Main Awards: (46 winners)

Hotel Group Brands (4 winners)

China’s Most Popular International Hotel Group Brand of 2009

Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts

China’s Most Popular Local Hotel Group Brand of 2009

Jinling Hotels & Resorts

China’s Most Popular Serviced Residence Brand of 2009

Ascott Property Management (Shanghai)Co., Ltd

China’s Most Popular Economical Chain Hotel Brand of 2009

Home Inn

Hotel Management Companies (2 winners)

2009 China’s Most Investment-value International Hotel Management Company

Accor China

2009 China’s Most Investment-value Local Hotel Management Company

New Century Hotels & Resorts

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The Dig is a series of aquariums located beneath the lobby of the Royal Towers and is the world’s largest open air marine habitat. Hundreds of different aquatic species can be spotted in the Dig’s various tanks such as angelfish, sharks, manta rays, and various types of jellyfish. The goal of The Dig is to provide guests with a taste of life in the legendary destroyed city ofAtlantis. If one observes the bottom of the floors in the different aquariums, wreckage and debris will be scattered about representing the “Lost City of Atlantis.”

A Predator Lagoon is full of sawsharks, barracudas and stingrays. A 100-foot (30 m) clear acrylic tunnel runs underwater, allowing visitors unobstructed views of the marine environment.

Behind Shanghai’s skyscrapers, Art Deco edifices, and colonial bungalows lies a maze of lanes lined with teahouses, ancient markets, and sidewalk stalls—a parallel world that reveals an untold history. Recent transplant Emily Prager steps out her back door and into a hidden city few outsiders ever find

I had lived in Shanghai for about two months when I learned that behind every building which fronts the street is a second and far more enticing world: a labyrinth of winding lanes and alleyways that contains all kinds of eclectic little businesses and historic houses. It is an intimate Shanghai, and one that I got to know mostly by setting out and searching on foot.

I had moved here from Manhattan with my twelve-year-old daughter, Lulu, and had rented a lane house in the former French Concession. For the first few weeks, all of our movements were concentrated on the front of the house. Then one day, I unlocked the back door and stepped outside.

Here was a narrow sunlit passage with two-story, gray-brick lane houses like mine on both sides. It was lunchtime, and the weather-beaten wooden doors and rusty casement windows were flung open wide, and inside, people were bending over sizzling woks on hot plates in tiny hallway kitchens. Brown sparrows swooped and chirped and alighted on bamboo poles overhead, prancing on the laundry hanging there. Some women were laughing and chatting with one another as they scrubbed greens at an outdoor sink, and others squatted over pink and red tin basins of water, peeling root vegetables. Farmers, their faces dark brown from countryside sun, hawked cherries with a songlike cry, the fruit piled in woven baskets hung on shoulder poles across the back of their bent necks.

I walked slowly down this lane, turned the corner, and found that the lane wound on, connecting to an even narrower alley which led to two other lanes that twisted and turned around a natural garden of fruit trees and rose bushes and eventually snaked out onto Xinle Road, the street parallel to mine.

I stared up at the old Art Deco apartment buildings which line that road, and I thought that they were almost like storefronts on a movie set. Behind them, thousands of people lived unseen. Further, there were secret ways to move around the city incognito. I determined in that moment to perform a Cheever-esque act. I would try to cross the entire French Concession by secret lanes without ever using a main street or avenue.

Two distinct worlds have existed in Shanghai since the end of the First Opium War in 1842. After the British attacked the Tao-Kuang emperor and took the city, they demanded that Shanghai become an open trading port and that Britain be granted city land for an exclusive settlement run entirely under British law. Not long after, the French and the Americans each claimed the same thing, and lands along the Huangpu River were designated the International Settlement and the French Concession, behind which lay the all-Chinese city proper.

In time, the foreign settlements expanded and eventually encroached on the Chinese city, shoving it back behind the new, elaborate colonial buildings (which we now identify as the Bund), forcing it to squeeze itself into a warren of alleyways and lanes. So was born a Westernized, urban Shanghai, peopled for the most part by foreigners, rich Chinese and their retainers, and the desperately poor. That modern, bustling Shanghai of the 1920s and ’30s flourished until the Japanese invaded in 1939.

The Langton House Hotel is the perfect location for your wedding reception with full five course menus, champagne reception, live music, beautiful garden and ballroom settings and lively entertainment. In our Garden Patio/Conservatory, Canap?s & Live Music, also Champagne Reception for Bridal Party.

Phone: +353 56 7765133

Address: 67 John Street, Kilkenny, Ireland

Site: http://www.langtons.ie

Beijing -26 Jun 2009 - The Golden Pillow Award Ceremony was held on 15 May 2009. The coveted China Golden pillow Awards, now on its sixth year as the leading awards programme for China’s hospitality industry, is organized by the 21st Century Business Herald & Business Travel Magazine and is recognised as one of the most prestigious hotel evaluations in China and Asia.

