Yunnan province in southwest China – doesn’t do quiet. With a population of around 6.5 million (and, improbably, a sister city to New Plymouth since 2003), Kunming delivers confusion, haste, noise and its own peculiar order in the apparent chaos of motorcycles and scooters which flit between buses, tracks, cars and pedestrians.

Crowded buses wheeze along furiously busy streets where pedestrians – sometimes adults carrying babies or leading toddlers – walk with sublime confidence or careless indifference between the traffic.

At least the children are accompanied by an adult – although very young school children often aren’t – but one of life’s more terrifying experiences is to watch as a small dog negotiates its way across an intersection.

Kunming – with a pleasant climate and considered “laid back” by big-city standards in China – boils with energy, life, cheerful and welcoming people, and pent-up speed (if it could get out of second gear).

But sometimes it is perhaps necessary to escape to a park, of which the city has many. Even better is the spacious Garden of the World Horticulture Exposition in the north east, just 100 yuan for entry ($20) and a $5 taxi ride from the city centre.

Here in this City of Eternal Spring, as it is known, is the place which brought Kunming to international attention when, in 1999, gardens representing every province of China and many nations drew thousands of visitors. Even today, especially on weekends and public holidays, it is a magnet for locals and Chinese tourists. But on weekdays it is the perfect escape into gardens, sculpture, oddly disconcerting exhibitions from other countries and, best of all, quiet.

Anyone who has been to Kew or other great gardens will be slightly disappointed in the cacti and tropical displays, but the international section is often laugh aloud.

The Egyptian area – an outdoor pool surrounded by faux-ancient sculpture – is shabby. In fact many of the international gardens look a little neglected.

Most odd is the Australian contribution. A low house from Wagga Wagga was transported here – outdoor water tank, plants and windmill too – and dropped on the site. Makes for a good photo, though, to show and say, “Guess where this is?”

In other areas you pass traditional homes from Thailand and Japan, a pagoda from Myanmar, a bizarre “garden” of stone columns from Peru, an odd little cottage representing Britain…

And good on the Dutch for thinking of a windmill.

But the gardens from China’s provinces are beautiful and scrupulously maintained. The imperial era is evoked in the installation from Beijing, but elsewhere are pagodas reflected in still ponds, tiny temples and replicas of grand gateways.

However, the exposition area holds an even greater attraction for the aurally assaulted tourist looking for escape from central Kunming: a cable car which allows for a view across the city where distant tower blocks and cranes rise through the haze of heat and low cloud.

The cable car costs a mere $12.50 and for that you get a silent ride for the 10 minutes it takes to get to the top. On the day I fled central Kunming there was just a family, two old men and me up there. It was the fewest people I had seen in Kunming, other than in my hotel room.

In this exciting, vibrant and interesting city I gladly paid for the quiet, if only to hear my tinnitus again.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: China Southern Airlines flies daily from Auckland to Guangzhou.

Further information: ynta.gov.cn.

Graham Reid flew to China courtesy of CTS Tours (NZ) and the China National Tourism Office on China Southern Airlines.

By Graham Reid

The Yangtze River Bridge has been a major transport link for over 50 years. Provided to China Daily

Hubei capital is becoming the center of attention again

A new-look Wuhan is on the rise and getting ready to take its place back on center stage. The capital of Hubei province was a politically and economically prominent city for most of the last century because of its strategic location in Central China.

Sitting at the intersection of the Yangtze and Hanjiang rivers, it is within easy reach of the major economic powerhouses of Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.

But its natural advantages did not help Wuhan maintain economic growth over the past 30 years. Investors flocked instead to the coastal areas during the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, before rushing back to the west after a major development drive in 1999.

Wuhan got stuck in the middle and left behind by the country’s economic wave.

But with the rising cost of labor and raw materials weighing down industries in the east and those in the west trying to cut back on transport costs, Wuhan once more is emerging as a popular destination for foreign and domestic investment.

In July alone, the city saw nearly 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion, 1.9 billion euros) worth of investment, a year-on-year growth of almost 100 percent.

This huge investment has been responsible for rapidly changing the city’s skyline and landscape. New subway lines, five-star hotels and grade-A office buildings are sprouting up fast in the city. A 606-meter-high landmark skyscraper, which will be the third-tallest building in the world, is under construction.

But despite the ongoing facelift, there are still plenty of scenery, history and culture in the background for visitors to appreciate on short or weekend trips to the city. Here are just a few of the attractions:

1. Yellow Crane Tower

This historic building, one of the three most notable pavilions in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, is regarded as the main landmark of Wuhan.

First built during the Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280), it was moved and reconstructed in 1981, 1 kilometer from its original site at the top of Snake Hill.

