Category: Cover Story

Football, tango, roasted meat and mate tea are known as
the four national treasures of Argentina. Argentine people are cheerful and friendly.
When you are here, you will feel even the air is filled with the smell of passion

Watch a ball game, enjoy a dish of roasted meat, drink a cup wine, and dance a tango … This is Argentina, a splendid country full of passion.

For China, Argentina is the most distant country on earth. Thanks to the gift of nature, Argentina is blessed with vast grasslands, rolling mountains, beautiful hills and lakes, abundant oil and a diverse climate. There stands the blue and beautiful Antarctic glacier, the majestic Iguazu Falls, and the last lighthouse at the end of the world.

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires means fresh air. True to its name, the city has many parks and green spaces.

Whether it’s breakfast alone or afternoon tea with friends, cafes are part of the Argentine way of life, with freshly brewed coffee and fluffy croissants. This custom, which originated from the European colonists, has been integrated into the lives of the locals. The old CaféTortoni pioneered the literary café in Buenos Aires, located in a French Art Nouveau building on Avenida de Mayo (Avenue of May) , where many local artists, writers and cultural figures once came to discuss literature and art, share inspiration and creativity, and where today one can enjoy live tango and jazz performances while sipping the coffee.

When you wander around the city, you will find many squares, and the Plaza de Mayo is naturally one of the most famous. On the east side of the square is the Casa de Gobierno (Government House), nicknamed the Casa Rosada (House of Rose) because of its rose-colored exterior, which is romantic and also carries a far-reaching history. The three-story building is covered with blue shutters and exquisite corridors, with a rectangular balcony above the lofty arch in the center. Whenever people look at this balcony, they can’t help but think of Mrs. Eva Perón, known as the “Argentine Rose”, who from her humble origins became the first lady and always worked tirelessly for a country of equality, freedom and democracy. “Don’t cry for me, Argentina”, is a song which she said at the time of her untimely death echoed in the hearts of the Argentine people. Today, the Casa Rosada houses statues of past presidents, important decrees and proclamations, government documents and other historical artifacts.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Buenos Aires is the most literary city in the southern hemisphere. It is full of bookstores, large and small, and has witnessed such masters as Borges and Cortázar. El Ateneo Grand Splendid in the Recoleta district is a bookstore converted from an opera house that once hosted numerous tango legends, still retaining the gorgeous frescoed ceiling, small balconies and red curtains. Just imagine reading books in the gilded atmosphere, and listen to the piano and drink coffee in the lounge area transformed from the theatre stage!

When you see colorful houses and creative graffiti all around, then you are in Boca. This not-so-affluent lower-middle-class neighborhood has become a destination for artistic pioneers, attracting not only tourists and boosting the local economy, but also welcoming international artists to hold exhibitions here from time to time. Another attraction of Boca is the famous La Bombonera, where the the football matches of the Boca Juniors and Atletico River Plate always light up the whole area. Most of the cafes and restaurants along the streets have impromptu tango shows, and the stores sell a variety of specialty handicrafts.

The people of Buenos Aires are big fans of original local brands, so you won’t see too many international brands here, but you will find many local niche designer brands that are eye-catching and affordable. The Palermo district is one of these trendy neighborhoods. The streets are lined with a myriad of trendy design stores that are worth a slow stroll, and there are plenty of stylish cafes for you to spend a leisurely afternoon.

If you’re in Buenos Aires on Sunday, don’t miss the great Sunday market, which offers a wide range of goods, from antiques and curios to creative objects of all kinds, and is definitely worth taking home or giving to friends and family. The market runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is located in the old San Telmo neighborhood, stretching from Plaza de Mayo to Plaza Dorrego, with market stalls laid out on both sides of the avenue. At the Plaza Dorrego, there are always street tango performance,s accompanied by lively music, elegant and full of passion.

