2009, when the first time I came to Beijing and I was so impressed about Chaoyang district.  That I said to myself, I hope I have the chance to come someday to Beijing to China, to work.  Now my dream became reality. 

My name is Christian Wiendieck. I'm the managing director of the Kempinski Hotel Yansha center. This is the first Kempinski Hotel in China. We opened in 1992. We are a German company. We are perfectly embedded here in Chaoyang district at the Liangma river surrounded by the embassies, lots of international companies and also residences.  We have a good guest mix from international clients, from local international, and now as well with a lot of local guests.

Just recently, we had this very stunning light show in the Liangma river. And also our hotel participated it. It's truly amazing, the trees, the bridges, the buildings are all perfectly illuminated. Whoever has seen it, I can only say this was a very stunning experience.

The river bank has been nicely done. A lot of more restaurants and shops have been entered Chaoyang district. Now it has really become a leisure and lifestyle destination which perfectly fits together. With our hotel, we want to be a lifestyle destination as well. We want to be part of this Liangma River experience with our array of culinary offerings.

The beer is brewed strictly by the German purity law which restricts it to only four ingredients, water, malt, barley, and yeast. And Germany is known for its beer variety. So only out of these four ingredients, so much different types of beer are being brewed.

With this variety of restaurants, we are really hoping that our international guests can experience great, local, traditional culture as well as that the local and Chinese guests can experience our European heritage with the various restaurants. Chinese New Year is approaching. We have a lot of events lined up for the Chinese New Year where we blending the Chinese culture and the traditional festivals in.

The first time I came to Chaoyang district was actually 2009 and already fascinated me a lot. And how can I describe it best? I really feel home here. This place is deeply anchored in my heart. It is really a fascinating district and good cultural mix.

Our daughter is growing up as well. And so many great schools to offer our daughter spoke or speaks basically perfectly Chinese, and English, but German, her mother tongue. It is a great district to live in with all the variety. And I can only hope that many people are as lucky as I am to move to Chaoyang district to live in Chaoyang district and experience the beauty and the variety.

(Source: WeChat Official Account of Chaoyang District, Beijing)