|
CITY GUIDE >Hotels
![]() |
|
Old is gold
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-09 11:02
One of the signs that China had broken free of its self-wrought cocoon and opened its doors to the outside world was the emergence of upscale hotels in the 1980s, which often shaped its urban skylines. These hotels were not just buildings that offered accommodation, but psychological landmarks that tantalized with a lifestyle many aspired to reach. Nowadays it is difficult for a hotel to occupy that kind of status in the public consciousness. But there are still some hotels, whose physical structures may be submerged in the sprouting Beijing landscape yet whose names still carry a special cachet. Hotel Kunlun is one of these landmarks. The Kunlun Mountain Range, on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, runs 2,500 km and rises 5,500-6,000 m above sea level. The water there is so pristine and sacred that a mythological lake named Yaochi was invented in folklore for gods and goddesses. A floor-to-ceiling tapestry depicting the mountain used to hang in the Hotel Kunlun lobby. The latest renovation has replaced the realistic scenery with an abstract rendering, with layers and layers of materials that resemble gold lame. It could be Kunlun Mountain in the glow of sunset. The modernistic lobby incorporates the ancient elements of feng shui. Sacred water still flows throughout the building, in the waterfall that partially shelters the entrance, in the droplets of crystals that adorn the lobby, in the Shanghai Flavor Restaurant that seeps with moisture on the paths, in the Keikaku Japanese Restaurant where water is symbolized by meandering lines in the sand, and of course in the central pool. The hotel sits next to the Liangma River, so wealth-signifying water is a natural fixture as well. |
通州区| 安平县| 万盛区| 漯河市| 武乡县| 合作市| 龙口市| 固阳县| 田阳县| 虎林市| 曲水县| 桐城市| 个旧市| 临汾市| 万州区| 裕民县| 肥城市| 大洼县| 思南县| 古交市| 民县| 大荔县| 齐齐哈尔市| 互助| 玉环县| 年辖:市辖区| 苍南县| 五指山市| 石林| 宁城县| 东乡县| 云安县| 和田市| 康平县| 亳州市| 新泰市| 平原县| 博白县| 蕉岭县| 那坡县| 宜城市|