When it comes to Argentinian cuisine, grilled meat is definitely the way to go. There are grill restaurants all over the city, with a big burning fireplace in front of them, and they usually don’t disappoint. We recommend La Hormiga and La Cabrera Parrilla in the Palermo district for great and affordable steaks. If you want to watch a tango show while eating steak and drinking wine, Tango Porteño on Av. 9 de Julio (July 9th Avenue) is recommended. The dinner usually starts at 8:30, followed by the tango show at 10:30. In addition, Buenos Aires has two prestigious upscale restaurants: Tegui, the only Argentinean restaurant listed in the world’s top 50, which specializes in new fusion cuisine; and iLatina, a fusion of Latin American flavors, with each dish representing a country.

From football to tango

It is no exaggeration to say that Argentines consider football to be their life. A poll shows that 9 out of 10 Argentines declare themselves to be football fans.

The rise of football in Argentina is closely linked to the country’s development history. With the development of the Argentine meat processing industry, the beef from the Pampas was sold to Europe, and at that time the meat processing area at the port was home to an increasing number of foreign migrant workers. Football became a link between them, strengthening the communication and identity between the immigrant communities and gaining popularity in an invisible way.

Now in Argentina, almost everyone is happy to talk about football. It is more than just a sport, and while Argentines do love it, for them, football is more than that. It is the heroic dream of ordinary people. When the country’s economy is down, football is the reason why Argentines continue to be optimistic and passionate.

While the South Americans generally emphasize the skills of playing football, the Argentine players always perform on the field in a spontaneous and wonderful way, which brings surprises. In the 1986 World Cup, Maradona led his team to victory over England, sweeping away the gloom of Argentina’s defeat in the Falklands War, and is hailed by the country as a national hero.

The Boca district of Buenos Aires is the birthplace of Maradona and home of Argentina’s top team, Boca Juniors. Walking through the streets and colorful houses, you will always encounter Maradona’s portrait and fans taking pictures with it. You can buy a Boca shirt from the souvenir store, and rush to the La Bombonera for a rousing game.

The Argentines have also brought football to the table. Although table football is now popular all over the world, most people just take it as a pastime. In Argentina, however, it is a formal sport that is taken seriously. In restaurants or bars, football enthusiasts pull and spin with precision to put the ball in the goal. There is an official table football association in Argentina, and regular national tournaments are held every year.

Argentines cannot live without football, and equally cannot live without tango. Moreover, they have creatively blended them together. Tango based on football themes pop up all the time. Many tango creators have written tango anthems for the football teams they support. This cross-border creation has inspired the tango fans and football fans alike, binding more Argentines together.

Tango is a traditional Argentine dance and a proud national treasure of the Argentine people. It originated in the 19th century and has become a world-renowned folk art, and is listed as one of the official events of the International Standard Dance Competition. Tango is divided into different forms, but what remains the same is the passion and spontaneity. Buenos Aires is the main center of tango dance, filled with large and small tango dance halls, which locals call “Milonga”.

The Argentine Tango has no rigid rules on the embracing posture of male and female dancers. Sometimes they embrace each other tightly and sometimes they keep an arm’s length away. They often improvise, and the unconventional personalized interpretation is like a wonderful dialogue, which is a reflection of the bold attitude of Argentinean life.

Bar Sur is one of the most famous place to watch tango shows in Buenos Aires. The small retro space allows the viewers to get up close and even interact with the dancers. Tango shows usually start at 8:30 p.m. and run until 2 a.m. There are show-only or with dinner packages to choose from.

The Centro Cultural Borges, on the other hand, offers professional high-level contemporary tango performances, as well as flamenco, ballet, theater, and more. In addition, the center holds various art exhibitions from time to time.

At the Complejo Tango, there is also an opportunity to learn tango steps, with a free tango lesson an hour before the official performance. The performers will also encourage the audience to dance with them during the performance.

Tango ROJO is more expensive, but the professionalism of the show is top-notch. The hall offers 120 seats. The performance is choreographed according to the history of tango development. The musical team is also composed of musicians of the highest level.

You can often see street tango shows in Boca. Though not as professional as the ones at the theatrs or cultural centers, there is often a unique flavor. Some of the dancers are young and some are quite old, but it’s the same passion and joy.