Accor China won the award of 2009 China’s Most Investment-value International Hotel Management and Mr. Robert Murray, Senior Vice President of Accor Greater China, won the award of “Leaders of the Hotel Industry of 2009″ two years in a row.

Apart from those two awards, one of the Accor brands - Sofitel Luxury Hotels, has also won a number of individual awards. Sofitel Wanda Beijing won the award of China’s Top 10 Most Popular Business Hotels, Sofitel Zhongshan Golf Resort Nanjing won the award of China’s Top 10 Most Popular resort Hotels of 2009, while Sofitel Forebase Chonqing was awarded with Most Luxury Business Hotel in West China of 2009.

All along, Sofitel has been known for its French elegance and quality of service. These awards not only further enhance its positioning in the international market, but also motivate continuous improvement in providing the best of hospitality. All 150 Sofitel hotels combine French elegance with the unique culture of each region, placing them among the globe’s leading brands. By using scarves of Hermes, the French traditional luxury brand renowned for their high quality production and perfect artistic design, in its guestrooms and other hotel areas, Sofitel Forebase Chongqing creates a unique and captivating design aesthetic and brings the hotel a never-before-seen artistic ambience.

The accolades endorse Accor’s reputation in hotel development and management in China, and “will certainly raise the confidence of our associates and attract more investors to partner with Accor”, added Mr. Murray.

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Sofitel, World Class Hotels & French Elegance
Sofitel is the only French luxury hotel brand with a presence on five continents, in more than 50 countries. Sofitel offers contemporary hotels and resorts adapted to today’s more demanding and more versatile consumers who expect and appreciate beauty, quality and excellence. Whether situated in the heart of a major city like Paris, New York or Bangkok, or nestled away in a country landscape in French Polynesia or Brazil, each Sofitel property offers a genuine experience of the French art de vivre.

My friends Peter likes tourism, whenever he is free he loves to travel around. He said that the pressure of work is big, travel to enable him to relax physically and mentally. He has been to Alaska, Xi’an, China, and other location. He likes photography, every place he would take a lot of photos, He will put these pictures on the Internet to share with friends,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pccm/

He’s a very good photo shoot.
Last time I saw him, he said he would like to do a web site on tour and  hotel reservation, similar to Ctrip(http://www.ctrip.com/)
The establishment of such a site requires a great deal of work,such as web site development, Hotel information provider, Web site promotion etc. If there are appropriate resources, I suggested that he might try.
Of course, if I have time I will help him, because I like the development of the Internet site.

Now there are a lot of Internet hotel reservation sites.You know, looking for an affordable and beautiful hotel is not easy. I have found that a Web site, hotelscombined,  is to provide hotel price comparison service,the URL is  http://www.hotelscombined.com
This site provides us all on the hotel provided by the Web site, there is a price comparison, so that we can make better choices. We can search for hotel we need, and link to relevant sites to do hotel reservations.It can search for hotel from many web sites,such as hotels.com, Booking.com, TotalTourist.com, etc. We can search a specified hotel on the hotel page,for example, China Royal Hotel Macau:
http://www.hotelscombined.com/Hotel/Royal_Hotel_Macau.htm

This model is also worth considering, and this need to establish a good relationship with major travel sites. Therefore, the work needs to be done may be more. To consider what kind of model, we need well-considered. In any case, I hope he can achieve his dream.

Guangzhou is a world commercial center, and a shopping paradise.

It is the most important Commodity distribution center in south China. Worldwide brand-name commodities in complete categories can be found here. Fashionable dress, jewelry, watches, cosmetics, computer and electronic goods, photographing apparatus, sports goods, stationery, fashionable playthings, curios, arts and crafts, medicines and herbs, sea products and other endless goods will meet the different demands of visitors worldwide.

Guangzhou has some department stores and shopping malls that get most of its stock direct from Hong Kong. Shops open around 9.00am and close anywhere from 6.00pm to 10.00p.m. Actual hours depend on the nature of the business. Shops in areas frequented by tourists may open earlier.

The best thing about shopping in Guangzhou is browsing the weird and wonderful collection of animals, food and medicines in Qingping Market. The rugged and rough side to this city is open for everyone to see here, just make sure you hold your nose if you visit in the summer!

If this is all a bit too authentic for you, there are some great little boutiques to be found on Shamian Island and Beijing Lu. Guangdong is famous for its exquisite Embroidery which can also be found at some of the good night markets on Xinhu Lu or Jiaoyue Road.

Bargaining

Bargaining is generally not possible in department stores, but asks for a discount when purchasing expensive items with cash, such as electrical appliances and jewellery. Prices can fluctuate wildly from shop to shop. Bargaining is usually possible and often expected in smaller shops, particularly where items are not visibly priced. Food stallholders usually charge fixed prices.

