Blue Wings Freedom issue March 2018

Freedom issue 03 / 2018

BLUE WINGS DON’T BE SHY – HELP YOURSELF TO THIS ISSUE AND SHARE IT WITH A LOVED ONE!

CREATING NEW

GLOBAL TRIBES

TI M E L E SS TO U C H

B E YON D TH E SURFACE

SO CCER STORIE S

Where to find San Francisco’s dreamiest spots

Inside Nanjing’s most imaginative architecture

Is China the next football superpower?

Editorial

Welcome onboard

Arja Suominen SVP, communications and corporate responsibility

bluewings.finnair.com FOKUS MEDIA FINLAND Managing editor

Art director

Web editor Visual designers

Editorial assistant English editing Reprographics

Amanda Soila Aino Ahtiainen Shelly Nyqvist Sesilja Lindell Iris Mark Aino Vähälä Silja Kudel Faktor Oy

Cover Tenzin Wild by Elina Simonen Behind this issue Daniel Allen, Mark Andrews, Tim Bird, Fabian Björk, Simon Fry, Svante Gullichsen, Tuomas ­Harjumaaskola, Laura Iisalo, Silja ­Kudel, Ninarose Maoz, Andrew ­Marshall, Lissu Moulton, Katja Pantzar, Marko ­Pasanen, Annika Rantala, Robert Seger, Elina ­Simonen, Riitta Sourander, Andrew Taylor, Emmi-­ Riikka Vartiainen, and ­Fran Weaver Submissions and feedback bluewings@fokusmedia.fi Blue Wings online bluewings.finnair.com issuu.com/finnair_bluewings Editorial Offices Hämeentie 153 C, 00560 Helsinki, Finland tel. +358 40 630 8253 firstname.lastname@fokusmedia.fi Advertising Sales Jaana Lindvall-Harki tel. +358 40 582 1416 Publisher Fokus Media Finland Printed by Punamusta, Joensuu, Finland 2018 Paper UPM Valor 61g Cover paper Stora Enso LumiArt 200g Circulation 44,000 ISSN-0358-7703

Editor-in-Chief Arja Suominen arja.suominen@finnair.com Finnair Head Office Tietotie 9 A, Helsinki Airport, 1053 Finnair, Finland, tel. +358 (0)9 818 81, Postal address: P. O. Box 15, 01053 Finnair, Finland Customer feedback finnair.com/feedback or by mail: Customer Relations, SL/403, FI-01053 Finnair

Travel dreams to have a new trip booked when I get home from the previous one,” said a friend of mine. I recognise this need to dream, which is as important and fulfilling as the journey itself.

As most of us are now planning our summer vacations, we at Blue Wings want to share some ideas for your next trip.

This summer, This summer, Finnair opens its seventh Finnair opens route to China, this time to Nanjing (one of our feature stories is devoted to the city that its seventh was once the national capital during part of the route to China.

Ming Dynasty), which joins Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xian, and Guangzhou on our roster.

In addition to China, we offer direct flights to many other Asian destinations. In Europe, we serve close to 100 destinations, with numerous options for those looking to spend their summer vacation there. New Finnair European destinations this summer include the charming Portuguese capital of Lisbon.

You can find more travel inspiration in this issue of Blue Wings.

Wishing you a wonderful flight, “IT’S IMPORTANT

Arja Suominen

finnair.com, finnair.fi, finnairgroup.com

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

3

alfaromeo.fi

ALL YOU NEED IS ATTRACTION

KAKSI AUTOA, YKSI JÄINEN PINTA: AINUTLAATUINEN VETOVOIMA. MAKSIMAALINEN PITO, DYNAAMINEN OHJAUS, TÄYDELLISTÄ TARKKUUTTA, POIKKEUKSELLISTA KÄSITELTÄVYYTTÄ.

ALFA ROMEO STELVIO JA ALFA ROMEO GIULIA Q4-NELIVETOJÄRJESTELMÄ: PARASTA SUORITUSKYKYÄ. JÄÄLLÄ JA TIELLÄ.

Nyt Stelvion ostajalle 3000 €:lla varusteita kaupan päälle! Rajoitettu erä. Katso lisää alfaromeo.fi

ALFA ROMEO STELVIO JA ALFA ROMEO GIULIA

Contents March

The landmark Golden Gate Bridge (p. 36)

Macaron masterclass (p. 20)

Saimi Hoyer at home in Punkaharju (p. 26)

Waku restaurant and teahouse in Nanjing (p. 48)

Dream

Keep your curiosity alive

NEW ZEALAND A lifetime adventure................................................................ 12 GLOBAL PULSE Green eating...............................................................................14

Explore Think beyond the box

AGENDA Our physical calendar.............................................................18

SAN FRANCISCO A classic photo reportage.....................................................36

WISE CRAFT A pâtissier in Tel Aviv............................................................. 20

PROFILE Erling Kagge on the power of silence...............................42

LAS PALMAS Chocolatey bed & breakfast.................................................22

SMART STUFF Retro out with these neat items.........................................45

PRODUCT INSPIRATION Get pedalling in Amsterdam................................................24

CONVERSATION Eeva Eronen and China’s new travel class.......................46

FINLAND A supermodel’s passion project..........................................26

FIELD TRIP Nanjing’s evolving urban architecture..............................48

AMERICAN WEST Awe-mazing national parks .................................................31

> MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

7

Contents March

Fly

The world of Finnair FINNAIR NEWS What’s new.............................................. 80

Create

Celebrate accomplishments CREATIVE CORNER Indie mag superstars...............................................................58

FINNAIR PLUS Frequent flyer rewards ........................83 SHOPPING Wish list from the Finnair Shop .................84 MY FINNAIR Passenger stories......................................... 86 SKY FOOD Culinary options in the air ............................87 WELLNESS Comfortable flying ........................................88

ENGLAND Natural attractions up north................................................ 68

ENTERTAINMENT Stay connected...................................89

INVESTIGATION Game on in China...................................................................... 72

HOLIDAY SAMPLER Spanish getaways..........................91

SHOWROOM Finnish fashion to France.......................................................76 Q&A Graphic designer Saara Helkala loves Lisbon................78 Lisbon’s little garden (p. 78)

BLUE WINGS

STAFF TIPS Puerto Vallarta on the mind...................... 90 SUSTAINABILITY Paralympic power .............................92 FLEET Modern fleet at your service.................................93 MAPS Helsinki Airport and destination check-list......94 FINLAND FACTS Fascinating figures..............................98 Designerly wastebins (p. 76)

Next stop: Guangzhou (p. 80)

8

FINNAIR SERVICES Fly the Nordic way .......................82

MARCH 2018

Two Finns behind the “close-knit” community of indie mags (p. 58)

astron gps solar. the watch that keeps you on perfect time. worldwide.

As Novak Djokovic travels the world, his Astron GPS Solar keeps him on time, adjusting automatically to his time zone at the touch of a button.

With dual time and a large date window, world travel has never been easier.

* If there are changes in the region / time zone, manual time zone selection may be required.

Westerback 1897 Stockmann tavaratalot: Aleksanterinkatu Helsinki, Itis Helsinki, Jumbo Vantaa, Tapiola Espoo, Tampere, Turku. www.westerback.fi

7 vuoden takuu ilman kilometrirajaa.

Tolkutonta?

Ei, jos auto on

Hyundai i30.

i30 Wagon i30 N

i30 Fastback i30 5d

Kaikki mitä tarvitset. Ja haluat. Hyundai i30 -mallistossa laatu, turvallisuus ja mukavuus tulevat aina vakiona. Niiden päälle voit valita tyyliä, tehoa ja tilaa makusi mukaan. i30 Wagon, Fastback, 5-ovinen ja N tarjoavat herkullisen valikoiman ajettavuutta, varustelua ja teknologiaa, joissa yhdistyy ainutlaatuinen luotettavuus. Siksi meidän on helppo luvata nyt koko i30-mallistolle ainutlaatuinen 7 vuoden takuu ilman kilometrirajaa. hyundai.fi

i30 5d alk. 19 854 € | i30 Wagon alk. 21 291 € | Uusi i30 Fastback alk. 24 390 € | Uusi i30 N alk. 35 590 € Hinnat sisältävät toimituskulut. Kuvan autot erikoisvarustein. i30 malliston EU-yhd. kulutus 3,7–7,1 l/100 km, CO2 95–163 g/km.

