Lasting impression

For travelers who want to find artistic and cultural inspiration on their journeys, a hotel with a long history might seem an ideal destination for intriguing stories. NUO Hotel Beijing begs to differ, however.

Located in the capital city's Lido area, a community well known to Beijing's expats, the hotel is the first property of NUO Hotels, China's first homegrown five-star hotel brand. It had its soft opening five months ago.

NUO Hotels is entirely owned by the Beijing Tourism Group, a conglomerate that runs a range of major properties and projects across the city. The brand name in Chinese is nuo jin, the literal meaning of which is "golden promise". It is a commitment made by China to create a Chinese presence in the global hospitality landscape and promote the very best of Chinese culture, according to the hotel's press release.

To Adrian Rudin, general manager of NUO Hotel Beijing and a senior hotelier from Switzerland, the most unique appeal of NUO is simply that "when you wake up, you actually know you are in China".

Modern Ming

The NUO Hotel Beijing channels the culture of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Stepping through the hotel gate, the first thing visitors see is a bronze sculpture of a hill. Zhang Dai, a famous essayist during the Ming Dynasty, wrote, "The door opens onto a view of mountains; the window opens onto a view of water" in one of his essays, depicting a lifestyle in which indoor space is connected with nature outside.

The sculptor is Zeng Fanzhi, dubbed by the media as "China's greatest living artist". Zeng is the hotel's honorary art consultant and has created four works exclusively for the property, including a sculpture called Le Shan. The sculpture, which is 5 meters high and 3 m wide, is reminiscent of rocks and hills in Ming Dynasty paintings.

Historians say intellectuals during the Ming Dynasty used artworks in their living spaces to develop fine aesthetic taste and seek a spiritual transcendence from the banality of everyday life.

Zeng is fascinated by this juxtaposition of aesthetics and lifestyle. Together with the hotel, he wants to promote and revive the beauty of the Ming lifestyle in the modern time.

Designed by world-famous hospitality design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates, the interior decor of the hotel is elegant and simple but never dull. The first thing visitors notice, among a myriad of delightful details in the hotel design, are the colors. The primary colors chosen to represent NUO Hotel Beijing are gray and blue, which were the main colors of the clothing of Ming Dynasty intellectuals.

Also noticeable are the artworks displayed throughout the hotel, decorating not only dining places and suites but also the spa and gym. The hotel has an art collection of 11 renowned or emerging artists from around the world. The chosen works are bold and convey the theme of "modern and traditional".

"Art can be a lifestyle," said Rudin. "It is also an expression of culture, giving identity to the culture of the hotel."

Rudin's favorite spot in the hotel is the Yuan Tea Pavilion.

Designed as a contemporary interpretation of a Ming Dynasty teahouse, the pavilion is a tribute to the time-honored tea tradition of China. A variety of premium teas are offered, including premium green tea from Hangzhou and Suzhou, black tea and white tea from Fujian, Pu'er tea from Yunnan and Oolong tea from Wuyi and Anxi mountain regions, all sourced directly from tea farmers.

The story behind the Yuan Tea Pavilion is that of Zhu Quan, one of Ming emperor Zhu Yuanzhang's sons, who, after withdrawing from imperial court life, started a new life as an intellectual and hermit. He spent much time studying tea culture and published The Tea Manual, an important work in Chinese tea history.

The reclusive but also refined lifestyle of Zhu is what NUO Hotel Beijing tries to offer its guests, said Rudin. Travelers who are successful in their careers and have seen a lot of the world can enjoy a cup of tea at NUO Hotel Beijing and relax.

Golden promise

With its mission to "build a Chinese national brand, and forge an international path", NUO Hotels stands as a pioneer in symbolizing "the Chinese dream" for the hotel industry, Rudin said.

He said NUO Hotels has development plans for China and the rest of the world. Each NUO hotel will have its own cultural style and design inspiration from the country's seven dynasties and each property will present a facet of Chinese culture from a new angle to promote national cultural treasures.

As part of the travel options offered by the Beijing Tourism Group, NUO guests can travel in luxury "Red Flag" H7 limousines across the city. First produced in 1958 and proudly "Made in China" by FAW Group Corporation, the iconic luxury sedans were formerly used to transport top Chinese leaders and foreign dignitaries visiting China.

In addition to the very Chinese limousine service, NUO Hotel Beijing offers unique spa treatments inspired by the Huangdi Neijing, also known as the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, an ancient Chinese medical text, which is considered the fundamental and most comprehensive doctrinal source for traditional Chinese medicine.

These Chinese characteristics are part of NUO Hotels' "golden promise" of building a national luxury hotel brand. NUO Hotel Beijing also keeps a "green promise" by using an air-purification system that efficiently filters up to 90 percent of PM 2.5 particulate, an intelligent lighting system and an energy-saving curtain wall system.

NUO Hotel Beijing, featuring 438 rooms and suites, a traditional teahouse, six restaurants and bars, a ballroom of 1,600 sq m and a carefully curated art collection, is just the homegrown brand's first promise that its future will be bright and golden.