We had captured a few moments we loved during our staycations at Shangri-La Singapore and Rasa Sentosa Shangri-La last year.  During our 2-week long trip around China (Beijing – Hohhot – Baotou – Xi’an – Hangzhou – Shanghai), we also had a few favorite travel moments with the respective city Shangri-La hotels that we tagged #LovingTheMoment at Instagram @passportchop. We will follow-up over the next few weeks with more detailed blog post reviews of the hotels we stayed in and the attractions we visited. So do stay tuned. 🙂

At the first city of our China trip – Beijing, we stayed at the tallest hotel building in the city – Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing.  We were treated to Wi-Fi & a Music Selection Menu onboard our limousine transfer from the Peking Capital Airport to Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing.  We were able to Whatsapp and Facebook (with our BreakWall.net VPN service) back to our family and friends to “report” that we have safely arrived in Beijing right in the comfort of our limousine! #LovingtheMoment

At our Grand Premier Room at Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing, we were treated to a majestic painting of a mountain range at our bedrest #LovingtheMoment

At the Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing Residents’ Foyer, we enjoyed great views of the Beijing Central Business District and the iconic CCTV Tower using the telescope deployed around the windows.  Unlike those pay-for-use telescopes at various observation decks around the world, this telescope at Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing is free! #LovingtheMoment

The iconic China Central Television (CCTV) Tower in Beijing.  The new CCTV tower has always been controversial for its futuristic design and had took top place as the “ugliest building in China” in various polls.  Some say it looked like a pair of pants or boxers but to me, it looked great!

At Grill 79 of Shangri-La’s China World Summit Wing, we started a sumptuous lunch with the restaurant’s unique butter flavors – seaweed, basil, tomato – surprisingly yummy & addictive! #LovingtheMoment

Shangri-La China World Summit Wing offers Chinese dining options too – at The Red Chamber with its great selection of dim sum.  Personally, I enjoyed the yummy crispy pork belly and the various dim sum options! #LovingtheMoment

On the day of our arrival, Shangri-La China World Summit Wing also played host to Beijing’s first vertical marathon – participants took an average of 15 minutes to ascend the hotel’s 81 floors! Amazing!

Few more steps to the vertical marathon finishing point at the 81st floor helipad at Shangri-La China World Summit Wing.

And in just 9+ minutes, a German runner Thomas finished first at the vertical marathon at Shangri-La China World Summit Wing!

Sightseeing around Beijing city at 鼓楼 Drum Tower.  Here you can catch a great view of the neighbouring hutongs as well as Houhai area.  There are also regular drum performances up at the Drum Tower.

Click on the video below for a short snippet of the drum performance you can expect to see up at the Drum Tower. #LovingtheMoment

We had also checked out a beautiful Lamasery built on the grounds of an imperial residence – the 雍和宫 Yonghegong Lama Temple. #LovingtheMoment

Intricate carvings (mini gargoyles) on top of 雍和宫 Yonghegong Lama Temple in Beijing #LovingtheMoment

When you are here at Beijing, you must check out the Beijing specialty snacks and you can find a lot of these food along Qianmen Street e.g. this restaurant 都一处前门店 which sells yummy 烧卖 siew mai beijing style at Qianmen Street.

Another famous specialty of 都一处前门店 – 奶油炸糕 Buttery milk bun – fluffy and chewy! #LovingtheMoment

星巴克 Starbucks in a traditional Chinese building at Qianmen Street – cute! Exploring Beijing with @ShangriLaHotels #LovingtheMoment

前门 Qianmen – the majestic Arrow Tower at Qianmen #LovingtheMoment

王府井步行街 Wangfujing Shopping Street where you can find many Mao Zedong memorabilia.

Wangfujing Food Alley 王府井小吃街 where you can find lots of different Beijing street snacks.  BBQ Starfish, Seahorse and Scorpion anyone? Some scorpions are still alive! Ewww….

Opera performance in front of 王府井步行街 Wangfujing Shopping Street – interesting! #LovingtheMoment

The Peking Duck is a must try dish when you are here in Beijing and there is no better place to try the dish then at Kerry Hotel Beijing’s The Horizon Restaurant 海天阁.

Peking Duck dish @shangrilahotels Kerry Hotel Beijing Horizon Restaurant – yummy and very tasty! A must try! #LovingtheMoment

If you are in a Shangri-La Hotel using Instagram, don’t forget to tag your picture #LovingTheMoment. It will show up on http://instagram.shangri-la.com where other guests have also captured their favorite moments in the various Shangri-La around the world.