5+2 vuoden jatkotakuu myönnetään 15.2.2018 jälkeen rekisteröityihin tai käyttöön otettuihin uusiin Hyundai i30 malleihin. Jatkotakuu myönnetään toistaiseksi.

ELINA SIMONEN

Dream

Keep your curiosity alive

Call of the Lakeland Former supermodel Saimi Hoyer on restoring an iconic hotel (p. 26).

Coordinates PHOTO SVANTE GULLICHSEN

S 45° 03’29.1” E 167° 59’43.5” Location Eglington Valley, New Zealand

A place to be

A

roadtrip to New Zealand’s South Island or Te Waipounamu (in Maori) is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The road to Milford Sound was straight out of a fairytale.

The breathtaking views followed one another as I drove across the great plains, through the ancient rainforests, and gazed at the endless rows of mountains – where waterfalls cascade down the cliffs.

– Svante Gullichsen, Finnish photographer living in southern Finland

12

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Neljä tuntia enemmän aikaa nautiskella...

Täydellistä.

Myöhäinen huoneen luovutus klo 16 ja muita etuja yli 1 000 hotellissa ympäri maailmaa.

Nyt 3 kk 0 € (arvo 180 €).

Tarjous voimassa 30.4.2018 asti.

Hae korttia! americanexpress.fi/platinumcard

Global pulse

Inspiration and ideas from across the network

COMPILED BY KATJA PANTZAR

3x

COURTESY OF VURGER CO.

The good list

DO IT YOURSELF As March marks international craft month, we highlight creative events worth checking out: 1. London-based Make! A Season of Contemporary Craft launches talks, installations, and workshops on the theme of making and craftsmanship. Mar 17 – Jun 3 at the Barbican Centre.

Book nook

KID LIT

2. The Coral Springs Festival of the Arts in Florida brings more than 100 of the best American artists and crafters to South Florida on March 17 and 18 with sculptures, paintings, and a separate craft festival, Green Market.

3. Taking place in Turku, this Finnish Handicrafts Fair is a good place to stock up on supplies and inspiration on March 17 and 18 with a range of high-quality decorations, accessories, and clothing made by craftspeople.

14

BLUE WINGS

KITCHEN SPEAK

GOING GREEN “VEGGIE TRAVELLERS are wanting to suit their holiday needs to their dietary requirements and are on the look out for vegetarian holidays,” according to Elle UK, which pegs vegetarian and vegan travel as one of the big travel trends for 2018. For those headed to London, vegan junk food pioneers The Vurger Co. open their first permanent site on Richmix Square near Brick Lane in Shoreditch. The plant-based burger company has previously run successful pop-ups at festivals and events throughout the British capital, and says it will serve up its full menu which includes their best-selling Tabasco Auburger – made from aubergines, chickpeas, red onion, and vegan cheese.

MARCH 2018

Entertainment Weekly named Brooklyn-based illustrator Brendan Wenzel “the hottest new name on the picture book scene” for his award-winning They Saw a Cat (2016). The author-illustrator’s newest book Hello Hello launches this month from Chronicle Books, with a tale about diversity and connection told through animals linked together by a common trait. It also includes a guide to the animals and their endangered status.

Stores | Copenhagen | Stockholm | Gothenburg | Helsinki | Oslo Shop online or find your closest Samsonite store at www.samsonite.com

Global pulse

COMPILED BY KATJA PANTZAR

Inspiration and ideas from across the network

OLA ERICSON / VISIT STOCKHOLM

Alternative tours

STOCKHOLM

BY CYCLE

COURTESY OF TEAMLAB

EETU AHANEN

NEW IN JAPAN

DIGIART A TIP FOR SUMMER TRAVELLERS to Tokyo, Mori

­ uilding and the art collective teamLab will open a fullB scale digital art museum of 10,000 square metres in the Palette Town complex of Odaiba, titled “Mori Building Digital Art Museum teamLab Borderless.” TeamLab is an interdisciplinary creative group that utilises digital technologies to express art; its works are in the permanent collections of museums including the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. One of the goals of the “Borderless” exhibit is to tear down the borders between art and visitors and make it more accessible to everyone.

16

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Wellness wonders

STEAMED UP Helsinki Sauna Day is a bi-annual event that opens up the city’s private and public saunas to everyone at no cost. A celebration of the quintessential Finnish steam bath, this spring’s event takes place on March 10 with a range of participants from private homes, hotels, and even museums.

Bring your own towel; bathing suits are optional in the mixed saunas.

March sees the start of the Wooden Bike Tour series, leisurely guided tours of the Swedish capital that start in the heart of the city and pedal to landmarks and famous places, as well as hidden addresses only locals know about. In addition to photo op stops along the way, there are also breaks for refreshments and refuelling. And it all takes place on CocoMat bicycles, which are made of oak. Daily from 1 to 3 pm.

www.kia.fi @kiamotorsfinland

Intohimosta ajamiseen.

Teho

370 hv

Kiihtyvyys (0-100 km/h)

4.9 sekuntia

Saatavana

taka- tai neliveto

Kia Stinger. Henkeäsalpaava Gran Turismo.

Kia Stinger yhdistää rohkean muotoilun ja sykettä nostavan tehokkuuden klassisessa Gran Turismo -hengessä. Tämä auto vie tyylikkään tehokkuuden ja ajettavuuden aivan uudelle tasolle. Kaiken perustana on intohimo ajamiseen. Koe aikaisempaa syvempi, elämyksellisempi ja intensiivisempi ajonautinto, joka inspiroi muillakin elämän osa-alueilla.

Mallisto alkaen 49.990 € Vapaa autoetu alk. 905 €/kk, käyttöetu alk. 755 €/kk

Kia Stinger alk. autoveroton hinta 38.078,67 € + arvioitu autovero 11.911,33 € + toimituskulut 600 € = kokonaishinta 50.590 €.

Vapaa autoetu alk. 905 €/kk, käyttöetu alk. 755 €/kk. EU-yhd. kulutus alk. 5,6 l/100 km, CO2-päästöt alk. 146 g/km.

Kia-takuu 7 vuotta tai 150 000 km, kolme ensimmäistä vuotta ilman kilometrirajaa. Kia 24h tiepalvelu vuodeksi veloituksetta.

Kuvan auto erikoisvarustein.

Agenda

Global calendar for curious minds

COMPILED BY SIMON FRY

Getting physical Adrenaline addicts are spoiled for choice this spring.

1

2 TAITO CITY OFFICE

BIG MARK PHOTOGRAPHY

ANTHONY CHAUMONTEL

4

3 HERE BE DRAGONS Team paddling The Southern Hemisphere’s biggest dragon boat event sees 10,000 spectators roar on 40 adult teams and 30 schools competing over a 300-metre course in Wellington. The New Zealand Red Cross uses the event to raise funds.

March 10–11 Wellington, New Zealand dragonboatfestival.co.nz

18

BLUE WINGS

GOING UP Vertical running Paris’ iconic Iron Lady will host 129 runners scaling 1,665 steps during the fourth la Verticale de la Tour Eiffel®, attempting to beat the 7 minutes 48 seconds record. Two participants gained spots in this coveted event after winning November’s Battles de Montmartre.

March 15 Paris, France verticaletoureiffel.fr

MARCH 2018

HITCHING A LIFT Wife-carrying The 11th UK Wife-Carrying Race can see male/female combinations of carrier and “wife” compete over 380 metres, taking in obstacles and water hazards en route. The winners get 50 litres of beer, the highest-placed British couple receive cash towards attending July’s World Championships in Finland.

April 8 London, UK trionium.com

ON TARGET Horseback archery Along a 300-metre course, 20,000 spectators will watch over 20 mounted archers in traditional hunting attire and seven horses practice Yabusame, aiming to hit three targets to win a silk cloth. Kusajishi, standing archery also practiced in historic attire, provides an earlier appetiser.