Bargaining requires time and patience – most vendors have plenty of both and will appreciate your efforts if you are genuinely interested in buying and can maintain a sense of humor in the process. If you can speak just a few words of Chinese, such as numbers, you will enjoy the experience a lot more and often get a better deal.

In China it is possible, if not expected, to bargain in open markets and other shopping areas where prices are not already clearly marked. The goal always is to pay the local price, not the foreigner price. The only important rule is to be polite. It is perfectly fine to ask for a discount, but do it with a smile. While some would see a tough attitude as the key to a cheap price, it usually backfires with the “face” conscious Chinese and you end up not getting the best price. Remember that no vendor will sell you a product at a loss!

Means of Payment

Cash in Chinese RMB is preferred. Luxury restaurants, large department stores and star hotel accept credit cards, but it is wise to check first in the case of traditional Chinese establishments.

Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) are readily available in Guangzhou to use VISA, MasterCard, Dinners Club and other international banking systems.

Tips

Most restaurants and pubs include a service charge in the listed price, so tipping is not necessary.
Do not tip friendly government employees or business people as they may interpret your generosity as a bribe.

Foreign restaurants: American. Australian. French. German. Japanese. Indian. Italian. Korean. Latin American. Muslim. Russian. Southeast Asia. Thai. Turkish. Vegetarian.

Chinese restaurants: Cantonese. Sichuan. Beijing. Seafood.

Please find the restaurants on the below list according to the above order.

Foreign restaurants:

Euramerican Food
Name:Gail’s Place American Food & Bar
Address: 96 Hengfu Lu, by Huanshi Lu, by the Guangdong Second Chinese Medical Hospital
Tel: 0086-20-8359 2080, 0086-20-8359 3878
Business Time: Daily 10.30am-midnight. No cards.

Name:JJ’s American Restaurant & Bar
Address: 28 Taojin Jie
Tel:0086-20-8359 15097
Business Time: Daily 11am-midnight. No cards.

Name:Madison American Food and Drink Specialty
Address: 313-317 Yi An Plaza, 33 Jianshe Liu Ma Lu
Tel: 0086-20-8363 3870
Business Time: Daily 11am-midnight. All cards

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On the Xianggang Hill beside the Jiefang Road stands the tomb of Nanyue King who was the second generation of the King of Nanyue Kingdom in early West Han Dynasty and also the grandson of General Zhao Tuo of the Qin dynasty who unified areas south to the five mountain ridges. The tomb, enjoying a history of over 2000 years, was discovered in 1983. 20 meters deep down behind the hill, it was made of 750 stone slabs with 7 rooms in 2 parts separated by two stone doors. Each room was of its own function. After a few years of excavation, over 1000 pieces or sets of valuable cultural relic and 15 buried-alive dead bodies had been unearthed.

Up to date, this tomb is the earliest, largest and richest ancient tomb of early Han dynasty found in Guangdong and Guangxi areas. It is also the only all-stone tomb with earliest color murals. Of the unearthed cultural relics, bronze instruments, 36 large cooking vessels, 36 bronze mirrors and 3 gold coins (up to date, there have been only 4 gold coins in total of the time discovered in the area) and 240 jade wares. The King wore clothes with jade pieces threaded together. Besides, people found a blue colored flat grass slab, a set of printing copper moulds and African ivory and other rare treasures of significance.

Guangzhou became a part of China in the 3d cent. B.C. Hindu and Arab merchants reached Guangzhou in the 10th cent., and the city became the first Chinese port regularly visited by European traders. In 1511, Portugal secured a trade monopoly, but it was broken by the British in the late 17th cent.; in the 18th cent. the French and Dutch were also admitted. Trading, however, was restricted until the Treaty of Nanjing (1842) following the Opium War, which opened the city to foreign trade. Following a disturbance, French and British forces occupied Guangzhou in 1856. Later the island of Shameen (Shamian) was ceded to them for business and residential purposes, and this reclaimed sandbank with its broad avenues, gardens, and fine buildings was known for its beauty; it was restored to China in 1946.

One tagged place of Guangzhou history is Chen Clan temple. The ancestral temple for the whole clan of the Chen in Guangdong Province, also called Chen Clan Academy, was designed by Li Julin and built from 1890 to 1894, Qing Dynasty when Emperor Guangxu reigned over the country. The whole structure faces the south and covers 15,000 square meters with 6,400 square meters as principal section.

Chen Clan Temple is known for its superb art of decoration for it epitomizes the folk decoration art of Guangdong. It is also famous for “three kinds of carving, three kinds of sculpture and one kind of iron casting”, including Stone carving, wood carving, Brick carving, Pottery Sculpture, plaster sculpture, painted sculpture and iron casting.