Hilton to Sell NYC’s Waldorf Astoria to Chinese Insurer for $1.95 Billion

(Bloomberg) Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded hotel operator, agreed to sell the landmark Waldorf Astoria hotel in Manhattan to China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co. for $1.95 billion.

Hilton will continue to manage the 1,232-room luxury hotel, which will undergo a major renovation, the McLean, Virginia-based company said in a statement today. It plans to use the proceeds from the sale to buy other U.S. properties.

The sale of the 83-year-old Art Deco building, which occupies an entire block on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan, ends more than four decades of ownership by the company and expands a surge of Chinese investment in New York real estate. The transaction is the largest ever for a U.S. hotel, according to research firm Lodging Econometrics.

“There really are no other sales to compare it to,” said Bruce Ford, senior vice president and director of global business development at Lodging Econometrics, based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “It is the most unique asset with the most unique location in the world.”

Hilton Chief Executive Officer Christopher Nassetta said in a February interview that the company may sell all or a part of the property as it considers other uses for the building. The company, majority owned by Blackstone Group LP, in December raised $2.35 billion in a record initial public offering for the hotel industry.

Hotel History

The Waldorf Astoria opened in 1931 as the tallest and largest hotel in the world, according to its website. Hilton founder Conrad Hilton gained the management rights in 1949, while Hilton Hotel Corp. purchased the property in 1972.

The hotel’s redevelopment potential makes it an attractive investment, Ford said. The property is in need of an upgrade, said Nikhil Bhalla, an analyst at FBR & Co. in Arlington, Virginia.

“This is a hotel that would have required a phenomenal amount of capital expenditure to restore it to its luxury roots,” he said. “It’s not clear that would have yielded good results in terms of rate growth at this hotel.”

Hilton shares were unchanged at $24.32 at 12:03 p.m. New York time. They have gained 22 percent since the IPO.

Foreign Demand

Manhattan real estate values have jumped as investors from around the world seek yield and relatively safe investments. Beijing-based Anbang, founded in 2004, provides financial and insurance services to more than 20 million customers, according to the statement.

Other prominent real estate deals by Chinese buyers include the purchase last year of a stake in midtown Manhattan’s General Motors Building by Zhang Xin, the billionaire co-founder of Soho China Ltd, and Fosun International Ltd.’s purchase of 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Greenland Holding Group Co., a Shanghai-based, state-owned developer, acquired a 70 percent share of the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn.

The China Insurance Regulatory Commission in 2012 issued rules allowing the nation’s insurers to invest more in commercial real estate in the main cities of developed nations. In February of this year, it capped “real estate category assets” at 30 percent of investments.

Anbang in 2013 passed on buying Hong Kong’s Wing Hang Bank Ltd., which was eventually purchased by Singapore’s Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp., and instead has accumulated a 9 percent stake in China Merchants Bank Co.’s Shanghai-listed shares, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Hotel Sales

The Waldorf Astoria sale adds to at least 12 other luxury hotel transactions in Manhattan since 2006, according to STR Inc., a Hendersonville, Tennessee-based research firm. They include Hyatt Hotels Corp.’s $390 million purchase of the 210-room Park Hyatt New York in August and the sale last year of the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South to investors led by the Witkoff Group for about $660 million.

U.S. insurers also have been looking to buy hotels. Allstate Corp. Chief Executive Officer Tom Wilson said in 2012 that his company was searching for investments in the industry as a way to diversify from bonds and protect his company as interest rates rise.

MetLife Inc. joined with Thayer Lodging Group to purchase the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco for about $161 million last year. The largest U.S. life insurer also has teamed with Loews Corp. to invest in its namesake brand of hotels.

Source: Bloomberg News by Heather Perlberg and Nadja Brandt 

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 Search to Resume in Indian Ocean

(WSJ) After a monthslong pause while a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean’s floor was mapped, crews are preparing to resume the deep sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The ship GO Phoenix, which left Jakarta in late September, is due to arrive in the search area—about 1,800 miles west of Australia—late Sunday. It will begin sweeping the area Monday with a sonar device known as a towfish, which is dragged through the sea, said Martin Dolan, chief commissioner of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, the agency leading the multinational hunt.