April 21 Tokyo, Japan authentic-tokyo.com

SCANDIC HELSINKI AIRPORT T HE J OUR N E Y S TA R T S I N M A R C H Stay, feel and live better at Scandic Helsinki Airport. Our new hotel opens March 12 next to Helsinki Airport.

The hotel can be easily reached through a covered walkway from Terminal 2.

Enjoy a better night’s sleep, large breakfast buffet and a delicious dinner at our restaurant.

Get an efficient and inspiring outcome of meetings in our creative atmosphere. Welcome!

scandichotels.fi/helsinkiairport

Wise craft

TEXT NINAROSE MAOZ PHOTOS ROBERT SEGER

Local talents to watch

“People are always open to new experiences here and Tel Aviv’s young spirit nurtures creativity,” says Alon Shabo.

A sweet life F

or decades Levinsky Market and its surrounding Florentin neighbourhood were in disrepair; today the area is one of the hippest in Tel Aviv. The market still houses nuts and exotic spices, but you will also find young urbanites sipping craft beer, enjoying long breakfasts, or working in laptop-friendly cafés.

One of the neighbourhood’s artisan entrepreneurs is Alon Shabo, who proudly welcomes pastry enthusiasts to his airy apartment where he runs culinary workshops. His beautiful macarons have become a hit in both the online and offline worlds, yet his passion doesn’t stop there. Shabo shares his love of pâtisserie by teaching his students the secrets to making vanilla cream filled tartines topped with finely

20

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

sliced persimmon or how to jazz up the Israeli classic dessert, malabi, which is a rose water custard garnished with pistachio.

“Malabi is something you can make in a few minutes. Macarons, on the other hand, need a bit more patience. They aren’t as complicated to make as they look after you learn the technique,” he says, with a smile as he shows the right way to form a macaron.

Shabo’s foray into cooking and baking already started when he was young, as he used to help in his family’s catering business. His dad wanted him to study law, though, and for a while, Shabo was tempted.

“I went to law school but soon found myself attending a culinary school alongside classes. My

The secret of the macaron is a mixture of meringue and finely ground almond flour.

Alon Shabo fell in love with macarons on a family trip to Paris.

parents assumed it was a nice hobby. I finally gave up the idea of law and discovered my passion in the world of French pâtisserie. To me, an empty tartine is a canvas waiting to be painted,” says Shabo.

His workshops are popular and keep him busy.

He also designs dessert menus for restaurants around Tel Aviv, a city he loves.

Though born in Jerusalem, Shabo couldn’t think of living anywhere else than in the city by the Mediterranean Sea. “I love travelling. I teach in New York as well, but my home and heart are in Tel Aviv. As a foodie, you can always find good restaurants and new things to try. People around here know how to appreciate food,” says Shabo. 

FINNAIR FLIES TO

Tel Aviv (TLV) three times a week.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

21

TEXT MARKO PASANEN PHOTOS RIITTA SOURANDER

Up close

Off the beaten path

FINNAIR FLIES TO

The Old Chocolate Factory B&B captures the charm of old town Las Palmas.

Proprietors Sirkku Hölttä and Mika Westermarck peek out the left window.

Las Palmas (LPA) five times a week during the winter season.

LAS PALMAS:

DELICIOUS DREAMS T

he Old Chocolate Factory Bed & Breakfast may well be the most romantic place to stay in Las Palmas, if not on the whole island of Gran Canaria. Situated a stone’s throw from the grand cathedral of Santa Ana, the three-storey hotel basks in the charm of the narrow alleys of the old town Vegueta. Originally a chocolate factory, the early 20th century building has been painstakingly restored to exacting historical standards. The project was a true labour of love undertaken by Finnish architects, Sirkku Hölttä and Mika Westermarck.

“The property was a shambles,” says Westermarck.“It took us the better part of three years to finish the renovation.”

Original fittings, windows, and doors were lovingly brought back to life instead of marring

22

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

the historic character with modern replacements.

The B&B’s seven rooms are furnished with pieces patiently sourced by Hölttä from local flea markets and antique shops.

The effort has paid off, as guests now enjoy a leisurely, old-world atmosphere harking back to the days when Vegueta was a port of call for ships bringing in riches from the new world.

The Vegueta of today offers the delights of historical architecture and a host of museums, but also a lively array of tapas bars and restaurants and a bustling covered market – all within a ten-minutes’ walk from the Old Chocolate Factory. Another ten minutes and you’re smack in the middle of the Triana district and its colourful streets packed with the best shopping in town. 

G-1000® Eco

Durable Adaptable Timeless Fjällräven’s own fabric.

Proven and perfected since 1968.

Recycled polyester and organic cotton.

A classic outdoor collection is reborn after a lifetime in nature

Greenland Updated - Greenland Jacket W -

inspired by the experiences of the 1966 Greenland Expedition, Fjällräven founder Åke Nordin set out to engineer a jacket for mountaineering. Little did he know, this garment was destined to become something much bigger – the symbol for a new generation of Swedes with a longing to rediscover nature.

This season, we returned to Greenland to update

the collection that grew out of this jacket, drawing inspiration from a new generation of people living on the island. We followed two of them, Gabe and Karina, on an expedition through snow and ice, over glaciers and mountains. We hope the updated collection will inspire more people to enjoy nature, on nature’s terms.

Just like the first Greenland Jacket once did.

www.fjallraven.fi

Culture swap COMPILED BY LAURA IISALO

Destination inspiration

Cycle like an Amsterdammer

FINNAIR FLIES TO

Amsterdam (AMS) two times a day.

3.

No one practices the art of the daily commute better than the Dutch.

Take note and reach for classic colours and understated style statements.

4.

2.

5.

1.

7.

6.

1 — STREET RIDING The bright and preppy Berlin bicycle by Veloretti provides easy pedalling and looks good, too. €399 2 — WIND WARMER The Recut Parka by Denham is made of recycled military tents to keep the cold at bay. €999.95 3 — LET IT RAIN Never mind spring showers, the large senz° umbrella can be attached to any bicycle. €69.90 4 — STREET ALERT The handmade Veloretti bike bell has a soft sound as well as an impressive appearance. €13.95 5 — WRIST WONDER Minimalistic watch with leather strap by Amsterdam-based Vondel was born a classic. €92 6 — SMOOTH STEPS Understated low-top leather sneakers by Filling Pieces are comfortable on or off the bike. €190 7 — CASUAL CATCH The Daily Paper waist pack worn across the chest adds instant street credibility. €40

24

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

www.barbour.com

Saimi Hoyer treasures the pure nature of the Finnish Lakeland.

26

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Passion project

Back to nature Former supermodel Saimi Hoyer returned to the landscape of her childhood to find health and happiness – and give a historic hotel a new lease on life.

TEXT AMANDA SOILA PHOTOS ELINA SIMONEN AND AMANDA SOILA

W

ith a high-flying career as a supermodel and presenter, Saimi Hoyer is no stranger to a life of luxury. She has strutted the catwalks of Italy and New York, her face has graced the pages of Vogue and Elle, and she has stayed in enough exclusive hotels to last a lifetime. But throughout the years of living in the glitzy fashion capitals, there was one place she found herself missing. That place was Punkaharju, the narrow strip of forest-covered land in Finland’s lake district where she had spent her childhood summers.

“When we were kids, our family moved here for the entire summer. Later as I lived abroad for ten years, I never missed my hometown of Helsinki, but this place I did miss,” says Hoyer.

Seven years ago, Hoyer fell seriously ill and started to again feel the pull of Punkaharju. Spending the best part of two years in the hospital, she had plenty of time to rethink the purpose of life.

“At one point the doctor told me that now is the moment to go wherever you are happiest. For a while I considered whether it was Rome or Punkaharju, but the latter won,” she says.

So, the Hoyer family moved permanently to their summer house in Punkaharju and amidst the clean air and peacefulness of nature, she started to recover.

Hotelli Punkaharju is once again a local cultural hotspot.

