Boutique hotel offers tea theme
The 51-room Landison Longjing Resort Hangzhou is the city’s first boutique hotel in the village of Li Ji Long mountain, surrounded by a Long Jing tea plantation near West Lake. Fully opened in March, this upscale hideaway features state-of-the-art meeting facilities for small groups, such as a 100-seat ballroom that overlooks the tea plantation, a 16-seat boardroom and six private rooms from 20m2 to 60m2. Tailor-made theme packages are available such as a traditional tea ceremony and tea picking in the hotel’s privately owned tea plantation.
New venues go green
Green events are an emerging trend in Shanghai with local event companies such as HLD Event Services, and new venues such as Shanghai World Financial Center, rising to the carbon-neutral challenge.
HLD Event Services director, Mr Stefano Ritella, said: “In addition to every aspect of the event production and the venue, we calculate the total emission generated by each individual participant, then proceed to offset CO2 emissions by either purchasing carbon credits for the client or financing green projects within China.”
Offsetting an event could cost as little as two per cent of the total budget, he added.
Xiao Shan Airport to expand
With saturation in sight, Hangzhou’s Xiao Shan Airport has embarked on expansion work to boost handling capacity from eight million to 25.6 million passengers a year by 2011.
Phase one includes a 96,000m2 international terminal due for completion in the first half of 2010, prior to the opening of World Expo in Shanghai, while the second phase covers a 100,000m2 domestic terminal and a second runway to be completed by end-2011.
Xiao Shan Airport now receives 14 weekly flights to Taipei (Taoyuan and Sung Shan airports), Taichung and Kaohsiung. There are six airlines serving the routes.
Big Apple to Shanghai
Continental Airlines offers nonstop daily flights between Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport and New York’s Newark Liberty Airport. It is also the first US airline to operate a daily service from Cleveland to Shanghai, via New York.
Hyatt offers outside catering
Hyatt Regency Hangzhou claims it is the only hotel in the city that can provide outside catering for MICE groups, after securing an ‘off-site catering’ licence last year. The award was made in recognition of the hotel’s food and service quality as well as its ability to host off-site events in unique venues such as the Memorial of King Qian, which boasts a spacious courtyard, and Xihu Tiandi, a leisure and lifestyle destination adjacent to West Lake.
Naked Retreats
Naked Retreats – a collection of eight restored farmhouses on a bamboo-clad mountain two-and-a-half hours outside Shanghai – is emerging as a MICE destination with a difference.
Several of the refashioned bungalows are equipped with conference facilities, and participants can engage in activities from dumpling making and tea picking, to physical challenges in the surrounding countryside. Its 50m2 multipurpose function room can seat 40 people.
www.nakedretreats.cn
Speed to Hangzhou
A new US$4.34 billion highspeed rail link between Shanghai and Hangzhou is set to open before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
The 159km railway will see trains travelling at a top speed of 350km/h, cutting the journey between the two corporate and leisure hubs to 38 minutes, from the current 78 minutes.
Trains will reportedly depart at three-minute intervals and interchange at the new Shanghai Hongqiao Station, allowing easy connections to the upgraded Hongqiao Airport and metro Line 10.
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