Rexist or surrender to the crowd is one of the first choices one must make when traveling in China, in cities with a high concentration of individuals, on the street, on the subway, on the trains, it is necessary to win your own space: after a few days of practice at Beijing you understand that the solution is to jump in and float tight in heroic compression.
Having conquered this attitude, the city shows itself in its eternal beauty and everyday hypertechnology. Among some special features such as cameras at every lamppost as in Sanlitum, an area of skyscrapers and nightlife in the Chaoyang district, and public toilets in the garden of the Temple of Heaven, where toilet paper is obtained only by facial recognition, Beijing, in its every alley, monument, garden or square transmits energy.
In the relentless growth of the city’s architecture, among the historic square-based siheyuan buildings, Beijing’s architectural style, the last hutongs, the alleys that characterize downtown Beijing, wind their way, and here, amid souvenirs and curiosities, you can get lost in the transition between past and future. Wangfujing, one of the city’s main and busiest streets in the central Dongcheng district, represents one of the nodes of the capital’s vitality, between chic stores like in Paris and culinary experiments in the excellent if sometimes extreme street food. And it is in this area that the five-star Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing(mandarinoriental.com) boutique hotel overlooking the Forbidden City has opened.
In the entrance hall, colorful fish-shaped chandeliers created from hundreds of fòrmica fragments and signed by Frank Gehry, while the hues of ancient Longquan Celadon ceramics were the inspiration for the textures of the carpets that adorn Mandarin Wangfujing.
The rooms are sumptuous and the apartment suites with gardens and terrace, the Presidential Suite is reminiscent of the interiors of old and noble mansions.
The two restaurants, Café Zi and Mandarin Grill + Bar, and MO Bar overlook the hotel’s top-floor terrace garden and were designed by New York-based designer Adam D. Tihany, who emphasized an intimate atmosphere amid dark wood chairs and semicircular tables.
La Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing SPA is one of the treasures of the Beijing hotel: the 4 treatment suites, the fitness center and the 25-meter pool illuminated by natural light coming through floor-to-ceiling windows, are designed to both relax and energize guests in environments of privacy and silence. In the Mirror Suite we work on mental and physical relaxation: using Gharieni quartz sand treatment and Tibetan bell therapy whose sounds restore normal vibratory frequencies in the imbalanced body-mind-spirit system. The Flower Suite, a couple’s suite with a Moroccan theme, is arranged with a traditional hammam where mud, minerals, honey and olive oil are used to smooth the skin, while the Water Suite offers healing therapies and massages.
Dedicated to beauty care for face and body is the Moon Suite where Venus Freeze Plus™, a combination of multipolar radio frequency and pulsed magnetic fields, and natura Bissé and Aromatherapy Associates products are used to reduce wrinkles and brighten the face. The Emperor Longevity treatment involves the use of Xiuyan green jade, the Gua Sha meridian technique, and the dry heat of quartz sand-an inspiration from the heart of the imperial city and its ancient medical wisdom.
With the benefits of the SPA, as a destination for the evening or as a start to the day, one can plan a walk on the Great Wall, from which the whole surrounding world opens up in an unforgettable view, amidst equally unforgettable steps and drops.