CULTURAL HOTSPOT While for Saimi Hoyer, the connection to Punkaharju is a personal one, for many Finns, the landscape is something of a national treasure. Besides the lush nature, the Saimaa region is also known for Hotelli Punkaharju, an elegant wooden villa facing the > MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

27

Elements of nature and design are noticeable everywhere, from menus to the decoration.

lakeside where guests reside during the annual opera festival in the nearby town of Savonlinna.

Once a prestigious hotspot for the crème de la crème of society, for decades the villa had been left on its own devices.

“For years this building had been in use only six weeks each summer for the opera festival guests. This sort of old house doesn’t like to be in such limited use and it was in dreadful condition,” explains Hoyer.

That’s when the Foundation who owned the building decided to sell.

Hoyer took that as a sign. In 2015 the family bought the villa and started an extensive renovation process.

The renovation took seven months to complete, during which time the hotel saw a total overhaul. The rooms, restaurant, and the common spaces were transformed into cosy yet trendy spaces that respect the historic setting while reflecting Hoyer’s cosmopolitan and design-conscious spirit.

LOCAL HOTSPOT Although the charming old building is at the core of the hotel business, Hoyer has been keen to extend opportunities beyond accommodation.

The surrounding nature offers an ideal backdrop for cycling trips, tour skating, and mushroom picking, while the hotel hosts a variety of concerts, fashion shows, and yoga retreats.

This revival of the hotel has helped re­­ establish it as a local hub for culture and wellness and injected a sense of optimism to all of Punkaharju in the process.

“I never dreamt of a life as an entrepreneur, but I did this for the love of Punkaharju and the entire Saimaa region,” says Hoyer. 

SAIMI HOYER WHO A former supermodel, who

transformed a dilapidated hotel into a place to be for lodging and culture.

WHAT Hotelli Punkaharju, in the eastern part of Finland, half an hour’s drive from Savonlinna.

MANTRA “When I was little, my dad

used to tell me: Saimi, never grow tired at being amazed by the small marvels of life. I hope people will find those small wonderments here.”

A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP IS GUARANTEED IN A HÄSTENS BED

We’ve hand-made the best bed in the world. We have been crafting these beds of sweet dreams from sustainably produced natural materials – horsehair, flax, wool and cotton – since 1852. We believe that a bed hand-made from natural materials guarantees a natural, deep and refreshing sleep. If you want to sleep well, don’t settle for anything less.

HÄSTENS STORE HELSINKI Mannerheimintie 8, 00100 Helsinki. Tel. +358 20 780 1370

BMW 5-SARJAN WINTER EXCLUSIVE. ERIKOISHINNOITELLUT xDRIVE-NELIVEDOT OVAT TALVEN PARAS VALINTA.

Nyt saatavilla BMW 520d A xDrive Winter Exclusive -erikoismalli, jossa on vakiovarusteina maailman älykkäin xDrive-neliveto sekä Winter-paketti näytöllisellä BMW-avaimella ja kaukokäytettävällä seisontalämmityksellä.

Tutustu upeisiin yksityiskohtiin osoitteessa bmw.fi ja tervetuloa koeajolle oman BMW-jälleenmyyjäsi luokse.

BMW 5-sarjan Sedan Winter Exclusive alkaen 53.546,13€. Autoveroton hinta 44.200,00 €, arvioitu autovero 8.746,13€, toimituskulut 600 €.

Vapaa autoetu alk. 945 €/kk, käyttöetu 795 €/kk. EU-yhd. kulutus 4,5 l/100 km, CO2-päästöt 119 g/km. (BMW 520d A xDrive Winter Exclusive).

Kuvan auto erikoisvarustein.

BMW 5-sarjan Touring Winter Exclusive alkaen 57.118,89 €. Autoveroton hinta 45.660,00 €, arvioitu autovero 10.858,89 €, toimituskulut 600 €.

Vapaa autoetu alk. 995 €/kk, käyttöetu 845 €/kk. EU-yhd. kulutus 4,9 l/100 km, CO2-päästöt 129 g/km. (BMW 520d A T xDrive Winter Exclusive).

Inside track

American West

Call of the wild west These natural, cultural, and historical parks in America’s Southwest are worth hitting the road for.

UNDERNEATH THE ARCHES The gravity-defying wonders of rock formations have always sparked the human imagination, and Arches National Park in Utah is the place to be for amazing landscapes. Here visitors can discover more than 2,000 natural stone arches. A 5-kilometre return trail leads to the park’s main drawcard – the spectacular Delicate Arch. Straddling a ridge of glowing red sandstone between an ancient pothole and a sheer cliff face, with panoramic views to the east over the snow-capped La Sal Mountains, the Delicate Arch (which is framed in the sweeping span of the Frame Arch) has the power of presence to stop you in your tracks.

TEXT AND PHOTOS ANDREW MARSHALL

MONUMENTS TO MANKIND Spanning the Arizona-Utah border, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park has attracted movie makers ever since John Ford first directed the John Wayne western Stagecoach here in the late ’30s. This most iconic landscape of America’s Wild West is home to the native Navajo Indians, and is also known for its red desert crowned with distinctive mesas and towering sandstone buttes.

A 27-kilometre graded dirt road leads from the visitor centre and incorporates key points of interest: The Mittens, Three Sisters, John Ford’s Point, Totem Pole, and Teardrop Arch.

The most iconic landscape of the Wild West is home to the native Navajo Indians. >

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

31

A LAND OF EXTREMES Situated on the border of California and Nevada, Death Valley National Park is one of the hottest, driest, and lowest places on Earth. Temperatures once hit 57° Celsius (135° F) back in 1913, and evocative names like Desolation Canyon, Starvation Point, Hell’s Gate, and Furnace Creek reflect the region’s mining and pioneering history. Some of the park’s attractions include Badwater Basin, Zabriskie Point, the Devil’s Golf Course, and Dante’s View. From an elevation of 1,669 metres, the white saltpans, rock-strewn plains, and sweeping sand dunes span out in a long corridor hemmed in by the Amargosa Mountain Range.

A GRAND DESIGN Somewhere across the northwestern Arizona state line down Route 66 is Grand Canyon National Park, whose star attraction is the Grand Canyon measuring up to 29 kilometres long and 1.6 kilometres deep.

One of the best places to appreciate the canyon’s vastness and grandeur is Yavapai Point, near the South Rim visitor area, offering a stunning panorama of the inner canyon and Colorado River. Other ways to experience one of the Seven Natural Wonders include hiking trails and mule trips into the canyon, helicopter tours, rafting trips down the Colorado River, and Skywalk – a horseshoe shaped cantilevered glass walkway jutting 22 metres past the rim.

JOURNEY BACK IN TIME If there’s one place in America’s Southwest where there’s a tangible feeling of the past, then Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico is it. Roughly between 900 and 1150 A.D., remote Chaco Canyon was a major centre of culture for the Ancestral Pueblo peoples.

Today, dozens of ruins dot the windswept plains of this UNESCO World Heritage site, testifying to the centuries that the Chacoans lived here. Most impressive are the huge house complexes like D-shaped Pueblo Bonito, with its distinctive round ceremonial chambers called kivas. The park has a visitor centre which features the Chaco Museum Collection, information desk, theatre, and book store. 

FINNAIR FLIES TO San Francisco (SFO) three times a week starting May 13.

32

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

We help your subsidiary prosper in Finland.

Traveling back to the headquarters is always more enjoyable when you know that your Finnish subsidiary prospers and you are confident that the financial administration is in capable hands.

Internal reporting and access to the current numbers is easy when your subsidiary uses the same software and processes as in the HQ – NetSuite, SAP, Microsoft NAV or any other system – as your accounting specialist has implemented it for the specific Finnish requirements.

Modern technology combined with 40 years of accounting experience and a customer-oriented attitude, enables you to feel close to and secure with your local experts, whether you are located anywhere in the Nordics, Europe, North America or Asia.

Azets’ services are tailored to your needs and scalable with the growth of your business: • Accounting • VAT • IPT • Tax Representation • Local, IFRS or US GAAP Reporting • Advisory • Payroll • HR You know you made the right choice to enter Finland with Azets.

Ask more: +358 10 756 4500 or sales.fi@azets.com www.azets.fi/eng

ADVERTISEMENT

The new normal: year-round winter Combine a stopover in Helsinki with a bit of snow fun Looking for an active holiday any time of the year where you can embrace snow and woolly hats? The season never ends at Vuokatti. Situated between the Finnish lake district and Lapland, Vuokatti offers guests an authentic Finnish winter experience every day of the year. So when the winter sports season ends everywhere else, Vuokatti keeps going all year round! Here are our TOP 3 picks for activities:

SNOWBOARDING

The well-groomed slopes guarantee fun for all.

Experienced snowboarders can catch air on the SuperPipe and SlopeStyle trails. During the warmer months, you can practice snowboarding indoors in the Snowboarding Tunnel. If your family includes adrenaline junkies who would love to try snow tubing – well that’s possible in the tunnel, too.

SKIING

In addition to snowboarding, Vuokatti also indulges cross-country skiers. Eager skiers can practice from November until April, but the tunnel allows you to ski all year round. The Ski Tunnel is Vuokatti’s crazy innovation and has garnered international praise. If skiing isn’t your thing, how about taking a spin on a kicksled or lacing up snowshoes for a walk in the tunnel?

HUSKY SAFARIS

Have you ever wanted to meet a Husky up close?

Husky safaris are a special treat for Vuokatti’s guests. Hop on a husky-driven sled and enjoy the magic of dogsledding. You can drive your own sleigh or let a professional instructor take the reins.

Whatever the weather – this is the excursion to do also during the summer because the Huskies can be brought into the Ski Tunnel.

Book your snowy getaway now.

Vuokatti Safaris vuokattisafaris.com Vuokatti Travel vuokattitravel.fi

vuokatti.fi

ANDREW TAYLOR

Explore

Think beyond the box

City of nostalgia Where time stands still in San Francisco (p. 36).

Escape

San Francisco

Timeless in San Francisco

In a country that’s constantly fast-forwarding, in this Californian city, time seems to stand still.

PHOTOS ANDREW TAYLOR

36

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Straddling the Golden Gate Strait, the art deco suspension bridge links San Francisco with Marin County to the north. The colour of International Orange was used so that the bridge is highly visible to ships when it is shrouded in fog.

A classic shrimp roll at the Tartine Manufactory in the Mission District. Baker and co-founder Chad Robertson spent years experimenting with traditional baking techniques to achieve his vision.

> MARCH 2018 BLUE WINGS

37

The San Francisco skyline from Coit Tower. The high-rise buildings house notable tech companies like Uber, Twitter, and Salesforce.

Lomo Saltado, a food truck favourite with downtown office workers.

The stir-fry dish is commonly referred to as chifa cuisine (Peruvian-Chinese).

38

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

The sea lions of Pier 39 are quite the sight. Numbers fluctuate, but typically there are hundreds lounging around from late July to mid-May.

A classic San Francisco dish, clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl at Boudin at the Wharf – their flagship location near Pier 39.

> MARCH 2018 BLUE WINGS

39

TATE DRUCKER

San Francisco’s cable cars are the last manually operated cable car system in the world. The iconic cable cars offer a fun way to travel up and down the steep hills of San Francisco. For the best views, sit on the side that faces the bay.

FINNAIR FLIES TO

San Francisco (SFO) three times a week starting May 13.

40

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Andrew Taylor is a Hesinki-based photographer who finds the best way to get better as a stills photographer is to be really still – like when napping.

Tomorrow AB / Studio Libeskind

Tampere Helsinki Stockholm Riga

Tampere

Ready for action

IAAF WORLD U20 CHAMPIONSHIPS 10.–15.7.2018 FINLAND–SWEDEN ATHLETICS 31.8.–1.9.2018 ICE HOCKEY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2022

www.airrport.fi/en @FlyTampere

1h Bremen

2h Budapest

3h

42

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Think again

In search of silence We meet a man who has travelled to the most distant corners of the Earth in search of silence, only to find it closer than expected.

TEXT LAURA IISALO PHOTO PAUL PAIEWONSKY

AS THE FIRST MAN to conquer the

Three Poles, North, South, and the summit of Everest, Norwegian Erling Kagge is no stranger to silence. He once walked alone across Antarctica, with no company but the surrounding white nothingness. “When you spend 50 days and nights like that you get a strange feeling – like your body doesn’t stop at your fingers but continues in the environment. That is the experience of silence,” he explains.

Kagge admits that such encounters are hard to describe in words – and yet that is precisely what he sought to do. His 2016 book Silence in the Age of Noise describes a deep longing for the nearly lost art of peace and quiet in the midst of the constant mind-clogging noise and distractions of our daily lives. “We are social beings, and we belong with other people. Technology is not the problem, but rather the way we relate to it. We live through our devices and through other people, which can distract us from getting to know ourselves, which is what silence is all about,” he says.

Kagge is of course not the first to realise the relevance of this topic.

The quest for silence has been a rising trend for some years already.

Ironically it is also a modern luxury; although silence is free, it is the people with the highest disposable income that enjoy the most silence in their lives. Money can buy houses in quiet

residential areas, as well as less noisy cars, washing machines, and vacuum cleaners. Lunchtime meditation is offered at upscale gyms, airports have quiet rooms, and the travel industry is tapping into the trend by offering silent travel packages and fancy retreats.

Yet Kagge claims that silence is not a passing trend but a deep human need.

More than a lack of noise, it is a state of mind. “I’ve spent much of my life searching for silence but it’s impossible to find a completely quiet place – people always bring sound with them.

The silence I write about is something that is there all the time, inside us all.

Silence is getting to know yourself and enjoying life’s richness,” he says.

Living and working in Oslo with three teenage daughters has made Kagge well aware of the daily disturbances of modern society, and even he is not completely immune to feeling restless and frustrated. To get his daily dose of quiet, Kagge takes pleasure in everyday routines; waking up in peace and quiet, doing the dishes, walking to the office, or reading a book. “As a publisher I need to avoid noise to make way for new ideas to appear. Without silence, the days all become alike, and I start to feel like life is short, which is a very unfortunate feeling. Silence changes everything – and it is easier to achieve than people seem to think. Silence is within us, waiting.” 

ERLING KAGGE, 54

What I do Explorer, author, and publisher What I think “Yes.” What I have learned “Most people underestimate their possibilities in life.”

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

43

ADVERTISEMENT

Welcome to the city with the world’s best energy A carbon-neutral future is both a necessity and a business opportunity. Helen, the energy provider for Helsinki, is using natural gas as a bridge on the city’s way to a carbonneutral future.

Gasum provides for the natural gas that now accounts for about a third of the city’s energy production. Out of the fossil fuels, natural gas puts the least amount of load on the environment.

Helsinki’s energy production has been awarded as the most efficient in the world.

Maiju Westergren, Helen’s Vice President, Sustainability and Public Affairs, says: “We continue to develop environmentally friendly and innovative solutions for the benefit of our customers. We will be needing more carbon-neutral energy sources like biogas or power-to-gas solutions.

Gasum is currently in the forefront of transforming biodegradable substances to biogas.”

The bridge towards a carbon-neutral society is being built today. Achieving a cleaner tomorrow calls for the entire energy sector to reorganise its operations. Gasum is helping companies to achieve their emission reduction targets.

We offer a clean and cost-effective energy alternative, and the raw materials for industry and combined electricity-heat producers, in Finland, Sweden and Norway. www.gasum.com

Smart stuff

COMPILED BY ANNIKA RANTALA PHOTO FABIAN BJÖRK

Discoveries for a clever life

FREE SPIRITS

1 —STRAP & GO Helsinki-based Field Day’s leather camera strap puts a creative spin on the classic accessory. €80-90 fieldday.fi

Retro aesthetics meet the latest tech and design in this spring’s travel gear.

2 — SNAP TIME Nikon’s travelfriendly Coolpix A900 camera

provides excellent capacity in a small package. €499 finnairshop.com 3 — BLACKPACK This compact leather backpack is designed for a busy day in the urban jungle. €350 kasperi.net

4 — ALL EARS Marshall’s Major II On-Ear headphones combine street-cred looks with incredible sound. €79 finnairshop.com 5 — UNPLUGGED SOUND Geneva’s Touring XS Bluetooth speaker

promises to be the loudest little speaker you can buy. €92 formverk.com 6 — FAIR RIDING Finnish eco-label Uitto’s Biocomposite Skateboard is a green option for great rides. €149 vai-ko.com

4.