To the end of the world

The southernmost island in the world, belonging to Argentina in the east and Chile in the west, was named “Tierra del Fuego” by the navigator Magellan. Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego region, is often referred to as the end of the world and the gateway to Antarctica. Cruise ships can only enter the Antarctica from November to February each year. Advertisements for “special Antarctic tours promotion”are seen everywhere in Ushuaia.

The blue sea in the near distance and the glaciers and snow-capped peaks in the far compose a fascinating picture Ushuaia. The small town set against mountains and facing the sea is full of life, decorated with colorful houses with spires or flat roofs. Say hello to the sea birds at the port, breathe in the Antarctic sea breeze, and then enjoy the local specialty of king crab (SENTOLLA), or buy some chocolates with maté tea at Laguna Negra Chocolates to start a nice afternoon tea time. The small town is not too big and can be explored on foot. The Arakur Ushuaia Resort & Spa on top of a small hill is the best hotel in the area, overlooking the whole city.

Catch a vintage train at El Tren del Fin del Muncle (the train station at the end of the world), and enjoy the waterfalls, rivers and forests along the way, finally arriving at Tierra del Fuego National Park. Lakes, snow-capped mountains, meadows, and primeval forests make up this beautiful park. The flaming red leaves spectacularly cover the mountains in autumn. Breathe in the pure air and feel the whole world recede to quietness.

The park is home to the famous “southernmost post office on earth”, a small containerized post office set on a trestle bridge reaching out to the sea, with the Argentine flag flying from the roof as its distinctive symbol. The small room is filled with all kinds of vintage objects, from oil lamps to nautical charts and portraits of Madame Perón and Che Guevara. People flock to the house to send a postcard with the “the end of the world” logo on it.

Take a catamaran from the Ushuaia pier to the Beagle Channel, home to the Les Eclaireurs, once again known as the “southernmost lighthouse in the world”. As the boat sails into the sea, snow-capped mountains and towns fade into the distance, while seagulls and albatrosses follow along. It takes about one hour to reach the destination. This 10-meter tall lighthouse has been guiding ships entering the Beagle Channel for nearly 100 years. The rocks below the lighthouse are densely populated with seabirds. After taking a photo with the lighthouse, you can also go to the nearby Penguin Island and Sea Lion Island to get close to the cute animals.

Back in the city center, looking at this pretty little town, it might be hard to imagine that it was a city built by prisoners. Ushuaia was originally a place of exile for prisoners, where they felled, carried and built.

After enjoying the beauty of Ushuaia, take a cruise to the true southernmost point of the earth – Antarctica…

Luxury ecotourism and wellness travel are attracting China’s wealthy. By Liz Flora

While ecotourism is a growing luxury buzzword worldwide, it’s still at an early stage in China—but this is changing quickly as a host of high-end eco-resorts are cropping up across the country.

For example, an onsite organic farm, water purification system, Tesla transportation, and support for local conservation are some of the sustainability initiatives that can be found at the the new Six Senses resort at Qing Cheng Mountain outside Chengdu that opened in June 2015. The eco-friendly five-star resort brand has only nine locations worldwide, and joins several companies that have been launching eco-tourism ventures in China over the past five years.

Many eco-luxury resorts have been springing up across China in nature areas just outside urban centers where they can serve as an escape from China’s smog-choked cities, including Naked Retreats and Le Passage at Moganshan outside Shanghai, the Brickyard at the Great Wall outside Beijing, or the Yun House Boutique Eco-Resort in Guangxi outside Guilin.

Sustainability is a key focus for properties at a time when China faces serious pollution problems with air, soil, and water. The Six Senses Qing Cheng Mountain resort is part of a company with conservation built into its corporate structure—all properties are built with eco-friendly construction techniques and the main global office conducts environmental performance tracking on all its properties, offering rewards to its resorts that perform the best at energy conservation, recycling, and reducing waste. They also participate in local corporate social responsibility initiatives related to conservation. Since Qing Cheng Mountain is located in the heart of Sichuan’s panda country and is near a panda research base, the resort opts to work with panda NGOs.

