ZHENGZHOU, China and BETHESDA, Md., July 31, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts today expanded its luxury portfolio in China with the unveiling of the highly anticipated 416-room JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou in Henan Province. Marriott International manages this landmark hotel under a long-term agreement with the owner partners, Greenland Group. This new hotel is located on the top floors of the Millennium Royal Plaza, which is in the CBD of Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan Province as well as an important transportation hub in China. The 60-floor Millennium Royal Plaza stands at 280 meters and is the tallest building in Central China. The JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou is the first Marriott property in Henan as well as the seventh JW Marriott hotel in the Greater China region. "Marriott International has already had several successful hotel projects with our owner partner Greenland in China. The opening of JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou is another gem in this spectacular collection. We are most pleased to have the opportunity to manage such a magnificent hotel," said Simon Cooper, President & Managing Director of Marriott International Asia Pacific. "This is a significant property as it is our first hotel in Zhengzhou which is an important transportation, business and convention hub in central China. Also it is another proof of the growing popularity of our JW Marriott Hotels & Resorts brand in this market. We are on the course of opening new JW Marriott hotels in Macao, Chongqing, Kunming and Shenzhen over the next 12 months." The design of Millennium Royal Plaza was inspired by the Songyue Pagoda, a renowned cultural relic that was built approximately 1,500 years ago. The aluminum exterior's sunscreens give the structure its distinctive pagoda-shape. The sunscreens also maximize the amount of daylight entering the building while reducing glare and solar heat gain. The hotel's interior design reflects the hotel's location with subtle brown metal celebrating the historic importance of bronze, and pale greens representing high quality jade artifacts that were produced in the region throughout the dynasties. "We are honored to introduce this prestigious landmark hotel to the city that is impressively connected with Henan in so many ways," said Frank Sanders, General Manager of JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou. "Our hotel exemplifies the design, service and cultural standards that have become synonymous with the JW Marriott brand. Our dramatic and distinctive architectural and interior features, exceptional culinary offerings and passion for service excellence will result in a truly authentic and unique experience." Zhengzhou is an important transportation hub within China and Henan has a rich 5,000-year history. The city boasts several UNESCO World Heritage Sites such as the world famous Shaolin Temple. The new hotel is ideally located in the heart of Zhengdong New District – the new center of Zhengzhou – and is positioned between the Zhengzhou International Convention & Exhibition Center and Henan Art Center. Due to its impressive location, the JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou is well poised to service both the upscale business and leisure travelers. The new property features a total 416 of spacious guestrooms and suites located from the 41st to the 55th floor, each offering floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic views of the city. All guestrooms feature luxurious JW Marriott bedding designed in collaboration with Todd-Avery Lenahan and ergonomic work spaces that foster convenience and productivity. The hotel's dining experiences on the 38th and 39th floors include The Grill, specializing in both Chinese and Western dishes made from the freshest seafood and finest cuts of beef; Man Ho, headed up by Executive Chef Wong from Hong Kong and featuring Cantonese classics as well as Henan and Sichuan delicacies; and Zhengzhou Kitchen, the best buffet in town boasting dedicated Western, Chinese and Japanese live-cooking sections. The Lounge – borrowing inspiration from the building's height – features the "tallest tea" in the city, a four-tier stand filled with delectable treats. The JW Marriott Hotel Zhengzhou offers more than 2,500 square meters of stunning function and event space, including the 1,000 square meter JW Grand Ballroom with an LED wall panel, six meeting rooms – each with natural daylight – and a spacious pre-function ballroom foyer.

