A luxury hotel stay by the lake

The stylish Park Hyatt Ningbo Resort and Spa sits right on the lakeshore. The resort’s lush, well-manicured grounds with simple but sumptuous free-standing villas and beautifully preserved historical buildings are a balm for weekend travellers from Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou, or the well-heeled locals who use the premises as club members.

In the alfresco courtyard of the Tea House, formerly a 500-year-old ancestral hall, guests sip on fine loose-leaf teas and snack on freshly made Ningbo dumplings, famous throughout China. They're made on the spot with rice flour ground by mortar and a healthy dollop of lard, which gives them an eminently velvety texture. The hotel’s dining venues also serve soft, succulent prawns caught from the lake; foodies will be surprised by how much sweetness and unadulterated umami these freshwater critters pack in their little bodies.

Even more impressive is Red, a 700-year-old temple remade into the hotel bar complete with sleek lacquered interiors by Tokyo design firm Super Potato. Kunqu – the oldest existing form of Chinese opera and a Unesco intangible cultural heritage – is performed weekly. The hotel, in some ways, represents both Ningbo’s past and future.