Another ship, module article chiclet Fugro Discovery, docked in Western Australia’s Port of Fremantle Sunday to be fitted with equipment including a towfish, Mr. Dolan told The Wall Street Journal. After several days to fit and test the equipment, the ship is due to set sail and should arrive in the search zone about Oct. 17.

The third vessel that will take part in the search, Fugro Equator, is completing the bathymetric survey of a long but narrow arc of seafloor where the search has been concentrated. It is due to finish mapping by the end of the month, after which it is scheduled to journey to Fremantle, where it too will be fitted with similar search equipment, Mr. Dolan said.

Searchers are hoping to answer what has become one of the greatest mysteries in aviation history.

Flight 370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8 with 239 passengers on board. Based on radar data and satellite transmissions left behind as the plane diverted off course, investigators have prioritized an area in the Indian Ocean—where they think the plane crashed after it ran out of fuel—about the size of the Australian island state of Tasmania.

Military search crews spent about 100 days scanning the ocean surface for debris after the Boeing 777 went missing, but turned up nothing linked to the aircraft. An initial underwater search also failed to find any trace of Flight 370.

Australia in early August selected Dutch oil-and-gas consulting firm Fugro NV to lead a rebooted search for the Malaysian jetliner after a monthlong tender process. The ship GO Phoenix was sent by Malaysia’s government to assist Fugro’s vessels.

The area where the plane is thought to have crashed was largely unknown to scientists before ships began mapping the seabed, which at points is about 6,000 meters (19,700 feet) below the surface

The three search ships will tow the delicate equipment about 100 meters above the seabed through areas now known to have deep crevasses, undersea mountains and volcanoes, Mr. Dolan said.

The towfish are fitted with side-scan sonar and can carry video equipment to help crews aboard the ships spot any debris for Flight 370. The device that will be carried aboard Fugro Discovery also will have a sensor that, when turned on, can detect traces of jet fuel, Mr. Dolan said.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Robb M. Stewart

Kanas, near the very northern tip of Xinjiang

Kanas,in a valley in the Altai Mountains, is located near the very northern tip of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. "Kanas" is a Mongolian word meaning "lake in the canyon." The area is famous for its mysterious and wild landscape and especially its legendary lake

Source: china.org

Night time around Wuzhen, China

With a history of 1,200-year, Wuzhen is about one hour's drive from Hangzhou,the capital of Zhejiang Province.The small town is famous for the ancient buildings and old town layout, where bridges of all sizes cross the streams winding through the town


Source: china.org

China Travel-Permit Suspension Weighs on Hong Kong Tourism

(WSJ) Beijing’s decision to suspend issuance of travel permits for mainland tour groups bound for Hong Kong is expected to sharpen the blow to tourism in the city, which has been gripped by pro-democracy protests for a week.

The economic hit plays into the Hong Kong government’s strategy to resolve the crisis by having police step back from direct confrontations with the crowds and instead wait them out. Authorities expect the protesters will tire or lose support from the wider public as it suffers from the business slowdown.

The China National Tourism Administration issued a notice to travel agencies Monday evening advising them to stop organizing Hong Kong-bound tours until further notice, said Jenna Qian, a spokeswoman for the Beijing-based online travel platform Qunar Cayman Islands Ltd. The notice exempted already sold Hong Kong-bound tours, Ms. Qian said.

Tour operators said they believed the change in policy was a result of the Hong Kong protests. It was unclear whether individual travelers were affected.

“It will definitely have an impact on Hong Kong’s tourism industry and we don’t know how long the measure would last,” said Joseph Tung Yao-Chung, executive director of the Hong Kong Travel Industry Council.

Beijing’s decision comes after other countries including the U.S., the U.K., Canada, France, Italy, Germany and Australia issued travel warnings regarding Hong Kong, advising tourists to avoid public demonstrations and to follow media reports for updates.

