Autumn is the right season for crabs, all over the world. This is not what I said, there are mustard stone crabs on the Gulf Coast, treasure crabs on the west coast of North America, king crabs in Northern Europe, Australia and New Zealand, bread crabs in Europe, black pepper or curry green crabs in Southeast Asia, pine leaf crabs in Japan, and China, since ancient times, like to eat crabs.
Fuxi, the first humanistic pioneer of the Chinese nation and one of the Three Emperors, his mother is "Huaxu", the original meaning of this "Xu" is crab paste, that is, crab salted and fermented food. The name of such an important character is related to crabs, and there is no problem in saying that it is "since ancient times".
Li Bai wrote in "Four Songs Under the Moon": "Crab claws are gold liquid, and the bad hill is Penglai", and Su Shi said in "Ding Gong Mo Mo Sends Clams": "It can be laughed at Wu Xingyu Taishou, one poem for two sharp balls", which is to be seen today, they are all "little experts in bringing goods".
There are many crabs that Chinese people like to eat, pike crabs, blue crabs, butter crabs, flower crabs, stone crabs, Xu crabs and so on... However, at the top of the "crab eating pyramid" is always an excellent variety of Chinese river crab, "hairy crab", the leader of which is the Yangcheng Lake hairy crab, a national geographical indication product of China.
▲ (Above) Sitting on many "the most in the country" Chongyuan Temple; The "thatched house" designed by Kengo Kuma, the Yangcheng Lake Tourism Distribution Center, is now one of the landmarks of Yangcheng Lake, and the building looks like a hairy crab from the sky
Hairy crabs are certainly the iconic products of Yangcheng Lake, but in addition, there is also the "Water Buddha Country" Chongyuan Temple surrounded by lotus flowers in the Yangcheng Lake area, the "thatched house" Yangcheng Lake Tourism Distribution Center designed by Kengo Kuma, the Bicester Shopping Village where you can "buy, buy and buy", and play Suzhou Huayi Brothers Movie World, outdoor go-kart park, etc...
Although downtown Suzhou is not far away, a luxury hotel brand of an international hotel chain is essential to become a well-established holiday destination. In October 2021, Hotel Indigo Suzhou Yangcheng Peninsula opened, and the last piece of the "puzzle" in Yangcheng Peninsula Tourist Resort has finally been completed!
The hotel is located in Spruce Lake Park on the peninsula, with 270-degree invincible lake views, and the design style uses "crab, net, lake, lotus" as the elements to introduce Jiangnan water village into the room, creating a water village neighborhood style.
Indigo brand hotels are good at storytelling, this Indigo can be regarded as telling the story of Yangcheng Lake deeply and thoroughly, most of the soft decorations and artworks in the interior are related to Yangcheng Lake, which is very interesting.
Arriving in the hotel's living room, in addition to the large carpet printed with the Indigo logo, the most eye-catching thing is the boat behind the water curtain, which extracts the essence of the Humble Administrator's Garden "Xiangzhou" and the Lion Forest "Shifang", aiming to show the beauty and elegance of Suzhou gardens. The boat "floating" above the pond symbolizes the harvest after the fisherman casts the net, and returns with a full load.
Turn right into the prologue hall, you can see the hairy crab-shaped artwork at first glance, the paintings hanging on the wall are also abstract paintings mainly composed of hairy crab and crab yellow, and the wall of the elevator room is decorated with embroidery arrays, which is very appropriate.
The reason why hairy crabs in Yangcheng Lake can become scarce is largely due to the scarcity of resources in Yangcheng Lake itself, one is the alkaline water quality, which is conducive to the meat quality of hairy crabs; The second is shallow bottom living water, which is conducive to the photosynthesis of aquatic plants, attracts a large number of fish and shrimp, and provides rich natural rations for hairy crabs; The third is the clear mud at the bottom of the lake.
The hard mud at the bottom of the lake polishes the outstanding appearance of hairy crabs with a green back and white belly and yellow hair and golden claws, and if you want to stand firm at the bottom of the lake, the crab claws need to be particularly strong and powerful, and the vivid hairy crabs are also "exercised". This "hairy crab" in the prologue hall just stands on top of the "clear mud", but you will find that these "clear mud" have become nine square bricks, placed in the form of nine square grids (nine is the largest number of yang, meaning perfection), and don't underestimate them, this is a real "imperial kiln gold brick".
