Page "I. M. Pei" Paragraph 74

The hotel, with 325 guest rooms and a four-story central atrium, was designed to fit perfectly into its natural habitat.

The trees in the area were of special concern, and particular care was taken to cut down as few as possible.

He worked with an expert from Suzhou to preserve and renovate a water maze from the original hotel, one of only five in the country.

Pei was also meticulous about the arrangement of items in the garden behind the hotel ; he even insisted on transporting of rocks from a location in southwest China to suit the natural aesthetic.

An associate of Pei's said later that he never saw the architect so involved in a project.