Fully immersing yourself in nature is what naked is all about.
When I first heard about naked retreats in China, I quickly checked out its website and found staring at me these words “naked Stables – bare yourself in nature”. Wow, China really has advanced so fast – I knew about the Guangzhou Sex Culture Festival which has been around for almost 20 years. But a nudist resort – that’s new.
Images of naked guests frolicking around in the beautiful surroundings of the resort and riding on horses flashed through my mind. That vision however dissipated very soon when I read further and digested the information. Guests can be naked but only in the confines of their own room or villa.
Ah, what a clever and playful name – recent data suggest that it has really struck a chord with stressed-out urbanites in China. Going back to
nature in all its glorious natural setting – clean and crisp air, greenery, the sort of experience stressed out urban folks in Shanghai and Beijing are desperately in need of. In the words of Delphine Yip-Horsfield, Chairman and Chief Design Officer of Shanghaibased naked Group, “naked embodies the meaning of stripping away the excesses, and getting back to the basics and essentials. In addition to the deeper meaning, it’s also a memorable name!”
When the first naked retreat, naked Home, was opened 10 years ago, 90% of the guests were expatriates. Today, 90% are Chinese Mainlanders. Over the past 10 years, naked Retreat has earned itself a string of awards – it was the first hotel in China to be awarded the LEED Platinum status for sustainability while Delphine was designated as one of the top 100 design talents in China.
naked Castle at night
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FUSION OF SINO-AFRICAN ELEMENTS
The combination of Chinese architectural talent (Delphine is trained in architecture) and South African entrepreneurship (her husband is entrepreneur Grant Horsfield) has certainly created a magical environment – a fusion of African and Asian elements in an Asian setting.
“All the buildings were designed to minimise environmental impact and blend in with the natural surroundings, not just with regards to the materials used, but also including the orientation of each building,” says Delphine during an interview with Asian Property Review.
In addition to cutting edge technology, traditional construction techniques such as stonemasonry walls, bamboo and recycled timber framed structures, and traditional mud wall construction were used. For example, the Earth Huts and Main Lobby of naked Stable were built with modern rammed earth walls using compressed mud from the local area.
Infinity Pool
Text by Jan Yong ; Photograpy by Naked Group
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