Ningxia may not loom large on most people’s itineraries, but the region, knifed through by the Huanghe river in China’s central north, features some of the country’s most spectacular countryside. All of which makes the bucolic 15-room Lost Villa a convenient base from which to make exploratory strikes to the surrounding loess plains and desert.
Here, on a patch of land flanked by the riverbank and forest, Shanghai-based studio DAS Lab has fashioned a village of villas, their squat but pleasingly symmetrical cement profiles treated to resemble the rammed earth of local architecture.
Oversized vitrine windows are oriented to catch the winter sun, the light warming the shaded minimalist interiors lined with concrete walls, deep sofas, and narrow clerestories.
The diversions are mostly off-property – sand-skiing is de rigueur – but it pays to be back in time for sunset cocktails and grilled local lamb accompanied by sautéed wild Mongolian onions.
ADDRESS
Shangyou Village
Changle
Shapotou District
Zhongwei
-
We tour Nuanu Creative City, a new Bali district informed by art, nature and technologyWelcome to Nuanu Creative City: Bali’s unprecedented 44-hectare creative development is taking shape
-
DS Automobiles make good on their conceptual promises with the new DS No.8An all-electric flagship, DS No.8 is either a high-riding saloon or a low-slung SUV. Either way, it illustrates a welcome dose of fresh thinking from the French manufacturer
-
Why is the watch world so fascinated by science fiction?This year watchmakers have once more ventured into outer space for our timekeeping needs, with a new generation of young watch brands showcasing sci-fi styles
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotelMandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
-
Inside Palazzo Versace Macau, a lavish, mosaic-rich hotelPalazzo Versace Macau, the brand’s first hotel in Asia, continues to preserve Donatella Versace’s swanky hospitality vision
-
'Retreat and recharge' in Yanbai Villa on a secluded Beijing shorelineYanbai Villa wraps guests in quiet luxury, opening its doors on a secluded Beijing shoreline
-
The Karl Lagerfeld Macau hotel oozes opulence conceived by the late designerThe Karl Lagerfeld Macau hotel is a five-star extravaganza at the Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau, China, designed by the late fashion mogul and set to open in July 2023
-
Villa One at the One & Only Palmilla — Los Cabos, Mexico -
West Kowloon wonders to discover nowCultural and culinary adventures, extraordinary spaces and outstanding experiences in West Kowloon, Hong Kong
-
David Chipperfield Architects and Aim Architecture design ceramic-inspired hotel in China’s porcelain capitalDavid Chipperfield Architects and Aim Architecture unite for the Taoxichuan Hotel project in Jingdezhen
-
Ramshackle farmhouse in China's Hubei province gets a slick makeoverThe reimagined farmhouse is now a contemporary bolthole