The Songyue Temple Pagoda is the oldest extant large pagoda in China. Its structure and style are consummate among ancient pagodas. It was constructed in 520 during the Northern Dynasties. The brick pagoda is the earliest multi-eave pagoda found so far. According to many books and records since the Hah and Wei dynasties, most pagodas were wooden multistoreyed structures, which were later replaced by brick and stone pagodas of the same style. The Songyue Temple Pagoda, as an early example of the transition, is invaluable. Both the main body and pedestal of the pagoda have twelve sides, making it the only such pagoda in the country. The pagoda's total height is about 39.8 meters. The diameter of the ground floor is 10.6 meters, including the walls, which are each 2.5 meters thick. Except for the steeple and pedestal the entire pagoda is built of yellowish bricks held together by clay. The pedestal is low and plain. The first storey of the pagoda is very high, which is characteristic of all multi-eave pagodas. The first storey is divided into upper and lower parts by balconies, and there are doors on the eastern, southern, western and northern sides, linking the two parts. The top part of each door is an arch with an ornamental ogive above it. The other eight sides of the lower part of the first storey are plain, without ornament. The upper part, however, is the most decorated part of the entire pagoda. Besides the ornaments on the arches of the doors, there are niches on the other eight sides in the shape of square, one- storey, pavilion-style pagodas. The tops of the niches are carved in the shape of teapots or lions. On the twelve corners between the niches and doors pillars whose bases are in the shape of lotus flowers while their capitals are in the shape of pearls and lotus. Above the first storey are fifteen pent roofs so close to each other that it is hard for people to see the shape of the main body. On each side between the pent roofs is a small window and there are lattice windows on both sides of the doors of the niches. Some niche doors provide ventilation and light, while others are only ornaments and an indication of the division of storeys. The lattice windows are simply ornaments. The stone steeple is distinctly divided into pedestal, main body and top. The Sumeru pedestal is in the shape of a lotus flower; the main body of seven discs is crowned by a huge bead. This type of steeple was widely adopted for multi-eave brick and stone pagodas. The interior of the pagoda is cylindrical and there are eight levels of projecting stone supports for what originally must have been wooden flooring. The interior of the first storey has twelve sides, the same as the exterior, but from the second storey up there are only eight sides. Such changes in the interior design are common in stone and brick pagodas of later dynasties. The exterior of the entire pagoda presents the contour of a smooth parabola, making it not only towering and magnificent, but also elegant and graceful, fully displaying the high artistic level of its design.

Songyue Temple Pagoda is the oldest extant brick pagoda of tight eaves in China, located at the southern hillside of Mt. Song about 7 km from the Dengfeng County of Henan Province and surrounded by folds of mountains and graceful landscape. Songyue Temple was named “Xianju Si” and was initially used as the resting palace of the emperors Xuanwu. It was changed into a Buddhist temple later. The temple was magnificent when the emperor Xiaoming had once been lecturing on the Buddhist scriptures. By the Sui and Tang dynasties (581-907), it got its present name and expanded repeatedly, becoming extremely luxurious and magnificent. It was said that Empress Wu Zetian used to stay at the temple and had once made it an imperial palace for short stays away from the capital. However, Songyue Temple fell into decay after the Tang Dyansty. Songyue Temple Pagoda is the only existing construction of the original temple nowadays while other buildings including the Entrance Gate, Grand Hall, Qielan Hall and Baiyi Hall were all reconstructed during the Qing Dynasty. The pagoda was founded in the emperor Zhengguan’s reign during the Northern Wei Dynasty (520-524), boasting a history of over 1,400 years. With a height of 40 m, Songyue Temple Pagoda is shaped as a dodecagon, made of yellowish brick and clay mortar. It is the oldest surviving pagoda built at a time when almost all others were of wood and were subsequently demolished. The perimeters of the pagoda decrease as it rises and its exterior is 15 storeys high compared to the interior with 10 storeys. The brick pedestal of the pagoda is low and simple and unsophisticated, with lotus motifs; Four sides of the tower body has arched doors decorated with the lotus flower pattern; and middle part of the pagoda was divided into two sections, the rich ornamental upper part and plain lower sections, by the corbelling brick a circle. Inside Songyue Temple Pagoda, the wall is cylindrical with eight levels of protecting stone supports for what was probably wooden flooring originally. In addition, there are over 500 arched doors and ornamental lattice windows. The adjourning stone steeple tower is 3.5 m high, distinctly divided into pedestal, main body and top with more lotus motifs. The distinctive design of the Songyue Pagoda is a good example of the early attempts to merge Chinese architecture with Indian Buddhist style.