Ancillary hotels open to celebrate Red Street tourism project’s debut
Pair of new Yan’an inns feature rustic design inspired by local cave dwellings
Concurrent with the opening of Red Street, a Red cultural tourism project in Yan’an, Shaanxi province, the ancillary hotels — Wanda Jin Yan’an and Wanda Realm Yan’an — opened their doors on June 12.
With 536 guest rooms and suites that provide views of the Yanhu Lake, as well as 6,000-square-meter meeting and banquet facilities, the two hotels boast a rustic design inspired by cave dwellings in northern Shaanxi.
Symbols of Red cultural tradition in Yan’an is interwoven with the convenience of modern luxury. Combining the rich Red tourism resources, the hotels provide guests with parent-child travel package, Red culture training and other activities, bringing a renewed experience of the Red heritage.
At the beginning of the project, the design team strived to incorporate the folk customs of Yan’an, the revolutionary spirit of the Red holy land, and the imprint of changes of the times throughout the design.
Taking advantage of the local topography, the Loess Plateau and cave dwellings are presented in a modern architectural style.
Traditional or contemporary artworks such as paper-cuts and oil paintings embellish history and folklore at the hotels.
Wanda Realm Yan’an takes inspiration from the famous scenic spot Pagoda Mountain, and reinterprets the local unique brick walls, cave dwellings, wood carvings and other elements through modern design techniques. The techniques present a contrast between nostalgia and fashion, history and modernity.
The hotel lobby uses the arched cave structure to give the space a sense of solemnity. At the top of the 12-meter-high lobby, a red fivepointed star crystal chandelier assembled from about 25,000 accessories sets the solemn red tone of the entire hotel.
The seven sculpted reliefs on the walls show the important historical events that influenced the Chinese revolution in Yan’an from 1934 to 1948, and tell the story of the inheritance of the revolutionary spirit with exquisite modern art.
Each of 178 rooms at the hotel features a style typical of northern Shaanxi, and include a view of the Yanhu Lake where the blue sky and the high slope of the loess are intertwined.
The most characteristic cave dwelling rooms set them apart with the vault of the room retaining the characteristics of the original cave dwellings equipped with a heatable brick bed and antique wooden furniture.
The 3-meter-wide bed offers an authentic experience typical of northern Shaanxi lifestyle and its design accounts for the comfort of modern hotels.
Through the application of white and wood colors, it adds a relaxed atmosphere and a sense of natural harmony.
Each characteristic cave room also has its own small courtyard, and a jujube tree stands in some of the courtyards to add to the authenticity.
Wanda Jin Yan’an sources locally by prioritizing Yan’an Auditorium and cave dwellings as design prototypes. It adopts unique regional architectural styles and materials, such as the muddy walls and the yellow-gray and red color tones, to convey the Yan’an spirit of self-reliance and hard work.
The muddy walls imply the recollection of the simple concept of revolutionary life; the yellow-gray and red tones are the sincere commemoration of the Red spirit.
The hotel lobby uses cave silhouettes and flower windows as key elements, and integrates the artistic form of Pagoda Mountain into the main background of the space.
The screens with Shandandan flower patterns, folk art and lanterns with the imprint of that era, echo its Red tone.
The hotel provides 358 lake-view guest rooms and suites ranging from 32-80 sq m.
The rooms are also based on cave dwellings with an atmosphere enhanced by old wood and papercut window grilles, which express the inheritance and innovation of history.
The dining table in the old period was designed into a sink. The elevator halls and corridors of the guest rooms extract the structural form of the cave dwellings.
North Shore Restaurant is an allday restaurant covering an area of nearly 600 sq m. Its 178 indoor seats and 48 outdoor seats can cater to large groups of diners at the same time.
The Red Lecture Hall conference center takes up 6,000 sq m, as part of meeting and banquet facilities located between the two hotels that are interconnected by a corridor.
The lobby space of the Red lecture hall retains the arched structure of the cave dwellings, and uses layered log ceilings on the top, as well as a large copper sculpted relief called “Red Yan’an” to create a simple yet majestic sense of space.
The experienced banquet service team and skilled chefs will do their best to meet the needs of guests and provide them with one-stop conference butler services.
Every place in the conference center is named with profound meaning and Red ideals. The grand banquet hall is called the “Seeking Truth from Facts” hall, which is taken from the core revolutionary ideas established by Chairman Mao Zedong.
Cai Qi, general manager of the hotels, said: “The strong combination of Yan’an Wanda Hotel Group and Red Street Cultural Tourism Project will become a unique selling point of the twin hotels, and we will also strive to make it a cultural tourism hot spot.
“We believe the hotels will promote local economic development, stimulate urban employment and attract more conferences and international events to Yan’an through our high-quality services and perfect facilities.”
The hotels are strategically located with convenient transportation — just a 20-minute drive from Yan’an Nanniwan Airport, a 10-minute drive from Yan’an Railway Station and a 15-minute drive from Yan’an Revolutionary Memorial Hall.