The art of accommodation

Hotels are now showcases for world-class treasures

Art lovers tend to hang out at museums and art galleries. But now they have another option as more hotels in Beijing show art collections.

Greeted by a traditional Chinese painting 9 meters long and 6 meters high, visitors to the Sofitel Beijing Wanda might think they found a museum by mistake.

By renowned Chinese painter Shi Qi, the painting shows the prosperity of China's Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) with the application of bright colors to depict more than a dozen opulently dressed figures including monarchs, subjects and court ladies with traditional Chinese buildings in the background.

The work is said to be among the largest traditional paintings on the Chinese mainland. Another highlight in the hotel's art collection is something that delicately blends East and West.

Created by Swarovski AG from Austria, it is a trio of crystal peony flowers - a symbol of riches and luxury in China - shining on the wall.

With its sparkling beauty, the artwork never fails to impress those lucky enough to see it. And collections in hotels are becoming trendier. Star-rated hotels, as well as luxury social venues, now often have the additional mission of showing the property owner's taste and meeting increasing aesthetic expectations of guests.

The China World Summit Wing Beijing managed by Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts is home to more than 100 artworks including murals, paintings and sculpture commissioned from a dozen prominent artists on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States, the hotel's Communications Executive Yin Yibo told China Daily.

Hanging on the wall in the lobby is an oil painting by Huang Guoqiang. The 7.2-meter-high, 4.3-meter-long work depicts mountains in the mist. In warm tones of brown and orange, the work is evocative of a world of tranquil splendor.

Looking upward, visitors are sure to see chandeliers some 4 meters in diameter with 600 hand-made Czech glass bubbles, some colored and some clear, with diameters ranging from 8 to 40 centimeters.

A painting also adorns the lift lobby. Presenting lava-colored bird plumes dotted with eye-like spots in different shades, the abstract work is a jigsaw of 15 randomly placed rectangles that evoke a phoenix about to rise from the ashes.

Measuring 437.5 cm high and 262.5 cm long, the art piece goes perfectly with the carpet covered in patterns of the legendary bird.

Those who choose the escalator instead are also presented with the chance to enjoy an impressive artwork - a glass wall 9 meters high and 45 meters long studded with 550,000 tiger's eye gemstones imported from South Africa.

Arranged in a wavy pattern, they create the image of sand dunes in the desert, with each striped stone glowing in a fine, golden luster.

Museum-quality artwork is also found on other floors.

The lounge on the 80th floor of the 81-story hotel is decked out with a giant bronze sculpture replicating the iconic welcoming pine tree at Huangshan Mountain in Anhui province.

A work by Hong Kong artist Antony Davy, it measures 8 meters long, 3 meters high and nearly 2 meters wide.

Placed in a container of black pebbles, it has 275 egg-shaped cones of different sizes on its boughs that seem to extend a warm welcome to those who come for a break.

The Park Hyatt Beijing is also known for its art. Sitting in the hotel lobby is a 2.5-meter-high bronze sculpture of a woman flutist.

Dressed in traditional Chinese clothes, the musician seems to be playing a warm and soft melody, opening the door to a world of tranquility.

Named Memories of Jiang'nan - the region south of the Yangtze River - the sculpture evokes the image of soft music lapping in the water on a rainy day, a picture many Chinese people have in mind when the region is mentioned, says Oasis Li, the hotel's public relations manager.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn