It’s a wonder the maritime freight industry hasn’t run aground completely given the number of shipping containers that are being snapped up and re-purposed by architects and designers at the moment. We’ve seen them housing kitchens, used as mobile pizzerias, and even stacked to create entire restaurants, but this one is pushing the boundaries – a boutique hotel made using 35 of the metal monstrosities.

We’re all for a bit of industrial modernism here at We Heart, but we won’t sugar the pill; the Xiang Xiang Xiang Pray House Hotel (so good they named it thrice) in Nan Dazhan Cun, a rural village on the outskirts of Changzhi – basically a big bunch of beige boxes in a garden – is taking the genre an ocean-crossing too far, at least on the outside. Happily, things get back on course in a big way when we venture inside the hotel, designed by Tonghe Shanzhi Landscape Design. A host of lovely traditional features on both a macro and micro level have been employed in the interior design of the venue, from the beautiful wood throughout, the ultra laid back (in fact pretty much horizontal) dining area to the intricately ornate handles on the suite bedroom doors.

There’s also a heavy emphasis on incense, with bespoke fragrance schemes available to suit the guest’s mood, help rebalance their chi and perform all manner of other health-giving feats. This hotel is worth persevering with despite the initial aesthetic fright – as the saying goes, don’t judge a book by its cover…