The contribution of mainland Chinese visitors to Hong Kong’s 296 billion Hong Kong dollar (US$38 billion) tourist industry is crucial. China accounts for two-thirds of all tourists in Hong Kong, up from half of all tourists a decade ago. The number of Chinese visitors rose to more than 40 million people last year from 8.5 million in 2003, the year Beijing eased curbs on mainland Chinese travel to Hong Kong.

Many of the Chinese visitors come to Hong Kong to spend, packing the city’s luxury boutiques in search of high-end apparel and jewelry, especially during the National Day peak travel period, known as Golden Week, which ends Oct. 7.

Allan Zeman, the developer of Hong Kong night life district Lan Kwai Fong, said some retailers at areas near the protests—Central, Admiralty, Causeway Bay, Wan Chai and Mong Kok—have experienced declines in business from 20% to 70%.

“I was in Central yesterday and some of the shops haven’t seen a customer all day,” said Mr. Zeman, a Canadian who acquired Chinese citizenship several years ago.

Tourism directly contributed about 3.9% of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product in 2012, the latest year for which government data are available.

Industry experts said the impact of Beijing’s travel curb could be contained if the halt is temporary. 

Mr. Tung of the Travel Industry Council said 10,000 mainland visitors arrive in such groups every day, accounting for roughly 10% of total Chinese tourists, with the rest being individual Chinese travelers who have multiple-entry or business-travel permits.

Mr. Tung said the international attention paid to the protests and concerns over safety as the standoff continued may have a chilling effect on would-be tourists. “The situation here is like the recent unrest in Thailand.

Many foreign travelers are avoiding traveling to Bangkok and that created a major impact on the tourism industry,” he said.

Lam Siu Lun, chairman of the Hong Kong Travel Agent Owners Association, said demand for accommodation has dropped significantly. “This year we don’t have to fight for hotel rooms,” he said.

At Big Bus Co. (HK) Ltd., which runs bus tours around the city, the number of customers has declined sharply this week.

Normally its tours attract 600 or 700 passengers daily, but this week the number has dropped to 300 to 400 a day, said Roy Chan, a Big Bus manager. Sales are down 30% to 40% this week compared with normal weeks, he said.

Big Bus is now trying to attract more customers by offering a free night tour to people who book one-day or two-day tours.

The harm to business hasn’t been felt by all. Major Japanese travel agencies H.I.S. Co. and JTB Corp. said the protests have had no effect on their package tours from Japan to Hong Kong.

Christine Foo, a Singaporean tourist in her 50s visiting Hong Kong for the city’s watch and clock fair, said she wasn’t concerned, despite Singapore’s issuance of a travel warning for Hong Kong. 

“We are not being disturbed at all,” she said. “The protests in Hong Kong are peaceful, and sometimes we are just rubbernecking.”

“It doesn’t affect my plan to come and it’s easy for me to shop as it’s less crowded,” said Magan Li, a Chinese tourist who visits Hong Kong frequently from Shekou in neighboring Shenzhen.

William Li, a 22-year-old visitor from Guangdong province, had just arrived Thursday for his three-day trip with an individual visit permit. He said the pro-democracy protests won’t be affecting his travel plans. “They do their own protests, we do our own traveling,” he said.

Source: Wall Street Journal by Joanne Chiu, Prudence Ho and Juro Osawa

Terracotta Army, the Warriors of Xi’an

The Terracotta Army, also called the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses, is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huangdi (the first emperor of China – 260-210 B.C.).

The museum consists of three huge pits, as well as the hall of the two bronze chariots and horses. 

Covering an area of 22,780 square meters, more than 8,000 terra cotta soldiers and horses, as well as more than 10,000 bronze weapons, were discovered across the three different pits. The museum is a treasure trove of the Qin Dynasty's military, science and technology, art and culture. It has been listed as an UNESCO World Heritage Site

Source: china.org

Exploring Jiangshan in East China

Jiangshan city in Zhejiang province is the perfect place to be on weekends if you like ancient towns soaked in history, with a bit of mountain trekking thrown in. You can start your journey in the morning by climbing Mount Jianglang, which overlooks the city on it, with three of its peaks higher than 300 meters.

