The pace of economic growth in China of 10% in a depressed World economic context looks very conservative when looking at the boom in the hospitality sector. Following Beijing with its Olympics, the focus is now clearly on Shanghai with the upcoming World Expo.

There seems to be no limit to new hotel openings, such as the Peninsula, perpetuating the standarts of excellence of its Hong Kong flagship property... only 2 Rolls Royces for the moment in front of the Shanghai hotel, but a quick walk on Nanjing Road and its amazing shopping centers shows the direction the city is taking: luxury brands are all there, loved the sign Dior opening soon, not far from the Ferrari dealership...

On the program of my visit, other than Shanghai, trade tastings in the booming city of Shenzhen where China's economic boom all started during Deng Xiao Ping's presidency, then Guangzhou (Canton) which will soon see the opening of the first Alsace restaurant called Alsace Village with Christophe Bilde and his brother in charge and soon to be a Hugel ambassadors in the city. A 4th city was the peaceful and scenic Hangzhou on the lake with a dinner event at the newly opened Plaza Royale hosted at their Thaï restaurant that opened just 4 days earlier !

There seems to be no limit to the apetite to grow in China and wines are indeed part if this growth. Yet, for many Chinese, wine is almost synonimous to red wine so our main challenge and focus now with our Chinese agents Summergate is to educate on the pairing of the "Chopstick's favourite wines" with Chinese gastronomy. A very encourageing sign is Shangri-La, one of the leader in the industry trying to establish its Shang Palace or Summer Palace chinese restaurants as their flagship restaurants. In Hong Kong's Island Shangri-La their restaurant was awarded ** Michelin !

Back to Shanghai for a few relaxing days in the latest opened ***** hotels, member of Leading Hotels of the World, the urban resort of The Puli, with a most relaxing stay in a such a vibrant city. From Martijn the GM to all the staff including Frenchman Cédric Martin all the team of the Puli went out of their way to make each guest feel they are their most important customer. This was certainly the case for Summergate's Dieter Grün's GM friends that we had the pleasure to entertain.

Can there be any better profession than making people happy ? We are an important part of the hospitality equation, wine is an essential part and offers its adequate "lubricant" properties ;-)

A quick walk through the traditionnal parts of Shanghai is another eye opener, revealing the amazings contrast between tradition and modernity, playing table tennis on a recycled door with a very solid net !

Off to Taiwan with at last direct flights to the island which clearly understands its interest to increase its ties with its mainland neighbour. More on that visit shortly...