This hotel is your oasis of calm and tranquillity in bustling Shanghai, China

Shanghai thrives on movement. The traffic never stops and the skyscrapers thrum with energy.

Yet Alila Shanghai, the brand’s first urban resort in China, pulls off the seemingly impossible. It is a bastion of serenity, both inside and through its curated Alila Moments guest experiences that reveal a more contemplative side of the city.

One such excursion brought me to the Shanghai Tangxiang Cultural Studio, a quiet, elegant hideaway tucked in the middle of the city. Seated in a study adorned with scrolls of calligraphy, I concentrated on pressing powdered sandalwood and agarwood into a mould under a skilled artisan’s guidance.

Unlike mass-produced incense sticks, traditional Chinese incense making — preserved here by a passionate local organisation — is a nuanced craft involving loose powders that are blended and shaped with intention before burning.

As I laboured over the craft, the artisan talked about the centuries-old art of incense appreciation among the upper- and leisure-class in China. Besides being used for its therapeutic properties believed to ward off disease, this was also a leisure activity that hosts would offer guests. Think ancient Netflix and chill, but more cultured.

Back then, gatherings in decorated studies featured incense appreciation alongside poetry, calligraphy and even tea ceremonies as coils slowly burned to ash.

By the end of a very pleasant hour-long session, I felt rejuvenated by a sense of calm and clarity from learning about a cultural practice I had known little about. Plus, even with shaky, unpractised hands, I had somehow managed to create a coil of incense — success!

It is this feeling of connection to the city’s rich but lesser-known cultural background that drives the ethos of Alila Shanghai, which opened its doors in November 2024, following a comprehensive five-year refurbishment of the former Four Seasons Shanghai. Located in the city’s vibrant Jing’an district, the hotel is surrounded by countless luxury shopping malls and designer boutiques. Notably, the excellent Prada Rong Zhai cultural and exhibition space and newly launched Mi Shang restaurant are a stone’s throw away.

Yet the hotel has been artfully reimagined by Beijing-based interior designer Ju Bin to create a tranquil retreat that is complemented with an extensive art collection curated to showcase multiple aspects of Chinese art and culture. His masterful use of dark timbers, textured stone and moody lighting evokes tranquillity while offering plenty of photo-worthy vignettes throughout. No wonder the style set often drops in for quiet tete-a-tetes or power meals.

The Alila Shanghai sets the mood with its street-level entrance leading to an enclosed arrival hall with a full-length digital art installation evoking a traditional courtyard, complete with seasonal projections.

Flagship Chinese restaurant 500 Weihai Road, led by chef de cuisine Scott Bao serves up modern Shanghainese cuisine with a focus on seafood. The lunchtime a la carte buffet is a great way to work your way through delicate tasting portions of various signature dishes like the light yet flavourful matsutake mushroom soup or braised abalone with rice.

In contrast to the refined moodiness of the public spaces, the 92 guest rooms and 94 suites are designed in a lighter, neutral palette that make the most of the natural daylight to create light-filled dwellings that offer panoramic views of the Shanghai skyline. Traditional Chinese touches include woven rattan screens, timber marquetry and paper louvers.

I had no complaints with my mid-tier king bed city view studio, which was a surprisingly spacious 66 sq m, complete with a walk-in wardrobe, a generous work desk and a cosy lounge area for unwinding or late-night room service feasts.

Naturally, no Alila stay is complete without a Spa Alila session and a visit to the wellness area with its heated pool, Turkish bath and hydrotherapy pool. While there are several comprehensive wellness journeys on offer, time-starved travellers can still squeeze in a 60-minute treatment that delivers quick but satisfying results. I opted for the invigorating Chinese tuina-style massage and was impressed by how my therapist’s deep pressure technique worked out the tension in my neck, shoulders, and calves — the unholy trinity of travel-induced knots.

Feeling like a weight had been lifted (quite literally) off my shoulders, I wandered over to the adjacent heritage Zhangyuan Shikumen complex, a beautifully restored maze of stone-gated alleyways that date back to 1882. As the largest and best-preserved cluster of its kind in Shanghai, these traditional brick townhouses, which blend Western and Chinese architectural elements, stand in picturesque contrast to the city’s steel-and-glass skyscrapers. Today, the district has been transformed into a buzzy retail and dining destination, home to the Michelin-starred Ortensia, Blue Bottle Coffee and boutiques like Onitsuka Tiger and Hunter. It has also become a magnet for luxury pop-ups like the high-octane Tag Heuer event during the recent Shanghai Grand Prix.

Still curious to explore Shanghai’s quieter, more introspective side, I made my way to one final stop — a consultation at Lei Yun Shang, a revered Traditional Chinese Medicine clinic that has been around since 1734. (It is also part of the hotel’s Alila Moments experiences.)

I took the opportunity to ask the physician why I felt perpetually tired, besides the obvious problem of taking too many red-eye flights and overdosing on espressos.

In true East-meets-West fashion, he prescribed a blend of traditional herbs to help restore energy levels and rather pragmatically suggested I get my vitamin D levels checked, as a deficiency could also cause chronic fatigue.

Armed with this advice — and a newfound respect for balance — I returned to the hotel and slept more deeply than I had in weeks. Turns out, finding zen in the heart of the city is not just mission possible, it is highly recommended.