Beijing

Mooncake gift boxes

China World Hotel, Beijing, presents a moon cake collection with 12 different moon cake gift boxes and more than 30 flavors. Stuffings range from the traditional varieties with white lotus filling and mixed nuts to red wine and berry paste, healthy pumpkin egg yolk, low sugar green tea, and bacon and truffle paste. The gift sets are available from 138-588 yuan.

010-6505-2266 Ext 5722.

Award-winning Italian food

"Chef of the Year" Gianluca Visani offers his new creations and the taste of traditional Italian home cooking. Examples of his innovative cuisine are scallops with Parma ham and Jerusalem artichokes, porcini mushroom soup with truffle and mascarpone-chives tortellini, as well as squid ink tagliolini with Dungeness crab. Dishes are matched with exquisite regional Italian wines. All of these delicacies will be presented on a brand new menu in a creative design.

010-5908-8151.

Mix the perfect cocktail

Book early to secure your place for the final bartending class in The Champagne Bar at Fairmont Beijing. "Classic cocktails" will be the theme on Aug 4. Anthony, the hotel's cocktail expert, learned his trade at The Plaza, a legendary Fairmont Hotel in New York and will teach you techniques that will wow you and your friends. As Anthony will be returning to his home country, this will be his last Beijing Cocktail Class. 150 yuan per person plus 15 percent.

010-8507-3617.

Taste of Tasmania at Grill 79

Experience the unique pleasure of dining on a 21-day, dry-aged, grass-fed Tasmanian beef at Grill 79 in August. Chef de Cuisine Ryan Dadufalza sources from the world's most renowned prime grass-fed beef producers in Cape Grim, Australia, to create the finest steaks cooked to perfection. Offering a choice of your desired cuts - from 220 to 340 grams of strip loin to rib-eye, or, if you are willing to share, the 1,000-gram T-bone or the 1,200-gram Cowboy from the sharing menu.

010-8571-6459.

Chinese Valentine's Day Celebration

Patrons can make it an occasion to remember and impress loved ones on Aug 23, which is Chinese Valentine's Day according to the lunar calendar. To celebrate this special day, Beijing's premier restaurant China Grill at Park Hyatt Beijing will feature three memorable menus, while guests enjoy the magnificence of the Beijing skyline. Highlights on the menu include the grilled Australian beef tenderloin, "rossini" foie gras, butter-poached Boston lobster, fava bean puree and steamed pigeon soup. Starting from 1,988 yuan per couple.

010-8567-1838.

Shanghai

Exclusive gift boxes

To celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival, Crowne Plaza Hangzhou Xanadu Resort has prepared exclusive mooncake gift boxes. It includes three styles namely Suzhou, Cantonese and Yunnan - according to the types of mooncakes. Guests can also choose from the various designs of gift boxes such as lucky moon box, wishful moon box, and golden dragon moon box.

0571-8388-0666.

Children's haven

Bring your family down to the Peninsula Shanghai, where there are fun activities, menu and facilities specially designed for the kids. The nourishing Peninsula Kids' Menu composed of chicken wonton soup, barbecued pork bun, seasonal organic fruit and vegetable purees.

021-2327-2888 Ext 6605.

Balinese bites

Hyatt on the Bund is holding a Balinese food festival this August, prepared by Roger Marti, its executive chef. Among the dishes are Balinese skewered items including prawns, lemongrass flavored lobster and grilled fish in banana leaf.

021-6393-1234.

Authentic Aussie "Barbie"

Park Hyatt Shanghai's Chef Benjamin has created a real Australia barbeque this summer. The menu includes the best ribs in town, barramundi and exotic dishes such as crocodile meat, to give an international flavor to the BBQ Festival.

021 6888-1234 Ext 4106.

Traditional Italian pizza

Saints International Restaurant in Hongta Hotel is presenting a traditional Italian-style pizza lunch, where patrons can choose from rich ingredients such as pepperoni, salami, mushroom, onion, olives, capers, smoked salmon, ham, anchovies, jalapeno, chicken breast roast, garlic roast, bell pepper chili, pineapple and banana. The hot dish options consist of Italian cheese rice ball, potato mushroom cake and grilled mixed vegetables.

021-5050-4567 Ext 6312.

Denis Balibouse / Reuters

(China Daily 08/04/2012 page13)