The Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel lies 40 minutes north of the Beijing city center, and is accessible by highways built specially for it. (Kempinski)
Thirty-seven miles north of Central Beijing, Yanqi Lake sits at the foot of the Yan mountains. Sunrises and sunsets over the pine trees by the lake provide a breathtaking view, but soon, a new kind of sunrise is set to be part of the landscape. The Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel Beijing is set to open in Q4 of this year, and the hotel, whose designs are inspired by the sunrise, seeks to establish itself as a major attraction for tourism and conventions.
The hotel is hospitality company Kempinski ‘s largest in China, boasting nearly 600 rooms, 14 restaurants, an 18-hole golf course, and its own shoreline. The hotel seeks to combine the best of Chinese culture and European luxury through its design and services, according to the appointed general manager Brice Peán.
“The idea was to provide people from outside of China with a distinct opinion of modern contemporary Chinese architecture,” Peán told Chinese paper Global Times. “The design also enables us to broaden our ideas on how we can showcase the Chinese culture to the world.”
Peán says that the design of the hotel is that of a rising sun—symbolic of China’s rapidly developing economy. The entrance of the hotel resembles the mouth of a fish, symbolizing prosperity, and the side of the hotel is shaped like a scallop, which represents "fortune" in Chinese culture. Other Chinese cultural elements are incorporated into the building, such as traditional Chinese panes on the building’s side.
The hotel will employ over 700 employees, with 75 percent from the surrounding areas, and will feature large-scale indoor and outdoor facilities, such as a kid’s club and a culinary hub. “Beijing does not currently have a large-scale five-star resort like this, so we hope to be well received by local Beijingers,” Peán says.
According to Kempinski’s information page, Yanqi Lake Kempinski Hotel Beijing has the potential to be considered for future G20 summits and other events, being located in what they call “both the political and economic capital of China and a top tourism destination.” Kempinski’s website also says that the hotel can be easily accessed by car using the highway which has specifically been built to serve this destination.
