Shangri-La Hotels presents `Road To Beijing` – a two-week celebration of Chinese cuisine, culture and entertainment this May during the countdown to the Olympic Games.

Eighteen Shangri-La city and resort hotels from Muscat to Sydney to Beijing will host a series of events May 15 to 30, 2008. 

Many of Shangri-La's signature Shang Palace restaurants will host culinary activities, showcasing authentic Chinese cuisine and its modern gastronomic interpretations.  Experts will conduct interactive classes on Chinese cooking, wine tasting and tea culture.

The hotels will also stage performances by such cultural icons as traditional Szechuan Face Changers, "Kung Fu Tea" showmen, Chinese martial artists and acrobats. 

Classic and contemporary Chinese art, photography and sculpture will be exhibited and sold.  Masters of their crafts will introduce guests to the subtleties of calligraphy, paper cutting and knot tying.     

Each hotel will hold its own charity activities, including Olympic-themed gala dinners

to be joined by Olympic medalists and dignitaries – with some events featuring auctions of 2008 Olympics tickets and Olympics memorabilia to raise funds for designated charity organisations.

"Shangri-La is the ideal host for a festival of the size and scope of Road to Beijing," said Jean Michel Offe, group director of food and beverage.  "Not only are we China's leading luxury hotel group, we have a long history of leadership in Chinese cuisine.  As the year of the Olympics in China, this is also a banner year for Shangri-La to share and celebrate the beauty, complexity and exuberance of Chinese cuisine and culture."