China, a land of fascination, of diverse peoples and diverse geography, rich in history and culture, journeys in China fire the imagination and make memories that last a lifetime. The Secret Retreats team in China, known as Yinxingjia, have curated a collection of sincerely Chinese and truly unique boutique hotels set in carefully selected locations across southern Yunnan and within culturally rich destinations around the country, from Tibet to the Yangtze Delta. Only a few of China’s boutique hotels are preserving their local culture and traditions, and this quality was essential for curation by the Secret Retreats team. The China boutique hotel collection is steeped in history and culture ensuring our guests a deep sense of place with warm Chinese hospitality, genuine experiences from these ancient locations where culture, traditions, beliefs, arts and artisans are woven within the fabric of daily life. The China boutique hotel collection awaits you.
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Collection Around Yunnan
Baisha Boutique Hotel
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minorityLocated just outside Lijiang, in the quiet Baisha old town and offering spectacular views of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, Baisha Boutique Hotel allows you to immerse yourself fully in the local Naxi Minority life. Dress in local costume to join Naxi Weddings, hike in nearby mountains and villages, listen to interesting talks about local legends, love stories, religions, make your own handicrafts or join in a traditional bonfire celebration.
Designed by the architect Yoshimasa Tsutsumi, Baisha Boutique Hotel harmoniously blends traditional Japanese style and Naxi minority symbols, offering guests comfortable indoor and outdoor spaces to take part in the local activities or enjoy a relaxing moment on their own.
Rate: from CNY 3,000 for 2 persons /night
The rooms are spacious, the room size starts from 38 square meters, equipped with a study, a living area, a super king-size bed, a large bath tub, separate shower and toilet, a safe, a sofa, tea table and tea wares, each room can have free access to Wifi.
Activities
Lijiang and the Naxi people are known for their rich intangible cultural heritages. Our retreat offers unique experiences with local scholars, Dongba religious experts, and local artisans sharing their knowhow for ceramics, tea culture, dances around bonfires or folk tales.
Dali Sunyata Boutique Hotel
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gaygardenrestaurantminorityExperience the ancient city of Dali. Situated right near the Three Pagodas of Chongsheng Temple and designed by a young architect, this modern style hotel featuring concrete, wood, and stone, is set in the heart of the peaceful old town. Each room has a theme, inspired by local history and traditional lifestyle. The butler will assist in customising excursions including a picnic breakfast amid nature, hikes in the mountains, meditation in a bamboo forest, and tea ceremonies.
Rate: from CNY 980 for 2 persons /night
Starting at 30sqm, these spacious rooms feature high ceilings, large windows facing the garden, and contemporary furniture. Each guestroom has its own design and style, but all are equipped with a king-size bed, large bathtub, separate shower, safe, sofa, and free Wi-Fi access.
Restaurant
The Café serves dishes made from seasonal produce. Daily breakfast and dinner are included in your stay.
Linden Commons
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cyclingSituated in the quiet village of Xizhou just 20 km north of Dali, this 3,600sqm metre boutique hotel is a restored local Bai heritage building dating back to 1939. Each room is uniquely decorated with items handpicked by the owners that reflect their appreciation for Chinese culture. The complex offers large guestrooms, a beautiful garden, a cooking school, café, library, a terrace that looks out over the mountains, and two spacious inner courtyards for private seclusion.
Rate: from CNY 850 for 2 persons /night
There are three room categories; Queen or Twin rooms, and Junior Suites, which offer the comfort of a home in a traditional Chinese setting. The suites are adorned with large Buddhist frescoes.
Restaurant
The restaurant serves local seasonal dishes either in the dining room, garden or terraces. There is also a cooking school where guests can learn to make traditional, regional dishes. Yunnan Cuisine is famous all around China, with hot, spicy flavours influenced from neighbouring Sichuan. The lands around Erhai Lake are very fertile yielding two crops a year (rice, wheat, beans, rape, and maize).
Linden Center
wifihistoricgardenrestaurantminoritycyclingThis boutique hotel stands as an example of Chinese architecture, replete with the Himalayan foothills as a stunning backdrop. Built in 1947, the property was originally used as a military barracks, then later as a hospital. It features 16 guestrooms, a full-service bar, billiards/table tennis room, library, fitness room, kids’ room, and two beautiful terraces that look out over the fields and mountains. Each room is uniquely decorated with items handpicked by the owners that reflect their appreciation for Chinese culture.
Rate: from CNY 880 for 2 persons /night
There are three room categories; King/Twin rooms, Junior Suites, and a Family Suite with two bedrooms. All are decorated with locally crafted furniture from Dali and stone-finished bathrooms. The suites are more secluded and offer mountain and rice paddyfield views.
Activities
From biking tours to tea plantation hikes, mahjong classes, market visits or horse cart ride around the lake, all activities offer the chance to interact with local people, nature, and indigenous culture.
Shaxi Sunyata Boutique Hotel
wifiaircongardenrestaurantartisanminorityDiscover Sidan, a traditional ancient village near the Heihuijiang River that used to be a stopover during the ancient tea-horse road from Yunnan to Tibet. This boutique hotel was designed with natural elements in mind to symbolize the harmony between man and nature. It is tucked away in a traditional residential area so that it looks like a regular home from the outside.
Rate: from CNY 780 for 2 persons /night
All guestrooms are adorned with solid wood furniture and local handicrafts including bamboo door cabinets, wooden tables, hand-sewn lampshades, and painting showcasing daily life.
Restaurant
The restaurant serves dishes made from seasonal produce and the chef can customize his dishes to your liking.