The Sichuan resort’s massive organic farm located on the property is one of the main draws for most Chinese guests. At the moment, most customers are attracted to the promise of food safety as concerns about contaminated soil and dangerous pesticides grow among China’s affluent.

 A March 2016 survey by McKinsey found that food is the top category consumers plan to spend more on if their incomes increase, while “organic” was listed as the top criteria for evaluating food safety. Guests of high consumption power would just book one of the resort’s suites for one or two months with plans to only eat food from the resort as a form of detox from typical urban fare.

The resort’s farm-to-table restaurant Farm2Fork features labeled menu items for dietary restrictions, as well as a special “pay-what-you-want” chef’s table, and is planning on rolling out guided meal plans for nutrition or dieting. It also holds a farmers’ market every Sunday during the growing season.

Interest in food safety tends to outshine that of other sustainability efforts in the eyes of Chinese consumers. Frankly speaking, Chinese guests are not yet really into the “Hey, let’s reduce using plastic.” They understand that the decomposition of plastic is not good to the environment, but the truth is that they care more about what they eat and drink now than they do about the future. So many wellness hotels in China are now adopting the water purification process for two main purposes: providing a solution to dealing with China’s undrinkable tap water, as well as serving all water in reusable glass bottles rather than relying on plastic like most traditional hotels. These wellness hotels also believe that more education is needed on the sustainability side. They offer on-site programs to guide guests think about the importance of sustainability.  It’s really good to see that the high-end consumers in China never resist such education. They happily say: “Hey this is a good thing—we should do this. This is very good.” And they also honestly admit: “If you don’t tell us, we will not even think of this.”

Many of the wealthy urbanites coming out to the resorts are bringing children with no exposure to agriculture. For instance, a lot of Chinese families like to bring their kids to the organic farm of Six Senses Qingcheng Mountain. These days, the city kids don’t know anything about farms; they don’t know about animals – they don’t really see a lot of fresh stuff.

As a result of the strong interest in health, eco-resorts’ dual emphasis on both sustainability and wellness is also a big draw for Chinese travelers. Six Senses has localized its spa and wellness services for the China market, offering a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner along with its typical spa treatments, as well as tai chi and meditation classes in addition to yoga. Localized services are especially popular. Six Senses Qingcheng Mountain cooperates with the famous nearby Puzhao Temple to offer morning classes in the monks’ meditation chamber with a tai chi master. Guests are given traditional tai chi clothes, and the class is followed by a zen tea ceremony and a vegetarian breakfast. This is precisely the kind of localized experience being sought. And in other Six Senses hotels around the world, morning yoga sessions will be providing equivalent experiences.

Organic food and eco-travel aren’t just exclusive to rural resorts, however, as many restaurants and hotels within China’s cities work to adopt similar practices. For example, Shanghai eco-hotel URBN boasts its carbon-neutral status, while the newly reopened Peninsula Beijing’s fine dining restaurant Jing focuses on farm-to-table gastronomy.

With international travel flat, how are China’s luxury hotels enticing locals?
By Jing Daily Eva Liang

Hospitality has been one of China’s most depressed sectors since COVID-19 hit. According to a 2021 report on the development of China’s hotel industry, 2020 saw the closure of 59,000 hotels in the mainland. The country’s dynamic zero-COVID policy has made even domestic travel onerous, with different provinces and cities setting their own rules that often include a litany of tests and quarantine requirements.

Fashion and travel influencer Will Wang has witnessed the impact firsthand. “The hotel industry fell into a ‘self-help craze’ when the pandemic started to get worse in 2020,” he said. “Even some of the premium hotels began to offer super affordable presale vouchers and sell these vouchers via livestreaming. Then there was a turning point as domestic travel recovered in 2021.”

This rebound was obvious in popular destinations like Hainan’s Sanya, “where hotel revenues even surpassed those before the pandemic,” he adds. In 2021 and early 2022, luxury brands scrambled to launch permanent stores at duty-free shopping malls and unveil pop-up shops in Hainan. Dior’s pop-up “Dior Vibe” at Sanya’s The Edition hotel was the most prominent, driving significant traffic on the ground.