3.

5.

2.

1.

6.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

45

Conversation

Guest writer Eeva Eronen

Millions of lucky new high-flyers T

Eeva Eronen is a financial journalist for Talouselämä magazine and the author of Jättiläisen askeleet, a book exploring China’s rise to the stature of economic giant.

46

BLUE WINGS

he dark winter months reveal what cross-border. Less than ten years later, the Finnish middle class really loves: in 2016, the number of outbound trips travelling. We talk about it, we post about has shot up to 122 million. Most of these it on Facebook, and we eagerly wait for the people stayed close to home, though, as the holidays. No wonder, as travelling really gets majority of these trips were to Hong Kong, people excited, myself included.

Macao, and Taiwan.

Thus, it feels bewildering that millions There are many reasons for the growth of of Chinese have recently had the chance to Chinese outbound tourism. Tens of millions travel overseas for the first time. of people have climbed to the middle class, All told, the pace of progress in China and they can afford to travel. The Chinese is generally quite bewildering. A classic government has relaxed its travel policies. example is the fact that China used Added to all this, posting pictures more concrete between 2011 of yourself surfing or climbing and 2013 than the US did mountains has become social throughout the entire 20th currency.

The travel century.

I see the ability to travel When it comes to as a revolution. Travelling bug has really travelling, the huge exposes you to breath-taking bitten hard in demand in China for beauty and new flavours upscale around-the-worldbut also to situations where China. trips stands out as a curious “normal” is not the norm at all. trend. Last year, Ctrip, China’s But even odd customs may begin largest online booking website, to make sense – or you may find promoted holiday packages for the yourself appreciating certain habits at home hefty price of 163,000 euros. There were 22 more than you realised before. These are seats available and it took only 17 seconds priceless lessons in this globalised world. to sell them.

For me, personally, China has been the Those 17 seconds are a sign of the greatest teacher and I am happy that more remarkable growth of affluence in China.

Chinese people get to explore the world.

The country has already taken over the The growth of Chinese outbound United States as the nation with the largest tourism may slow down, but the boom is number of dollar billionaires. far from over. In the future, more Chinese It also shows that the travel bug has holidaymakers will choose independent really bitten hard in China. Travellers travel or personalised tours over bigger spending big on luxurious holidays are the group tours. minority, however, as the more significant The fact remains that less than ten per story is the rise of the middle class, and cent of the Chinese population owns a accordingly, the rise of mass tourism. passport today, and as many as 1.2 billion In 2007, only 41 million Chinese travelled Chinese do not – yet. 

MARCH 2018

HP suosittelee Windows 10 Pro -käyttöjärjestelmää.

Ohuimmat ja kevyimmät businessluokan hybridimallimme

HP EliteBook x360

HP EliteBook x360, saatavilla 12- ja 13-tuumaisena

Intel Inside®. Tehokasta tuottavuutta. hp.com/fi/EliteBookx360-1020 Ultrabook, Celeron, Celeron Inside, Core Inside, Intel, Intel Logo, Intel Atom, Intel Atom Inside, Intel Core, Intel Inside, Intel Inside Logo, Intel vPro, Itanium, Itanium Inside, Pentium, Pentium Inside, vPro Inside, Xeon, Xeon Phi, and Xeon Inside are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © Copyright 2018 HP Development Company, L.P. Näitä tietoja voidaan muuttaa ilman erillistä ilmoitusta.

Form meets function New meets old in Nanjing, a city that continually pushes building styles. We take a tour of the Chinese city’s most beautifully innovative architecture from past to present.

TEXT MARK ANDREWS PHOTOS TUOMAS HARJUMAASKOLA

48

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

The glass-sided tea room of the Lai Yard: old and new architecture blended together in harmony.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

49

T

he taxi driver seems surprised as he turns off the plane tree-lined street on a rare snowy day in Nanjing. It is his first time to Yihe Mansions and confesses he never knew there was a hotel in the area. That’s perhaps not surprising. The streets around Yihe Road were once lined with the homes of the political elite, and the architectural legacy of 225 buildings remain now largely in government ownership.

Nanjing means southern capital in Chinese and has served as the political centre of the nation during ten dynasties and most recently as capital of the Republican era China until 1949.

Despite no longer being the capital, ­Nanjing today is a bustling metropolis with its eyes very much on a bright future. Yet, in areas like Yihe Road Enclave and Laomendong there is an increasing appreciation of old architecture. And this is also reflected in the buildings being thrown up with the skyscrapers; along with a growing awareness of the need for buildings to be greener as China battles its pollution problems head on.

Yihe Mansions Hotel harks back to the city’s Republican era heyday and consists of 26 former residences from the ’20s and ’30s restored externally to their former glory and with interiors that reflect the style of the period. “There are two typical types of buildings within this area. One is made with grey bricks. The other yellow buildings use cement in a technique whereby they make the bricks into a rough surface by hand – only two people in the country can still do this,” says Calvin Ge, Yihe Mansions’ deputy manager of sales and marketing.

The hotel’s 33 rooms are divided up among ten mansions. Rooms boast modern a­ menities while also incorporating style cues from the Republican period with Jingdezhen porcelain and a 1929 Bakelite telephone. Restoration began ten years ago, and the hotel opened in 2013, winning a UNESCO award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2014.

“The government categorised the buildings into tiers. With tier 1 we couldn’t do anything to alter the outside. With tier 3 they had already been altered a lot by former owners and we had to pretty much take the buildings apart and rebuild them according to the original designs and ­pictures from the period,” says Ge.

Le Siècle restaurant at the Yihe Mansions Hotel, which is housed in the eaves of a 1930s villa.

50

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

The interior of ­restaurant Waku matches ­traditional style with elements of modern design.

TRADITIONAL QING STYLE Located in the shadow of Nanjing’s 600-year-old Ming city wall, Laomendong houses a collection of restored and rebuilt Qing Dynasty buildings. Lai Yard, buried away in an alleyway, not only functions as an office for Minggu Design but doubles as a showcase for chief architect Jaco Pan’s work.

The walls of the compound and the first building are more than 100 years old dating from the late Qing period. The other two buildings blend traditional aesthetics with modern materials such as steel plates.

“Modern construction is functional, but this is aimed to connect people in harmony with nature,” says Pan about his design. Outside in the courtyard, water flowing from the gutters meets with water bubbling up from a spring symbolising the meeting of heaven and earth, while the white stone

“Modern construction is functional, but I aim to connect people in harmony with nature.” of the courtyard helps to reflect light into a building used as a gathering point for celebrities and intellectuals.

For his work on the Lai Yard, Pan won the 2017 FX prize, the only Chinese designer ever to win the prestigious UK interior design award. Inside the multi-purpose wooden-framed building old broken wapian roofing tiles are repurposed into use as a wall. “I believe in the concept of transparency both with philosophy and architecture,” says Pan, speak- >

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

51

The temple was famed for its Porcelain Tower, an imposing colourful building made of gleaming porcelain brick.

Thousands of light bulbs with everchanging colours dot one of the exhibition rooms at Baoen Temple Heritage Park, where Buddhist themes are incorporated into a modern setting.

52

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

The wooden Wanjing Garden Chapel in the snow.

ing about the juxtaposition of the large windows against the walls.

His work as an architect has been influenced by the styles of the Song and Ming Dynasties, in particular by literati architecture. “I want to open a revival of traditional architecture. They shouldn’t just be put in a museum – they should have modern functions and usages,” says Pan. About one-third of the restaurants in Laomendong are designed by him and many others, such as Waku, designed by a friend, match traditional style with elements of more modern design employing liberal use of glass.

MODERNISING MING STYLE Just outside the main south gate Zhonghuamen, not far from Laomendong, lies the Baoen Temple Heritage Park. The temple was famed for its Porcelain Tower, an imposing colourful building made of gleaming porcelain bricks weighing up to 150 kilogrammes each and 50 centimetres thick. Sometimes included as a wonder of the medieval world, it garnered a mention in Hans Christian Andersen’s The Garden of Paradise but was destroyed during the 19th century Taiping Rebellion.