The floor of the Forbidden City in Beijing is paved with the gold bricks of the imperial kiln known as "the first brick under the world", which is even more derived from this, and it is recorded in the "Tiangong Kaiwu" that this soil is "sticky but not scattered, powder but not sand", which is the best raw material for brick making, plus 29 precise and meticulous production processes, it takes two years to finally "turn soil into gold". Gold bricks are as lustrous as jade, bright as a mirror, walking on it is not astringent or slippery, rainy days will not be wet, winter will not be dry, after a hundred years, the gold bricks of the Forbidden City are still as bright as new, and the blocks are intact.
Turning into the corridor in the lobby, the gradient metal woven "fishing nets" are layered and intertwined, as if the water of Yangcheng Lake is diverted into it, giving this corridor a sense of rhythm. The corridor is flanked by floor-to-ceiling glass that complements the large water features in the courtyard.
The backdrop wall at the front desk of the hotel is 365 oars made of pure mud, and the shape of the chandelier is inspired by lotus seeds.
Outside the front desk window is a courtyard water feature called "Kagami Lake", which corresponds to Chonggenji Temple to the south. There is a blessing event in the hotel, and the water lamp is placed in the lake to pray for the blessing.
On the way to the elevator hall on the first floor, you will see this "orange and green" artwork, which is placed with hairy crab origami of hotel employees, and the shape refers to the Soviet-style garden architecture, so creative can definitely get full marks.
If you think about it, these decorations in the hotel are actually "step by step" according to the line, and the decoration is quite exquisite.
Outside the welcome lobby is the "boat", go out to catch and meet crabs lying on the mud (artwork in the prologue hall), fishing nets, lotus seeds, oars in the front desk area, indicating that the fishing boat has come to the lake to "start work", continue to the elevator hall, you can see the fishing nets of captive crabs, this is the beginning of fishing!
Where did the hairy crabs go? It's all on the wall and floor of the elevator in the guest room area! The rows of "hairy crabs" that have been tied on the wall, and the crab baskets scattered on the ground around the corner, are vivid, such an "immersive experience" is difficult to encounter in other places!
The main building of the hotel is a "Z-shaped" structure, and it is located on the peninsula, so most of the rooms can see the lake view not far away, and a small number of low-floor rooms are mainly garden views.
The hotel has a total of 108 rooms and suites, including townhouses near the lake. Starting from 50 square meters, all rooms are equipped with a large terrace or patio with a view (the courtyard is mainly equipped for villa rooms). The design style of the public area naturally continues to the guest rooms, and you can see lotus-shaped spotlights hitting the bamboo basket woven pattern wall at the door, and the localization concept of the Indigo brand is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
This time, I stayed in a 60-square-meter deluxe king bed with lake view room, and I could see the lake view in the distance through the balcony, and on the right hand was an open cloakroom and a mini bar integrated with the office desk.
The main visual colors in the room are green and orange (which also happens to be the raw and cooked colors of hairy crabs), green carpets, orange throw pillows, pink decorative pillows (in fact, they are also the intention shape of hairy crabs) and partition glass as jumping colors, as well as bedside tables in the shape of ancient court food boxes, integrating local classical shapes into modern fashion.
Backdrop panels inspired by Suzhou embroidery and the scenery of Suzhou's ancient towns, used on cloak cabinets and bed backs (which still look a bit silky), are specific uses of local cultural elements.
The bathroom in the Deluxe Room is separated from the bedroom area (the sink in the Superior Room is at the entrance, and the other functional areas of the bathroom are on both sides), the bathtub is placed on the terrace, and the equipment is the familiar "JADE DRAGON" series in Shanghai, the most notable here is this lotus leaf-colored dressing box, and the handle is still a small lotus canopy.
The name of the hotel's only restaurant and bar is "Cheng 16", "Cheng" refers to Yangcheng Lake, where the hotel is located, and "16" is the hotel's address, No. 16 Wanyue Street.
Cheng 16 bar and restaurant are interconnected, shared at all dining times, if you have to distinguish, black and white color-block flooring is the bar area, wooden floor is the restaurant area. The entire restaurant faces the sunken atrium plaza, and the interior and exterior are also connected.
Local culture naturally includes food, then the hotel on the Yangcheng Peninsula must be based on crabs, and the wall at the door is painted with the seven-step method of eating crabs, even "novices" who have never eaten crabs can understand at a glance. The red and yellow decorative wall on the side looks like the color of crab yellow, and it is already hungry before the meal is opened!
