China - 5 unusual retreats for you

Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski

Just an hour's drive from downtown Beijing, you will find 42 villas with a total of 236 rooms and suites spread over eitght kilometres of hilly terrain adjoining the Great Wall. The Commune is an architecture museum, luxury resort and natural spectacle all in one - a popular location for corporate retreats, meetings, and conferences for up to 500 guests.

Directions: Badaling Highway, exit at Shuiguan
Website: Commune by the Great Wall Kempinski


Fuchun Resort

Forty kilometres from Hangzhou and 250 from Shanghai, this resort has 70 rooms and suites plus 17 villas nestled among the hills above the scenic Fuchun River. Enjoy some tempting East-West fusion cuisine at the award-winning T8 restraunt without worrying about extra pounds. These can easily work off again anyway on the 18 golf course on in the spa gym.

Directions: Fuyang Section, Hangfu Yangjiang Road, Hangzhou
Website: Fuchun Resort


Hotel of Modern Art

Who would have thought it? The Guilin region of South China boasts more than just a spectacular natural scenery. It also has a stylish design hotel, HoMA, set in a private park containing sculptures by artists from every corner of the earth. You are welcome to take a peek over the artists' shoulder as they work - or even take up a hammer and chisel yourself!

Directions: Yuzi-Paradise, Dubu Town, Yanshan District, Guilin
Website: Hotel of Modern Art


Banyan Tree Lijiang

Not far from Lijiang (whose old town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997), the Banyan Tree from Singapore comprises 55 villas decorated in the traditional Naxi style and has plenty of opportunities for guests to relax: in the private garden or the pool, at one of the hotel restraunts or luxuriating in the spa. The panoramic views of nearby 5,600-meter Jade Dragon Snow Mountain are thrilling and soothing at the same time.

Directions: Lijiang, Yunnan Province
Website: Banyan Tree


Jia Shanghai

Jia Shanghai offers style-conscious guests a wonderful home away from home ("jia" means home). The hotel's Italian restraunt and its rooftop bar and lounge are design to attract the chic set from Shanghai.

Directions: 931 West Nanjing Road. , Shanghai, Tel. +8621 62179000
Website: Jia Shanghai

For Song Bai Hua and his sourcing

This is what I read up when I popped into Shanghaiist.com today:

Want your 6min 40sec of fame? Have some interesting ideas that you've been dying to share with the world? Then put together 12 powerpoint slides of 20 seconds each (no boring lectures or grandmother's tales please), and get in touch with the organisers of Pecha Kucha Night volume 8 at info@far-china.net.

From the organisers:

Pecha Kucha Night is for designers, architects, photographers, architects, interior designers, graphical designers, game designers, artists, fashion designers, inventors, creative students or anyone else with ideas the world needs to know about. If you want to present a new building, furniture, book, add campaign, fashion line, gadgets or any other idea or design come and share it with us!

Pecha Kucha Night volume 8 will take place on the 16th of November as part of the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week. The location this time is the main auditorium of building "1933" in Hongkou. The doors will open at 19:00, the presentations will kick off at 19:33 sharp.

This might be good information for a friend of mine who is currently having his own company in relation to such industries.

Recently, I had been helping out with a friend from Dongbei region. He is dealing with 3D-animation effects for architecture. It is a customer service related after effects product in which I found most of the time he and his company don't end up having any stable office life. Work work work... Anyway, I got him a Mexican student as an Intern in his office currently. Basically area of work as an Intern is to help him source for opportunities overseas and see if he can bring in any projects. If there are anyone interested in such, he is still looking for foreigner who can speak both Mandrin and a Native language. Just comment here and let me know, I try to get back to you as soon as possible. Intern stipends is 800RMB a month, flexible working hours. Just need to produce something out of your Internship and not end up everyday watch Korean movies in the office or surf porn please.

And from Sinocities.net this is what I read up:

It took a while again but we are happy to announce that Pecha Kucha Night volume 8 will take place on the 16th of November as part of the Shanghai International Creative Industry Week! The location this time is the main auditorium of the former slaughterhouse called “1933″ in Hongkou. The doors will open at 19:00, the presentations will kick off at 19:33 sharp. We still have a few speaker slots open, if you want to one of the presenters, better hurry up, we are almost full. Send us an email with your personal details and what you want to present, to info(AT)far-china.net and we will let you know asap if you’re in! For more details see the special Pecha Kucha page on this site.