“Rosewood gives me the feeling that the details are what’s important,” says Clement thoughtfully, twirling the lapel of his tailored three-piece Hong Kong tweed suit. Which is also his uniform, because Clement works in guest relations at the new Rosewood Beijing. In Country Kitchen, the hotel’s casual Chinese restaurant, staff are sporting blue cotton suits that might best be described as Mao chic.
With 2014 fading to black, we are each of us another year older and wiser. Well, older, without a doubt. At Bespoke we tend to spend most of the year marching ahead, striving, growing, and eating too much Gung-Ho! Pizza. But as Walter Scott once said, “Look back, and smile on perils past…” (thanks, Brainyquote). So we’ve taken a calm moment to reflect on what was, for us, the year that was… 2014.
When you’ve lived in Beijing for a few winters, you know the folks back home probably won’t squeal with pleasure when unwrapping another tea set / silk scarf / lucky cat / kite this Christmas. (Did we miss any?) So we’ve devised this handy list of Beijing gifts sure to delight their intended recipient or your money back. Figuratively speaking.
Fact: In 1949 China had just 25 museums, and hordes of the country’s most precious treasures had been shipped off with the Kuomintang to Taipei. But in recent years China has gone museum-mad, with Beijing alone boasting over 160 places to peer at old things behind glass.
Congratulations to Beijing’s very own The Temple Hotel, recently voted runner-up in Wallpaper Magazine’s list of “Best Urban Hotels 2014” , from a shortlist of 48 leading hotels around the world. JK Place Roma in Italy took the top spot, judged by bigwigs of the design and travel spheres, with Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles joining The Temple Hotel as the second runner-up.
Excitement about the 2013 opening of Pak Pak, a Thai joint by the folks behind adorable Vietnamese hideaway Susu (plus new partners), was muted slightly by the fact that the restaurant was in far-flung Tianjin Wangjing. Well, prepare to get fully excited and bid a galangal-infused welcome to Pak Pak Central Park in the heart of downtown Beijing.
