Qingdao hotel is the first of the brand on the Chinese mainland, Xie Chuanjiao reports.

Boasting Confucian culture and the ultimate in luxury, the Lalu Qingdao resort hotel officially opened on October 12, 2014, becoming the first Lalu property on the Chinese mainland, invested in by Shining Group, a tourism and real estate developer from Taiwan.

Located in the Qingdao West Coast New Area, The Lalu sits against Fenghuang, or Phoenix Hill, and faces the Yellow Sea. The hotel has 160 rooms, including 41 sea villas, 30 cliff villas, a presidential suite and a conference room that can accommodate 800 people.

As the flagship Lalu on the mainland, it has taken six years for Shining Group to develop the project with total investment of $400 million dollars. The hotel is likened to a Chinese imperial palace offering luxurious services at international standards.

As Qingdao is located in Shandong province where Confucius was born, a special team was assigned to research the local Confucian culture and collect relevant cultural products and artworks over the past five years.

A pair of stone lions sitting in front of the hotel lobby was sourced from Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius. Black pottery, bronzeware, stone and wooden elements can be seen throughout the new hotel.

Texts from The Analects of Confucius are also written in various materials ranging from bronze to bamboo and paper, decorating rooms, restaurants and other spaces in the hotel.

There are also ancient instruments including stone and bronze chimes in the lobby, which are played by musicians wearing Confucius-era garments.

Lai Cheng-i, president of Shining Group, said he has confidence in the mainland's property and high-end resort market and the group will invest in 30 Lalu hotels on the mainland within 10 years.

"It is a 1.3-billion population market on the mainland where the property market will continue to grow," he said. "Besides, every project we make is a classic work with creative ideas which will surely win over consumers' hearts."

The first Lalu hotel is located on the shore of Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan, and known for the zen philosophy reflected in its design and its intimate service.

Shining Group will open its third Lalu hotel in Nanjing in the second half of 2015 and its fourth and fifth will follow in Chengdu and Guilin in 2016. Other potential locations include Xiamen, Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Shenyang, Lai said.

Hosting conferences is a feature product of The Lalu hotel. On The Lalu Qingdao's opening day, the Global Enterprise Leadership Summit was held at the hotel and participants included a Microsoft executive who talked about new technology and innovative urban economic development.

"We have the ambition to help Qingdao West Coast New Area grow into North China's Boao," Lai said at the summit.

Boao is a conference destination in South China's Hainan province known for the Boao Forum for Asia, an international event whose venue is permanently located on Boao's largest island, Dongyu Island.