The Hong Kong and Shanghai Hotel Group was the first luxury hotel group in China.  Way back in the 1800's the owned 4 luxury hotels in Shanghai.  Astor hotel near Suchou creek was one of them.  They have left china for quite some time and for the last 4 years, they have been planning and building a new hotel Shanghai Peninsula.  I grew up in HK.  Quite naturally, I remember the great Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong.  It was the most luxurious place then in HK. My parents used to take us to the lobby of the Penn to have afternoon tea.  We were always so thrilled to be there, feeling very grown up and elegant.  That lobby wtih its tall tall ceilings and its live music combo was forever in my heart. 

When Paul Tchen, the very smart and attractive (hey, girls, he is single!) GM of the new -soon- to- be- opened Shanghai Peninsula hotel asked me to come to the hotel to have lunch and a tour of it, I was delighted.  With a lot of excited expectation I went. Not disappointing, the lobby has high ceilings and live music combo.  Oh, they are going to have afternoon tea too!  I shall be there! 

The whole hotel is  beautiful, and the rooms were really special. You should experience the rooms. It is exquisite with ipod dock for music, music and free internet long distance  telephone calls (that is good, because most hotels charge you a fortune for calling long distance).I was particularly thrilled with the view of the top floor restaurant and bar.  The view that takes in both the north and south of Huangpu River is breathtaking.  It is surely going to be the best view in town.   

We ate at the Cantonese restuarant, and the food was really good.  It turned out that the chef is Chef Tang, who was the chef that got a Michelin Star, a sign of a world class rated restaurant of great distinction! Paul and his assistant Cherry Yao accompanied us all over the spaces, including the 450 seat ballroom.  Chanel, I was told will have their flagship store here in the hotel.

The owner of the hotel group is the Kadoorie family.  They were enormously rich of course.  In fact, the huge complex of the Children's Palace in Shanghai of Soong Qing Ling Foundation used to be the home of the Kadoorie family.  They donated the opulent complex to Soong Qing Ling. So the Soong Qing Ling Foundation and the Penn have a natural connection. Since I am a member of the Soong Qing Ling Foundation Board, and I get involved with its big fund raiser on November 13, I asked Paul if they will give us some raffle or aunction gifts from the Peninsula. He was generous enough to give us a dinner for 8 in the cantonese restaurant in the chef tasting dining room and also a stay for 2 in the hotel for a weekend. Perfect! I was very thankful for them of course.

I know that this new hotel means a lot to Sir Michael Kadoorie, the current head of the hotel group. For him, it truly is a home-coming. Finally, the hotel group has returned to Shanghai in its full glory. For us, we are delighted to have such a stunning establishment on the Bund, an addition that make our city even more gorgeous!

If you are interested in purchasing tickets for this November 13 Soong Qing Ling benefit, please email my assistant Monica at monicaxjy@gmail.com.  it will be 5000 rmb per ticket and 50,000 rmb for a table of 10.  please join us.  We need your suppoprt.  Many VIPS will be there including actress Liu Jia Ling etc.