Today’s incarnation is a modern interpretation made of glass and steel supported on a concrete base, domed over excavations of the original

foundations. “You can see the underground palace, which is 1,500 years old and from the Southern Jin dynasty. The well is 6.74 metres deep. There is another over there from the Song dynasty. These wells were used to store sarirah (Buddhist holy objects) including the parietal bone of Xuanzang (the Chinese monk immortalised in Journey to the West for his trip to India to get scriptures),” says guide Catherine Dong.

Directly above, rising to a total height of 108 metres is the tower which at night is lit up with multi-coloured LED lights. “This building is quite controversial in Nanjing and many don’t understand why it wasn’t rebuilt as before. But it would have been very heavy and we would have to destroy what is underneath, that’s why we used modern techniques. There is a similarity though, in the Ming Dynasty when it was originally built, it used the most modern techniques and today we are doing the same,” explains Dong.

CHINESE-STYLE CHURCH The city’s proximity to the Yangtze River is one of the key reasons for Nanjing’s importance. The Wanjing Garden Chapel, located by the river, seems to be a thoroughly modern looking wooden building, but even here elements of traditional Chinese design creep in. “The roof structure is a modern >

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

53

FINNAIR FLIES TO

Nanjing (NKG) three times a week starting May 13.

expression of a classical Chinese sloping roof,” explains the designer Zhang Lei, from AZL Architects. Completed in 2014 it unfortunately has yet to see regular use. Caretaker David Li says it will undergo renovation in the spring and he hopes it will see more use afterwards.

With religious buildings light plays a key element and Zhang has tried to use this to maximum effect. “Light falls through the skylight strip right above the alter axis into the centre of the hall as well as penetrates through the holy cross on the wall,” says Zhang. With a footprint of only 200 square metres it uses a double shell structure for strength.

GREENER TOMORROW Just across from the chapel is Jiangxin Island – a long narrow strip in the river – designated by the government as a showcase for sustainable development. Part of this project is the 24,000 square metres Nanjing Eco-Tech Island Exhibition ­Centre.

Completed in 2014, one of the most important ­features is the cantilevered roof with light c­ annons to funnel daylight into the building. Using a cantilevered design helps reduce solar heat gain in ­Nanjing’s notoriously hot summers.

“Celebrating Chinese culture and respecting Nanjing’s historic roots was a strong driver for the design. Touring the city provided a rich history and insights into the ancient lessons of the

region: buildings anchored low to the earth, with floating, almost hovering roofs, and buildings that seek geometrical symmetry, balance, and order – a ­reverence for harmony,” says the project’s Design Principal Jay Siebenmorgen of architects NBBJ. Estimated energy savings are 67 per cent which equates yearly to 869.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Water usage and management are also key elements in the design as Nanjing experiences heavy rainfall during the summer monsoon. Features like the rooftop garden and terraces along with landscaping reduce the need for irrigation by over 30 per cent and allow for 48 per cent permeable ground surface. The centre has a Chinese two-star low-carbon rating – comparable to the LEED system, the most widely used rating system in the world for the environmental friendliness of buildings.

Further showcasing the city’s desire to go green is the currently under construction Stefano Boeridesigned vertical forest in the Pukou ­District.

Slated for 2019 completion, it is the first such ­project in Asia following the architect’s successful Milan demonstration. A special façade will hold 600 tall- and 500 medium-sized trees along with 2,500 plants on the two towers. These will absorb 25 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year while pumping out 60 kilogrammes of oxygen per day. This will further cement Nanjing as capital to some of ­China’s most innovative architecture. 

Mark Andrews is a Shanghai-based freelance writer who has been a regular visitor to Nanjing for ten years.

Tuomas Harjumaaskola is a Shenzhen-based photographer and filmmaker, who works on corporate and industrial themes.

Woodern interior of the Wanjing Garden Chapel

54

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

The main atrium of the Nanjing Eco-Tech Island Exhibition Centre

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

55

LOMATEEMANA

JOTAIN MUUTA KUIN HIEKKAKAKKUJA Aikuiseen makuun -lomateemamme vie sinut nauttimaan ylellisten hotellien hitaista aamuista, rauhallisista allasalueista ja tunnelmallisista illallisista.

AIKUISEEN MAKUUN

Löydä sinulle sopivin loma uusista Lomateemoistamme aurinkomatkat.fi

ISTOCK

Create

Celebrate accomplishments

Global prints The founders of independent magazines know their niche (p. 58).

TENZIN WILD

Editor-in-chief YOUR READERS IN ONE SENTENCE

Our readership is our aspiring subjects.

Many of them are aspiring to be featured one day. We call them The Last people.

WHAT INDIE MAGS DO YOU READ?

None really… newsy mags, Time, newspapers, Caban, World of Interiors.

Independent thinkers

TEXT LISSU MOULTON PHOTOS ELINA SIMONEN

We meet visionaries of independent magazines who create vibrant and close-knit global communities around very specific topics.

58

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Artistic springboard SOMETIMES the brightest decisions are

where young and connected readers made in the darkest times. This is defifrom across the globe come to find the nitely true for The Last Magazine. latest and greatest in everything that Tenzin Wild and Magnus Berger interests them. started The Last in 2008, right at the At the heart of it all is complete edistart of the global financial crisis. On torial freedom. And in today’s political the face of things, it wasn’t the best climate – especially in the US, where time to start a new business. But as it The Last is headquartered – that freeturned out their timing was perfect. dom is more important than ever.

Wild was working in print and “It’s taken so long for us to realise Berger in advertising at that truth and honesty the time. And both were are important. People frustrated with mainare comfortable in good stream magazines that times, and in times that all seemed to be doing “We will always aren’t as good people are the same thing. “Eveforced to value truth,” do exactly what Wild says. ryone was using all the same photographers that’s one reason we want to do.” whyAnd and the covers were all just as it was back in showcasing the same 2008, now is a great time talent,” says The Last’s to be an indie magazine. editor-in-chief Tenzin So what’s next for The Wild.

Last? Tenzin and Wild say their focus So both men quit their jobs and set will always remain on shining a light out to fill that void. on bright new t­alent. They also plan to The Last celebrates the next generagrow the already thriving Last commution of art, fashion, music, and culture. nity into “The Last Universe” by intePublished online and biannually in an grating the m ­ agazine, live events, conoversized print newspaper format, the sulting, and online community. magazine is as an artistic springboard “And most of all – we will always for new talent. But The Last is much do exactly what we want to do,” says more than a big glossy. It’s also a place Wild.

THE LAST MAGAZINE CIRCULATION 5,000 copies in print and

around 100,000 more on digital every month. NICHE The next generation of art, fashion, music, and culture.

> MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

59

Nordic knit life JONNA HIETALA was a journalist for

In fact, Laine is actually much more over ten years until she burned out. than a magazine. It’s a global commuKnitting had always been therapeutic nity of knitting enthusiasts – people for her. So opening a yarn shop in her who are interested in quality yarns hometown of Tampere, Finland, seemed and passionate about knitting and like a good idea. And it was. trends.

Psychologist Sini Ellen was one of Hietala says that one of the best Jonna’s regular customers. Both women things about inhabiting such a specific loved knitting. And they knew they niche is the close bond it has allowed were not alone. Together, they launched her and Sini Ellen to forge with their Laine, a print magazine readers. “For all of us, and online community knitting isn’t centred around what just a hobby, it’s an “For us, they call “Nordic knit adventure.” And they life.” mean that quite literally. knitting isn’t “When we set out, Laine has already we figured there had to hosted two annual a hobby, it’s be at least ten thousand retreats, the first in Finpeople in the world who an adventure.” land and the second in shared our passion and Portugal. Next up is a that’s enough.” They knitting getaway in Italy. were right. They started These retreats give readLaine in 2016. Today, with just three ers the feel of stepping onto the pages triannual issues under their belt, they of the magazine, with food, friends, print 18,000 copies per issue. and lots of knitting.

