Although not our intention, due to delays in its completion we ended up being the first paying guests at Amangyangyun, Aman's latest property to open in China and my 21st to visit. The resort is currently set to officially open on January 8. We were the only guests during our stay.

We were picked up by a very comfortable S class Mercedes from Pudong airport. There was water on board (but no towel or snacks, and also no reading materials) and wifi was available. Late morning there was little traffic and we arrived just under an hour later. (In very bad traffic it can take up to two hours, apparently.) The drive (largely by motorway) takes you through the industrial suburbs of Shanghai - the world's factory. Pretty it isn't, but it certainly is impressive. The resort itself is in an area with exclusive residences. Although there may be places of interest to visit nearby, they were not evident during the drive.

On arrival a welcoming committee awaited us and we were swiftly taken to villa 1. Words fail to describe this. I'll let the pictures do the talking. Suffice to say that it combined beauty with comfort. Hundreds of mature trees were trucked in from 700 kilometres away and the residences were rebuilt stone by stone from their original village. The quality of the furnishings (all custom designed, some made by the owner's company) is astonishing. The Vola hardware in the bathroom adding a subtle, modern touch, while still in keeping with the traditional atmosphere. The outdoor pool (about 10 metres, I'd say), the jacuzzi, the ponds...it was all very impressive.

Something not shown in the pictures is that there is a well-stocked minibar (Millat juices, East Imperial sodas, Valrhona chocolates) and a coffee machine in the spacious kitchen.

Food was excellent. At night we had regional Chinese food, which was deliciously spicy, along with excellent wine from Yunnan province (neighbours of the famous Ao Yun vineyards, owned by LVMH, which I also had the pleasure of tasting at a Hennessy event in Auckland a few weeks prior). For lunch the next day we had Italian food - the restaurant is led by an amicable and professional Italian gentleman and Chef Andrea does a fantastic job with the food. Currently the chef from Aman Venice is there to help for a few weeks.

We had a tour of the facilities under construction and from what we could tell, the spa, the 57-metre outdoor pool and the indoor pool, the cultural centre (with lots of activities like calligraphy, meditation and so on), will look fabulous. We also had a look at the hotel rooms (gorgeous, modern) and some of the privately-owned villas (complete with elevators, wine cellars and bank vaults!).

There are a few very experienced people here (some from Aman, such as Joe (not 100% sure about his name, sorry, the F&B manager from Amanfayun and previously Beijing), the FoH manager from Amansara, who is helping to set things up for a few weeks, - and some from 4S or other high-end resorts, such as Benoit, the GM). Chinese staff seem very eager to please. As of yet they are lacking in sophistication but the willingness certainly seems there.

It will be exciting to see the resort with all its facilities up and running. We have already booked our next stay for June.

(All pictures below are of our villa, including the pool)










Children's bedroom










Super spicy and super delicious



The calligraphy classroom



A bank vault in one of the privately-owned villas