However, as unexpected lockdowns can now happen anywhere in China, brands, hotels and tourists have all become more cautious. Three years on from the start of the pandemic, Chinese tourists’ “travel freedom” seems to be an illusion. How can hotel brands navigate this new normal?

Themed staycations

During the seven-day Golden Week holiday, short-haul vacations accounted for 65 percent of orders on online travel platforms while travel spending per person by local tourists (or those from surrounding areas) increased by nearly 30 percent year-on-year, according to online travel agency Trip.com. Meanwhile, an increasing number of tourists are seeing hotels as “destinations” rather than mere accommodation. They expect a one-stop vacation spot that can entertain them without having to leave the hotel. As the popularity of staycations surges in China, such playful experiences have become significant to clients.

As a Trip.com report shows, as of September 2022, stays that came with activities like esports and camping recorded a year-on-year increase of 50 percent and 10 percent, respectively. Early adopters like Shangri-La Group announced their esports-themed hotel rooms in partnership with Tencent Games and Tencent Esports in June 2021. The first hotels to feature these include the Kerry Hotel in Beijing and Shanghai Pudong District, as well as the Shangri-La hotels in Xi’an, Chengdu, and Haikou. In addition to integrating game-related designs and decorations into the room, the hotels rolled out a series of online and offline events and offered incentives such as complimentary virtual gifts in games.

In 2020, Waldorf Astoria Beijing and Aston Martin teamed up to launch the “Urban Glamping Plan” – offering guests unique camping experiences in the city. The campaign was upgraded in 2021 with the unveiling of South Africa-themed glamping suites, which feature furnishings that are both homely and striking. Clients could also enjoy a deluxe in-room South African dinner.

In-depth local culture tours

When the scope of travel is limited, the potential of each trip is worth exploring to its fullest, and many residents prefer hotels that allow them to immerse themselves in the local culture. Sun Nan from Shanghai is a fan of luxury weekend staycations: “For trips to surrounding areas, I prefer to get closer to nature and experience local customs. So hotels that allow me to explore domestic culture are appealing to me.”

Given this growing demand, leading hotels have leveraged their geographical advantages to introduce in-depth cultural tours. Capella Shanghai, for example, recruits Shanghai culture and history experts to offer guests a variety of tailored experiences such as city cycling tours and tastings in boutique restaurants. Similarly, the JW Marriott Hotel in Shanghai at Tomorrow Square, located near a number of cultural and historic sites, has collaborated with the Shanghai Museum Institute to launch its “Family by JW” campaign, featuring on-site historical lessons.

Multidimensional collaborations

Though various brand collaborations have offered glimmers of hope for hotels in China, guests with plenty of free time and spending power still make up a small but coveted group. Rosewood Beijing appeals to local guests with its diverse dining options and state-of-the-art health and fitness facilities. The hotel’s executive lounge Manor Club teamed up with “The Players Club,” a 27-hole championship golf course and private club in Beijing, to launch a VIP card which allows holders to enjoy membership of both. On top of multiple exclusive offers from Rosewood Beijing, such as one year’s access to the Manor Club, one night’s stay in a deluxe room, access to Sense spa, and discounts at the hotel restaurants, cardholders can enjoy a one-year social membership to The Players Club.

The pandemic has given new impetus to the hospitality industry’s transformation and innovation in spite of the chaos of sudden lockdowns. During the Golden Week holiday in October, thanks to Beijing’s call for people to “stay in the city for the holiday,” vacationers flocked to its suburbs and caused the prices of local establishments to skyrocket. “Hotels capitalized on local short trips as a temporary measure to help the current challenges,” Wang explains.

Whether it’s diversifying the staying experience or maximizing added value, China’s luxury hotels have certainly been getting creative. That said, some of these efforts do tend toward similitude. There is still huge room for improvement in terms of luxury hospitality groups catering to their sophisticated domestic customers — who expect an authentic, playful, and distinctive experience.