The decorative details in the restaurant are also basically related to hairy crabs, and the lifelike hairy crabs on the front need not be said, and the enlarged version of the crab clip tool shows the identity - this is a restaurant that specializes in eating crabs~
When I went, I didn't catch hairy crabs, only this "June yellow" called "Baby hairy crab", that is, the "boy crab" that has just been shelled for the third time, is a little smaller, but still delicious.
I ate two meals here and tried quite a few dishes. The chef of the restaurant is from Guangdong like me, in addition to using the "Chinese food Western" cooking method to present the original local fresh ingredients to the authentic taste of the Suzhou-style neighborhood, he is also very good at combining Cantonese cuisine and Suzhou cuisine innovatively, such as the above combination of Guangdong Puning fried tofu + crab powder, which is deeply in my heart!
There is also a place not to be missed outside the restaurant. Step out of the restaurant and you'll see the Indigo brand's signature spiral staircase. As we all know, the beauty of the spiral staircase is not an accident, it is a existence that follows the aesthetic laws of the "Fibonacci sequence" (also known as the "golden section sequence").
▲ The early logo of the Indigo brand, the "Nautilus" graphic on the side is also beautiful
Not only the spiral staircase, but also the spiral pattern on the nautilus. People who are familiar with the Indigo brand should know that the logo of the Indigo brand in the early years was the Nautilus, and now you should understand why there must be a spiral staircase in the Hotel Indigo, right?
Take a closer look, does the spiral staircase of Indigo on the Yangcheng Peninsula look like a section of a nautilus? Look at this picture vertically, it is almost the mold of the original old logo! It's another way to pay homage to the brand.
Finally, let's take a look at the hotel's common area and other facilities. The sunken courtyard is located between the main building and the villa area, with rockeries between the height and low, breaking the emptiness of the flat space and the sense of visual singleness, the space level is richer, and the privacy is also enhanced.
On the south side of the sunken courtyard (left side of the photo above), there are also three outdoor hot spring pools.
Walking from the outdoor hot spring pool is the indoor pool, which is a high-value indoor pool, the blue and white color scheme is "very advanced", plus the curved roof paved by white mother-of-pearl (Weitang on the shore of Yangcheng Lake is the hometown of freshwater pearls in China), reflecting the sparkling light on the water, it looks a little dreamy.
Unfortunately, I never waited until it was completely empty (business was so good)! So you can only put the "seller's version" photo.
The hotel's gym and yoga room are between the indoor pool and the parent-child play center, while the children are having fun, parents can poke iron on the side, this design is very intimate. Although the gym is not large, the basic equipment is still available, and the 180-degree floor-to-ceiling glass can also see the courtyard view outside the window.
In addition to the sunken courtyard, the hotel also has a leisure courtyard next to the "Mirror Lake" and an outdoor lawn, interestingly, these three outdoor activity areas are located at different heights, layer by layer, each with its own characteristics, and the output is surrounded by lush greenery and flowers, flowing water, and beautiful scenery.
520 square meters (isn't this square meter a bit careful?) The outdoor lawn is made of golf course green grass, evergreen all year round, which can be used for outdoor wedding ceremonies and so on.
The green outdoor lawn and the blue infinity pool on the side are placed together, the natural color matching is very good, and it is a blockbuster at any time, and it is naturally a must-visit place for young ladies and sisters to check in and make a film.
The cycling path of Spruce Lake Park is next to the hotel, and sitting under the canopy set up on the lawn of the hotel, you can see the crowds camping and playing by Yangcheng Lake not far away, sitting on the entire vast lake and water.
Every weekend (Friday, Saturday), the hotel will also set off fireworks in the lawn, and after the big one, it will also distribute fun and safe "fairy sticks" to guests, from day to night, Yangcheng Peninsula Indigo contracted all your fun, and it has become a source of happiness for your relaxing vacation.
Having stayed in so many Indigo hotels, the volume of this one is very small, but it is not common to see such rich design connotations in such a small space.
The narrative of spatial imagery can internalize the moving stories and plots of historical years into a design aesthetic that modern people can appreciate, and there is so much more to explore in the hotel.
For example, the macaron-colored decorative clay pots in the boutique, as well as the rounded display tables, are a form of extracting and externalizing the cultural elements of Suzhou pottery.
Another example is the beautiful Su embroidery ornament painting in the banquet hall area, which looks like a hairy crab from a distance, a summary of various patterns up close, and the decorative lamp on the wall is the shape of a boat oar, echoing the background wall of the front desk. It is also a vivid expression of Suzhou's art, culture and humanistic feelings.
Take advantage of the hairy crab fishing, come to Suzhou Yangcheng Peninsula Indigo to experience a feast of sight and taste.