Finding My Alter Ego

By Sandra Scott

“Welcome Home!” said the bellhop when he delivered my luggage to my Harbor View Suite in the Hong Kong Peninsula Hotel. If only it really was my home! There is an aura in the Peninsula Hotels that goes beyond the fact that they are continually rated the best in the world. Just stepping into the marble lobby with massive pillars and the string quartet playing discretely in a balcony alcove is to enter another world. It is like the world took a deep breath, put all its problems in a bubble, and blew them away.

On the desk in our sitting room was a book called Salon de Ning. I curled up on the couch and read the book written to celebrate the inauguration of the Peninsula’s Salon de Ning. The book, ostensibly the memoir of Madame Ning, started with “…I am becoming a little bored with my existence. It has been a few weeks since I have travelled and I yearn for new excitement and the sights.” When I read those words I know I had found my alter ego, my soul mate.

Madame Ning is described as a celebrated Shanghai socialite of the 1930s, an avid world traveler and international hostess who presided over salons in her stylish and eclectic residences. Reading her memoir I traveled with her to Marrakech, Morocco; Giva, Egypt; Paris, France; Angkor Wat, Cambodia; Calgary, Canada; Mt. Fuji, Japan, and Shanghai, China.

That evening I had one request, “John, please take me to Salon de Ning.” Like everything at the Peninsula it was unique. At the seductively dark doorway on the lowest level of the hotel, we rang the bell. A bright digitally created eye winked at us, the door opened, and we were greeted by a lady in a purple jacket with a Mandarin collar and black bell-bottom pants. We were ushered into Madame Ning’s life.

We bypassed the L’Afrique Room with a mounted lion’s head and tent creating the ambience of a Saharan adventure and the Ski Room resembling a rustic Swiss chalet with a fireplace and ski paraphernalia ready for the next fun-in-the-snow experience. The Bailar Room with Madame Ning’s dance trophies and the Boudoir Room with a collection of antique dresses, jewelry, and perfume bottles were occupied so we chose to sit in the main lounge close to the live band and the chanteuse.

John asked me, “What will you have, Madame Scott?”

I knew the Rose Champagne had been created exclusively for Salon de Ning by Deutz of France but I had no trouble making a decision. “I’ll have a Ning Sling.” John ordered the same. The Ning Sling is made with Absolut Mandarin, Lychee Liquor, orange juice, passion fruit puree, and garnished with mint leaves. John and I toasted Madame Ning and spent the evening relaxing, listening to the music, and discussing Ning-style where our travels should take us.

Visit www.peninsula.com.

Sandra Scott is a frequent contributor to travel publications and to Creators Syndicate
and has co-authored two books on local history. She lives in Mexico, NY.

Photos by J. J. Scott.

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