Places

The Peninsula Academy

The Peninsula Hotels worldwide offer exclusively designed programmes and experiences to give guests unique and unprecedented access to the historical, cultural, and local traits within each hotel’s destination.

With the perfect balance of lifestyle and culture, The Peninsula Academy programmes give an invaluable insight into the vibrancy and colour of some of the world’s most exciting cities. We’ve compiled a list of our top Peninsula Academy experiences to get you as excited as we are about this unique hotel offering.

A MoMA moment in New York

Get ready for some cultural immersion in New York as The Peninsula Academy offers you the chance of a private guided tour of The Museum of Modern Art – outside the museum’s opening hours. You’ll love the serene silence and contemplative echoes that allow you to get truly up close to the world-famous art on display and the vast knowledge of your private guide means that you can ask them to highlight your specific interests, be they architecture, sculpture, or European artists.

With works by the likes of Van Gogh, Matisse, and Cézanne, MoMA is rightly revered as the most influential museum of modern art in the world. Day passes to the museum are included, so even after the tour is up, be sure to enjoy the entire museum for the rest of the day.

Something a little different in Tokyo

How does ‘The Fun of Faux Food: Hands-on Plastic and Wax Modelling’ sound to you? Little bit off the wall? Ever the eccentric city, we loved this alternative Academy experience being offered by The Peninsula Tokyo. Hit Japan’s city streets and you’ll be amazed by the array of plastic and wax food samples luring you into the local restaurants. Colourful, realistic and fun works of pop art, they epitomise the quirkily commercial spirit of Japan – and The Peninsula Academy offers you the opportunity to make some for yourself.

The experience kicks off with a chauffeur driven ride in a bespoke Peninsula MINI Cooper S Clubman to Yamato Sample Factory, a family-run business with a 60-year history making deliciously real-looking wax and plastic samples for the food industry. Try your hand at a variety of items, from sushi to ramen, tempura to sundaes. In a relaxed neighbourhood setting with the expert Ito family as a guide, this hands-on class promises fun for all ages and an insider’s look at a cottage industry born in Japan some eight decades ago.

Delicious Dim Sum in Hong Kong

The Peninsula Hong Kong’s dim sum kitchen is one of the most revered in the world, so the chance to try your hand at cooking up one of these delicate little dishes in The Spring Moon kitchen itself isn’t one you should turn down. Dim sum – meaning “to touch the heart” – gets its name from the fact that it used to be a snack, rather than a meal to languish over. This class pays tribute to this traditional custom, which is now a staple of Hong Kong dining culture and continues to evolve and influence eastern cuisine globally in restaurants today.

Step into the kitchens to master the art of dim sum with gifted Dim Sum Chef, Henry Fong. Learn the fascinating history of the popular Chinese delicacy before donning an apron and taking up the utensils in a hands-on cooking session. At the end of the journey, you will be able to try your own savoury dim sum including a delightful little Chinese dessert. We promise it won’t disappoint.

Calling for Junior Kite Makers in Shanghai

A kids’ club with a difference, The Peninsula Shanghai’s Chinese Kite Making class is a fun-filled and educational way for your children to spend their afternoon. Flying kites above the Bund and over the Huangpu River has long been a favourite pastime for Shanghai children and their parents, and this workshop enables your children to develop an appreciation for an ancient Chinese tradition and craft.

The class teaches the history and basic skills of kite making in a traditional workshop, located in a famous and beautiful residential alley in Shanghai. Your junior kite makers can try their hand at creating their own kite, and, weather permitting, fly it on the famous Shanghai Bund. Our favourite touch: at the end of the class, the Chinese kite master will present your child with their personal kite, and a framed photo taken with the kite master will be delivered to your room before departure. A little something for the grandparents to enjoy back home.

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