Fun run

The hotel held a summer charity run in July in the city's picturesque Moon Lake National Forest Park. The event raised funds for the Xinjia Village Primary School in Yitong county.

More than 500 local residents joined the event. The event featured a 5-kilometer Color Bubble Mini Marathon in the forest and a Summer Carnival Party.

The so-called bubble marathon required participants to start through a pool of bubble foam 30 meters long and run through the forest after passing a range of games.

According to the hotel, the event, which is part of China's Changchun Summer Relaxation Festival, promotes "public involvement, entertainment and love", instead of competition.

The event raised about 20,000 yuan to improve campus facilities for the Xinjia Village Primary School.

Clean water project

In addition to raising money for schools in Yitong county, Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun, has donated equipment to solve a local primary school's water problems. Because of the school's location in a hilly area, it is difficult to fetch or buy water. Adding to their difficulty is the high levels of pollution in the campus water well, which contains mud, sand and bacteria.

On Oct 16, the water-purifying equipment that was provided by the hotel and the international nonprofit organization WATERisLIFE went into use in Shagu Village Primary School.

Vincent Tian, general manager of the hotel, said that with corporate social responsibility projects from Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun, "more children can have better education in a healthy environment".

Achievements and future

An active and important part of the local charity scene, the hotel has also built a reputation among guests with its constant improvements in services.

This year, the hotel was named the Best Business Hotel in Changchun by Business Traveler China. This is the 11th consecutive year that the hotel has received the award.

The hotel is a 50-minute drive to Changchun Longjia International Airport and only a 15-minute drive to Changchun Railway Station.

The 25-story property features 457 guestrooms and 98 serviced apartments. In the past quarter of this year, it has begun upgrading its guestroom facilities, with the first batch of newly renovated guestrooms to be put into use by January 2016. Tian said that by the third quarter of 2016, the upgrade of all guestrooms will be completed.

Though positioned as a business hotel, the Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun, is also making changes to its dining services to better cater to local customers by offering menus with reasonable prices.

Contact the writers through fuchao@chinadaily.com.cn

Shangri-La Hotel, Changchun, put together a summer charity run in July that featured a bubbly mini marathon in the city's Moon Lake National Forest Park.

The hotel is located in the commercial hub of Changchun and is the first five-star hotel in the city.

The hotel hosted a charity "cabbage walk" in March that brought traditional German customs to the city.

A Christmas tree lighting charitable event was organized by the hotel on Dec 4 to raise funds for local students. Photos provided to China Daily

Jilin University hosted an international conference on innovation and entrepreneurship on Saturday and Sunday. More than 30 experts and scholars from more than 20 academic institutions around the world gathered at the conference to discuss the future of innovation and entrepreneurship in China. [Photo provided to China Daily]