Follow In The Footsteps Of........
Noel Coward and the high life in SHANGHAI.
During the 1920s and 1930s, China’s city of Shanghai became a legend. It was the city of money, gangsters, spy rings - and opportunity. Famous figures – such as Noel Coward, who laid his cheek on the bar at the infamous Shanghai Club and claimed that he could see the curvature of the earth – flocked to see this celebrated city for themselves.
He was followed by novelist Christopher Isherwood, poet WH Auden, playwright George Bernard Shaw and silent movie star great Charlie Chaplin. Their favourite haunt was the Bund, within the former Shanghai International Settlement, facing Pudong, in the eastern part of Huangpu District.
Nowadays, the Bund usually refers to the buildings and wharves on one section of the road, dominated by the grand dome-shaped Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building, as well as the imposing brown-stone facade of the Cathay Hotel (now the Fairmont Peace Hotel), which opened its doors in 1929.
Fans of the late JG Ballard’s prize-winning novel Empire of the Sun (later made into an Oscar-nominated film) will also recall how the author’s semi-autobiographical tale set in WWII tells of the Japanese attacking ships moored off the Bund.
Overlooking Shanghai’s Huangpu River, the Fairmont Peace Hotel - where, in 1930, Coward famously wrote his great comedy of manners and hotel balconies, Private Lives – is yet again set to become the trendiest place to be.
It is now accepting reservations for stays beginning September 1, 2010 after a three-year, multi-million pound restoration. It certainly has rightful claim to be Shanghai’s most exclusive and prestigious address especially now it is in the same group as Fairmont’s impressive list of heritage hotels worldwide, including The Savoy, London, New York’s Plaza Hotel and the Fairmont San Francisco.
This year’s major exhibition, Shanghai Expo, has also prompted openings by other luxury hotel brands in the city, such as Conrad, InterContinental, Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La and Waldorf Astoria.
Shanghai World Expo is a huge fair for consumers, along the lines of the historic Great Exhibition here – which opened to visitors at the end of April.
This is the first time a developing country has hosted the international event. Chinese state media proudly boasts that the country has spent much more on the event than was spent on the Beijing Olympics!
Before it closes at the end of October, at least 70 million visitors are expected to visit pavilions and exhibitions staged by more than 240 countries and organisations from around the world. They claim they have 400,000 visitors a day currently.
China also boasts an embarrassment of other cultural and natural riches for the UK tourist. There are 19 world Natural and Cultural Heritage sites, as well as beautiful landscapes. Some of the most famous are the Lijiang River in Guilin, the Five Mountains, the Three Gorges along the Changjiang River, and the water scenes in southern China. Noted tourist attractions include Mount Huangshan in Anhui Province, Mount Emei in Sichuan Province, the Huanggoushu Waterfall and Limestone Caves in Guizhou Province, the Stone Forest in Yunnan Province, the Grasslands in the nner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the frost-covered trees in Jilin Province in winter.
To enjoy any one of these amazing destinations, speak to a trusted expert at Haslemere Travel who can guide you to the hotel and destination that suits you best, amid the plethora of opportunities available in this vast, but rewarding, country.
Call 01428 658777 or pop in for a chat at 2/4, Petworth Road, Haslemere.
