Shangri-La Signs Two New Hotels in China

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts has expanded its portfolio of hotels in China with the signing of the Shangri-La Hotel, Nanjing and the Shangri-La Hotel, Yangzhou. Both hotels are scheduled to open in 2012.

 The two Jiangsu province hotels will join the group's existing six hotels in the Yangtze River Delta and two further projects in Shanghai opening in the next two years. By 2012, Shangri-La will operate 10 hotels in the region and be represented in all major cities of the economic powerhouse and centre of business and leisure travel.

The 670-room Shangri-La Hotel, Nanjing, will be located in the city's Gulou District and will offer views of the Xuan Wu Lake. Guestrooms will begin at 45 square metres. The hotel will be a center for entertainment, social and business gatherings with dining options to include a rooftop restaurant with skyline views, a Chinese restaurant, a lobby lounge with lake views, an all-day dining venue and specialty restaurants. The hotel will also offer a Horizon Club executive lounge, a health club with a 25-metre indoor pool and spa facilities, and a selection of meeting rooms including a 2,000-square-metre grand ballroom.

Three-hundred kilometers from Shanghai, Nanjing is the capital of the Jiangsu province. The city is a regional transportation hub, with the Nanjing Lukou International Airport and major road, rail and waterways linking the city to major national and international destinations.

Leisure travelers to Nanjing can visit the Fuzimiao Confucius Temple and the Purple Mountain, which is home to Dr. Sun Yat Sen's Mausoleum, the certified UNESCO World Heritage site Ming Tomb, and the Lingu Temple and Pagoda. In addition to tourism, the city's major industries include electronics and information technology, petrochemical production, automobile manufacturing, machine building, and bio-engineering and pharmaceuticals.

Located to the northeast of Nanjing in Yangzhou, the 371-room Shangri-La Hotel, Yangzhou is ideally located in the central business district. The hotel's guestrooms will cover over 42 square metres, with premier rooms offering 63 square metres of space.

Yangzhou is the birthplace of Huai Yang cuisine, and the hotel's Chinese restaurant will specialise in serving the dishes of the region alongside Cantonese favourites and dim sum. The hotel will offer three additional restaurants and bars and a variety of meeting space, including a 1,540-square-metre grand ballroom. Additional facilities will include a Horizon Club executive lounge and a fitness center with a 25-metre indoor pool and tennis courts.

Set at the junction of the Yangtze River, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River, Yangzhou has historically been a major political, financial, and trade center. Boasting a 2,500 year history dating back to the Spring and Autumn Period, the city is home to over 500 historic sites including the Slender West Lake with its Qing Dynasty architecture, the Daming Temple, and the He and Ge Gardens. Many well-known poets, such as Li Bai and Su Dongbo, made Yangzhou their home during the Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties. And more recently, the city was the birthplace of former Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

Yangzhou is a leader in environmental protection, with significant investments made into restoring the Yangtze River and the city is a center of solar energy technology development. Yangzhou's other key industries are transportation equipment building including ship building, high-end manufacturing, and textile and apparel manufacturing.

"Shangri-La has operated hotels in the Yangtze River Delta for over twenty-five years, and previously managed a hotel in Nanjing. We know the region and the city well and have decided to invest into its future with our own development. We look forward to bringing back Shangri-La hospitality to Nanjing and introducing our distinctive service to Yangzhou," said Greg Dogan, president and chief executive officer of Shangri-La International Hotel Management Limited. "A spotlight will be placed on Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta from May to October this year with the World Expo: we are delighted to welcome visitors from around the world to this region and contribute to its further growth and development."

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