The focal point for the first phase of the LUX* expansion into China, centered around the mystical Tea Horse Road story and the emerging demand for luxury travel experiences in intrepid parts of the world. Historically as significant as The Silk Road, as its names suggests, its purpose was originally for trading tea to the West and horses to the East. Delineated on a map, The Tea Horse Road forms a vast network spanning 1000s of miles and several countries. It was more than a treacherous trade route, transporting news, cultural values, tastes and practices alike.

Luxury Branding’s role was to package this rich cultural history into a distinctive circuit concept that would inform the design, operations and marketing of a linked network of approximately ten LUX* properties from Pu’er to Dali, Lijiang and Shangri-La, and all the way to Benzilan. We undertook a significant research piece into the history and locations of the proposed properties and the potential travel itineraries that could be undertaken between them.