Jianglang is part of China Danxia that was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 2010. Chishui, Taining, Mount Langshan, Mount Danxia and Mount Longhu are other parts of the Danxia that spread across six neighboring provinces in southern China.

The Danxia landform was developed on red sedimentary beds since the Neogene Period, and witnessed much wear and tear through movements of rocks, erosion and weather conditions. The landform comprises magnificent red cliffs, natural pillars, towers, valleys and waterfalls.

Between Mount Jianglang's two peaks is a "crack" that is around 298 meters long and tapers down to a pathway with a width of about 3.5 meters. Tourists can walk through the crack on stone steps and peep into the sky for a stunning view.

Last autumn, Jeb Corliss, a professional sky diver from the United States, jumped out of a helicopter in a wingsuit at an altitude of 500 meters and flew through the crack successfully. Among Corliss' earlier successes include plunging from the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

"To attract more tourists we are speeding up infrastructure building at Mount Jianglang. There's a huge investment in expansion of parking lots (for example)," says Jiang Li, deputy head of Jiangshan's publicity department.

n 2013, the tourism bureau of Jiangshan opened an online store on Tmall.com, a leading Chinese e-commerce site, to sell tickets and hotel accommodation at scenic places.

Qingyang village with its ancient temples and houses could be your next stop in Jiangshan. It is known for its deep association with the surname Mao. Many people bearing the surname had lived in areas toward the south of the Yangtze River.

In 1999, experts confirmed that Mao Zedong's ancestors used to live in Qingyang, before moving to Shaoshan in Hunan province. The village is also the ancestral home of Mao Fumei, Chiang Kai-shek's first wife, and Chiang Ching-kuo's mother.

However, Mao and Chiang never knew about the connection, as they died more than 30 years prior to the discovery.

The other house of interest in the village once belonged to the family of Dai Li.

Dai worked for Chiang Kai-shek, as head of a bureau that specialized in surveillance, kidnapping and assassinations, and also engaged in espionage activities against the Japanese in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45). Dai died in a mysterious airplane crash in 1946.

Built in 1943, with some 85 doors and 122 windows, Dai's house seemingly reflects the personality of an intelligence agent. His study has six doors through which escape in an emergency situation would have been quick.

A traditional Chinese landscape painting had once graced the sitting room wall. Above the room's gate is a small cabinet where Dai kept his gun. A secret chamber behind the wall where he used to live, protected by personal armed guards, is also difficult to make out at first glance.

Another spot that you could visit is Xianxiaguan on Mount Xianxia. Because of the surrounding terrain, Xianxiaguan was a fortress in ancient times, and is located at a little distance from Dai's house. Additionally, you can enjoy the greenery and fresh air over the Xianxia ancient road that was used for trade with Fujian province.

The road will lead you to the town of Nianbadu, one of the most coveted military bases in ancient China, where troops from all over the country were stationed. The town has people with about 142 surnames, who speak in some 13 dialects.

There are many buildings here from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and from the 1910s onward. Well-preserved arches over gateways feature delicate carvings of plants and animals.

IF YOU GO

Tourists from Beijing, Xiamen and Shenzhen can fly to Quzhou airport, which is only 36 kilometers from the Jiangshan downtown. Jiangshan is 288 kilometers from Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. It takes less than four hours by high-speed trains from Shanghai to Jiangshan. The city is rich in agricultural products such as honey, royal jelly and white mushrooms. You could taste authentic farmhouse dishes including fresh potherb, tofu soup and stewed fish in Nianbadu.

SILK TOUCH

Xinchang city in Zhejiang province is less than four hours by car from Jiangshan or Shanghai. There you can visit the Dafo Temple with a history of over 1,600 years, to see a 15-meter-tall Buddha statue carved inside a grotto. There are three wells on the back of the Buddha's head for water to drain out during rain or snowfall.

Source: By Xu Lin (China Daily)