There is a steep walk to the top of the tower but once there, you get an amazing view of the Yangtze and across the city.

The tower is surrounded by a magnificently landscaped multi-terraced park featuring statues, smaller pavilions and a giant bell you can ring for luck. The entrance fee is 80 yuan.

2. Yangtze River Bridge

The crossing, which extends 1.6 kilometers from Turtle Hill on the northern bank of the great river to Snake Hill on the southern bank and carries a double-deck road and rail line, is known as the First Bridge of the Yangtze.

Completed in the 1950s, the bridge still stands grand and firm as a major transport link.

You can spend a good half day walking across the bridge and sightseeing along both banks of the river, a popular pursuit with locals.

The views at sunset are deemed magnificent and coveted even by professional photographers.

3. East Lake

Covering an area of 33 square kilometers, this is China’s largest freshwater urban lake. It offers a pleasant diversion for busy travelers with different views to be found in different seasons. Neatly laid-out roads cutting across the lakelands grant visitors breathtaking vistas in a serene setting framed by the nearby low hills.

You can rent a bike to ride along the lake or a boat to paddle on it.

4. Hubei Provincial Museum

With an impressive collection of more than 200,000 ancient cultural relics, this museum is a must for those interested in Chinese culture and history.

The museum, near the west shore of Wuhan East Lake, is one of the best in China with top-notch facilities and excellent displays, all with English translations.

One of the most spectacular exhibits is the 2,400-year-old tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng, unearthed in 1978. It is one of a handful of ancient Chinese royal tombs to have been discovered intact and excavated using modern archaeological methods.

The tomb contains amazing artifacts, ranging from multi-ton bells to fingernail-size jade carvings found in the marquis’ mouth.

The museum is also noted for its concerts of ancient instruments, combining woodwind, string, stone chimes and bells, and played by musicians in period costumes.

Audio tours are available in English and entry is free. It is closed on Mondays.

Eating and drinking

Hubu Alley is the best-known food street in Wuhan. If you want to try all kinds of local snacks in one stop, this is the place.

The most popular is reganmian, hot dry noodles with a spicy flavor and a sesame paste dressing. Spicy duck neck is another favorite found at almost every open-air stall and eatery.

Unlike many other cities, there is no official bar street in Wuhan yet. But many bars can be found in Yunlin Street, with coffee shops on the Yangtze Boulevard and disco bars in the Jiangtan Park.

China Daily

(China Daily 09/07/2012 page22)

Chinese Tourism To Egypt Growing

CAIRO, Egypt – Egypt’s Tourism Minister Mohamed Hisham Zaazou said on Sunday that several meetings with the Chinese tourist sector will be held during Morsi’s visit to Beijing to increase the tourist flows into Egypt.

The Chinese markets are promising in Egypt, especially with the increase rates of the Chinese tourists which have reached 20 percent annually compared to 5 percent increase of the world tourist rates to Egypt, the official news agency MENA quoted Zaazou as saying.

Egypt has received 110,000 Chinese tourists in 2010, said Zaazou, adding “we work to increase the numbers to 160,000 next year by activating the aviation agreement signed between the two countries”.

Meanwhile the tourism ministry is working on granting an entry visa to the Chinese tourist groups upon their arrival from the airports in coordination with different sectors in Egypt to facilitate the procedures.

In Morsi’s visit to China on Monday, forums will be held between Egyptian businessmen and representatives of the biggest Chinese companies which are specialized in the fields of tourism, medicine, chemical and plastic products.

Increasing quality and comfort for Chinese travelers at Frankfurt Airport

Following last year’s successful launch of German and English apps, the airport operator, Fraport AG, is offering a new mobile service product for Chinese passengers to make traveling and transferring at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) even more comfortable and easier. The official app for Germany’s biggest aviation hub is now available in Mandarin Chinese as a mobile browser solution.

Like the other language versions, this Chinese FRA web-app helps passengers prepare for their visit to the airport: with useful information about shops, restaurants and services; maps for orientation and wayfinding; as well as current flight data. Travelers who want to receive a refund on the value-added tax (VAT) paid for goods purchased during their visit to the EU can learn more about services offered by Global Blue, International Currency Exchange, Premier Tax Free, and Tax Free Worldwide.

As one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets, China is extremely important to FRA: Germany is the most popular Western European travel destination for Chinese tourists. Thus, in connection with its “Great to Have You Here!” service program, Fraport is introducing this Chinese app to increase comfort and the “quality of stay” for the rising number of Chinese travelers at Frankfurt Airport. With a Smartphone, you can get your FRA web-app in Chinese by accessing the Internet at www.frankfurt-airport.com .