'Garden of Shanghai'

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-10 11:05

The green fields of Xijiao State Guest Hotel offer great entertainment venues.

With a Chinese garden inhabited by wild squirrels, black swans and water lilies, the grounds of Xijiao State Guest Hotel appear like a natural park close to Hongqiao Airport, making this the perfect green getaway for frequent fliers, businessmen and heads of state alike.

The plush, traditional and sometimes deliberately untamed garden takes up about 80 percent of the hotel's 80 hectares, thus representing "the perfect blend of nature and humanity," according to spokesman Wang Ying.

"This is not only the biggest hotel garden in Shanghai, but also the largest five-star hotel garden in China," he says. "There's a big difference between building a hotel in a forest (as we did) and planting some trees as an afterthought."

The hotel borrows and blends elements from a traditional Chinese garden, as well as from classical paintings and poetry, resulting in a rich landscape and equally inspired architecture with such imaginative features as its Bamboo Path, Peony Garden and Carp Lake.

Although it was built in 1960, the Xijiao State Guest Hotel was only limited for foreign affairs service until 1978 when it was officially opened to the public. True to its name and function as an important state guesthouse, it has hosted such exalted guests as Queen Elizabeth II, Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, former US president George Bush and former Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Japanese Emperor Akihito challenged the hotel at times with his unexpected requirements but he left more than satisfied after staff went the extra distance to accommodate him.

"Akihito was a huge fan of red-crowned cranes and he repeatedly asked us to photograph him with one whenever he ventured into our Rare Birds Garden," recalls Wang.

"At first we weren't sure how to handle his request as we were concerned that the bird would panic and go for him. But in the end we just asked that our staff accompany him and he was as pleased as punch."

The architectural highlight of the hotel is undoubtedly its Muru House, which also goes by the more prosaic name No 7 House. Showing touches of the building styles favored in southern China's Jiangnan region, it houses more than 180 guest rooms within its four stories under a huge roof designed to drain rainwater.

Sitting in Muru's Floating Restaurant and enjoying the feeling of being surrounded by Monet-like water lilies while gazing absently through the French windows over the lake is definitely a highlight of staying at the hotel. The natural ambience and authentic Chinese cuisine effectively manage to peel away the centuries and create a dazzling, timeless effect as once enjoyed by Chinese officials and other heads of state.

The renovated Executive House, or No 3 House, welcomes guests with a more modern and international look. As well as its 73 executive rooms, it offers special services such as a 24-hour housekeeping service and 3TNet network to make Western guests feel more at home.

All of the hotel's rooms come equipped with a garden view, and 59 feature a private balcony to let guests truly soak up the environment. Those looking for peace and quiet can rest assured that the sprawling green fields blanket all the noise from the big city.

The property also has 108 villas tucked away in its east and west wings. Although more discreet, they are close enough to the four-hectare lake to make them the first choice for local and international bigwigs.

While Xijiao State Guest Hotel serves as a premium location for business functions and conferences, it has since expanded its operations to cater to some of the city's most elegant weddings.

"We witnessed the wonderful wedding ceremonies of more than 200 couples this year," Wang says. "We are now proud to say that we can offer the highest-standard wedding packages in Shanghai."