A-Plus Heyuan
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lakeThis property recalls the area’s unique culture, nature, and the inner peace of life in Heyuan. Featuring 208 wooden beams up to 12 metres high with intricate carvings, the hotel has 36 rooms, three courtyards, four dining rooms, three teahouses, a bar, and a meeting room.
Rate: from CNY 1,580 for 2 persons /night
These spacious and comfortable guestrooms feature wood as the main element. Fresh bouquets of flowers picked by the host also invite the beauty of nature inside the room.
Cuisine
The restaurant focuses on cuisine made from local ingredients, some of which come from the farm that is attached to the property. A wide selection of vegetarian dishes are also available as Jianshui is famous for its tofu. In the afternoon, enjoy a tea ceremony with the in-house tea-master by the koi pond and pine trees in the courtyard.
Collection Around Fujian Province
Tulou Boutique Hotel
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cookingartisanLocated in Taxia village, on the UNESCO Word Heritage list as Tianluokeng Tulou Cluster and Yunshuiyao Scenic Area, Tulou Boutique Hotel is a luxury and experiential hotel, but also a well-protected historic site as well as an active cultural center, showcasing the local Hakka ethnic minority vibrant culture. Around the property, the village has a history of more than 600 years and includes many well-preserved original Tulou Buildings; you can explore the town, the tea rooms, the pottery workshop and observe the people, listen to the Hakka music, admire the sceneries and mountains around.
Designed by the architect Hua Li, Tulou Boutique Hotel comprises 5 rebuilt tulou earth style as a testament to the everlasting spirit of Hakka culture.
Rate: from CNY 2,900 for 2 persons /night
The rooms are spacious, the room size starts from 34 square meters, equipped with a study, a living area, a super king-size bed, a large bath tub, separate shower and toilet, a safe, a sofa, tea table and tea wares, each room can have free access to Wifi.
Activities
Tulou and the Hakka people are known for their rich intangible cultural heritages. Our retreat offers unique experiences with local artisans sharing their knowhow for Fujian paper cutting, bamboo crafts weaving (hats, baskets), porcelain making… or their secrets to taste a local dark red complex citrus tea or young bamboo shoot delicacies in the forest.
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Collection Around Shanghai & Yangtze Delta
Yangzhou Boutique Hotel
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traditionalartsMore than just a place to stay, Yangzhou Boutique Hotel,located near Slender West Lake, is also cultural center, showcasing the prosperity of ancient Yangzhou. Built with more than 1.2 million original black bricks collected over two years, the retreat is a work of art in itself, a miniature walled city designed by Neri & Hu architects. The public and residential areas of the compound are connected by traditional passages while the irregular windows subvert the visual boundaries, making the compound itself a unique blend of architectural innovation and traditional culture.
Whether you like to stay in the peaceful premises of the hotel or walk the surrounding art galleries, workshop and tea rooms, we guarantee you will breath in an authentic Chinese culture like nowhere else.
Rate: from CNY 3,100 for 2 persons /night
The rooms are spacious, the room size starts from 33 square meters, equipped with a study, a living area, a super king-size bed, a large bath tub, separate shower and toilet, a safe, a sofa, tea table and tea wares, each room can have free access to Wifi.
Activities
Yangzhou is known for its ancient cultural heritage, when it was a commercial and cultural crossroad between the North and South. Our retreat offers unique experiences with local artists, such outstanding Kunqu performers or zither players, but also local artisans sharing their knowhow for gold and silver inlay, seal carving, traditional folding fans making, lacquerware, woodblock printing… You can learn also Yangzhou Opera, tea ceremony or meditation with the monks of the Jianzheng Buddhism Institute.
Homa Moon Lake
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yogarestaurantSet in Shanghai’s Baoshan district, Homa Moon lake is located in a large Sculpture park with lake, garden and giants contemporary sculptures all around. The property is an escape to the city hustle and bustle, a retreat for a romantic weekend or to celebrate events.
Collection Around Pingyao, Shanxi
Jing's Residence
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sparestaurantBuilt 260 years ago by a wealthy Qing Dynasty silk merchant, Jing’s Residence is set right in the centre of the old town of Pingyao. Each of the 15 meticulously renovated guestrooms and suites reflects the residence’s unique character. Decorative features range from ancient carved wooden window frames and timber structural elements to bamboo flooring, and rice paper ceilings.
Collection Around Tibet
Songtsam Lhasa
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artantiquesminorityLocated on the edge of an old linka (park) just southeast of the Potala Palace, at the altitude of 3,700m, guests can marvel at the magnificent palace views from the lobby, restaurant, and all guestroom balconies. The property’s architectural style pays homage to both local Tibetan culture and the Norbulingka Palace’s classic design. Its 100 beautiful pieces of ancient Tibetan and Chinese textile art add to the hotel’s charm.
Rate: from CNY 980 for 2 persons /night
Each spacious and sundrenched guestroom has a private balcony, and features complimentary WiFi, a desk, coffee machine, and oxygen supply system.
Activities
Enjoy a buffet breakfast, as well as local and Asian cuisine in the restaurant.
Travel Asia with Secret Retreats
Secret Retreats is a curated community of independent boutique hotel, villas, yachts and river boats keen to share their Asian Homes with travelers, sustainably and responsibly.
Conservation of the environment, culture and traditions of Asia is of paramount importance to all in Secret Retreats.
A community of like-minded hospitality professionals, we offer our guests authentic travel experiences that go beyond typical offerings to unveil the essence of Asia. Supporting the Asia based hoteliers and hospitality professionals and providing incredible holidays in Asia and tailor-made Asia travel itineraries direct to public ad travel agents.
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