Flip through the pages and you’ll Hietala says that although she find what Hietala calls “modern, already has over 30 sweaters in her relaxed knitting patterns,” in-depth closet that she hardly ever wears, she articles from the world of wool, and will always keep knitting. seasonal recipes. And with its big, bold, “I imagine my daughters wearing and distinctly Nordic images, Laine them when they grow up. We’re makmost definitely isn’t your grandmothing things that will last forever. It’s biger’s knitting magazine. ger than ‘just’ knitting," says Hietala.

LAINE ESTABLISHED in 2016 CIRCULATION 18,000 copies

per printed magazine and approx. 120,000 unique monthly visitors on digital.

60

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

JONNA HIETALA

Editor-in-chief SINI ELLEN

Editor READERS IN ONE SENTENCE

Adventurous knitters interested in fashion, lifestyle, great photography, and the slow life movement.

WHAT INDIE MAGS DO YOU READ?

Kinfolk, Cereal, and Boat.

Jonna Hietala and Sini Ellen bring a world of knitters together with Laine.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

> 61

Helen Jennings and Sara Hemming give African voices room to tell their own stories in Nataal.

HELEN JENNINGS

Editorial director SARA HEMMING

Creative director YOUR READERS IN ONE SENTENCE

Afropolitans: young, aspirational, creative people who are either on the continent or in the world and want to connect with the continent.

WHAT INDIE MAGS DO YOU READ?

Thiiird, Moon Man, Riposte.

62

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Rethinking African identities OVER THE PAST DECADE, Africa has

selves in the media they consume, not become a force to be reckoned with. just one mainstream voice. “It’s not just The continent is booming because of about listening to what Condé Nast has growing investments, advances in eduto say.” cation, political change, and of course With so much going on right now the internet. The continent is becoming in Africa and the African diaspora with a major hub for tech entrepreneurship the visual arts, photography, and film, and startups, with Kenya often called there are plenty of voices to be heard.

“The Silicon Savannah.” But those “There’s been a big change in mindaren’t the only things changing. set. It used to be that creative i­ndustries Africa’s best artists and storytellweren’t seen as a viable career in ers are also rising, building a new and Africa. But that’s changing now,” exciting creative land­Jennings says. scape both at home and The freedom to work abroad. on many different plat“We focus on And that’s where forms and social media African culture have helped independent Nataal comes in.

A completely indeconcepts thrive. They’re from a global pendent digital space, popular not only with curated exhibitions and readers but also with perspective.” events, and soon-toadvertisers. launch print magazine, “We have a very niche Nataal showcases the brightest designaudience and brands realise that they ers, tastemakers, brands, and cultural have a direct line to that audience revolutionaries forging new African through us,” says Jennings. identities.

Nataal is always growing that audi“African people are fed up with ence in “the real world” through being told what Africa is like. They’re curated exhibitions, spoken word and going to tell that story themselves,” music events, panel discussions, and says Nataal’s editor-in-chief Helen more. And in May, Nataal will launch Jennings. its first large-format, bi-annual print As Jennings says, the world has magazine at a photography show in shrunk and people want to see themNew York.

NATAAL CIRCULATION Print magazine launching in May with

30,000 copies that will be distributed in major cities in Europe, Africa, and the US. Online, Nataal reaches up to 600,000 a month. NICHE African fashion, visual arts, music, travel, and society – visual and verbal storytellers.

> MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

63

True voice creatives THERE ARE LOTS OF REASONS to pick

will be interested in advertisers wanting up a print magazine: the visually stunto talk to a broad audience. “And we ning images, the in-depth storytelling, would never work with cheap brands,” the feel of the paper in your hands.

Bracht says.

But if you ask Christian Bracht, According to Bracht, the biggest publisher of the Berlin-based art quarproblem with print today is that there’s terly Sleek Magazine, a print magazine just too much of it. “If you have nothis even more than all that. “It’s a luxury ing to say, no opinion, or you’re copyproduct.” ing what someone else is already doing, The core of Sleek’s your print should be visual style is unusual, dead.” But publications “Publications striking, and distinctly with a true voice and a non-commercial phopersonality will always with a true tography. That style is have an audience. unique, particularly in With a strong focus voice will the German market. But on the arts, the pages today, after almost 15 always have an (exactly 220 of them in years on scene, Sleek’s every issue) offer up audience.” non-commercial looks ­everything from in-depth are often referenced profiles of well-estaband even commissioned lished artists to introducby ad agencies. To Bracht, that’s proof tions to up-and-coming talents. positive that staying true to your vision And then there’s Sleek Art. Sleek isn’t just good for readers, it’s also good Art continues where the magazine and for business. website leave off. An online art plat“Content-wise you can do what you form dedicated to selling a curated colwant, but unless you’re very rich you lection of artworks, Sleek Art is meant need to work with advertisers.” to bring people even closer to the art That said, Sleek is not and never and artists they love. 

SLEEK MAGAZINE CIRCULATION 60,000 in print and

around 500,000 unique monthly visitors on digital. The leading inspiring source in Central Europe for the creative class.

64

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

CHRISTIAN BRACHT

Publisher YOUR READERS IN ONE SENTENCE Anyone

working in the creative industry.

WHAT INDIE MAGS DO YOU READ? I have to

flip through many to analyse ads, but street wear mag 032C based in Berlin, The Gentle Woman, and Fantastic Man.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

65

be a step ahead. be one.

Priority check-in. Priority boarding.

Priority baggage. Fast track at security lanes.* As a ONEworld traveler, you spend less time in line, more time relaxing.

be recognized Welcome to ONEworld, an alliance of the world’s leading airlines committed to providing the highest level of service and convenience across more than 1,000 destinations worldwide. Whenever Finnair can’t take you to your final destination, we encourage you to travel with our ONEworld partner airlines.

Enjoy an array of special privileges and rewards — which include earning and redeeming Finnair Plus points on all ONEworld airlines and, for Finnair Plus Platinum and Gold members, access to some 650 premium airport lounges.

*Access to preferred or pre-reserved seating is in accordance with the individual policy of the ONEworld member airline operating the flight. First and business class check-in desks and lounges are not available at all airports. Fast track is not available at all airports. Priority baggage handling is not available on flights operated by British Airways. Extra baggage allowance benefits differ for Sapphire and Emerald level members. ONEworld benefits are available only to passengers on scheduled flights that are both marketed and operated by a ONEworld member airline (marketed means that there must be a ONEworld member airline’s flight number on your ticket). airberlin, American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LATAM Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and ONEworld are trademarks of their respective companies. LATAM Airlines (Paraguay) is currently not a part of ONEworld. Some limitations and exceptions may apply. For more information, visit www.oneworld.com/benefits.

oneworld member airlines

member of American Airlines British Airways Cathay Pacific Iberia Japan Airlines LATAM Malaysia Airlines Qantas Qatar Airways Royal Jordanian S7 Airlines SriLankan Airlines

ISTOCK

THE NORTH COUNTRY’S GREEN GETAWAYS Northern England may be best known for its lively cities, but its scenic natural attractions also lie within easy reach, making ideal destinations for active breaks.

TEXT FRAN WEAVER

J

ust 45 minutes from Manchester’s hectic Piccadilly Station, Sheffield-bound trains emerge from a long tunnel into a valley surrounded by moors to halt in the idyllic village of Edale in the heart of the Peak District National Park.

“About 20 million people live within an hour of the Peak District, so managing the park is a difficult balancing act, preserving its natural habitats while enabling visitors to enjoy activities like horse-riding, birdwatching, mountainbiking, rock-climbing, and paragliding,” explains national park ranger Tom Lewis.

Lewis emphasises that the Peak District offers a wide range of historical attractions – including the magnificent stately home Chatsworth Hall, the ancient stone circle at Arbor Low, and the pretty spa town of Buxton – as well as varied natural scenery. The wild moorlands in the north of the park are popular with trekkers, while

68

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Dovedale and other gorgeous limestone dales further south attract picnickers, ramblers, and cyclists, who can use a network of cycle-ways ­following abandoned railway lines.

“Most of the park’s villages have great pubs, which make ideal places for refuelling,” adds Lewis. Hearty pub fare suitable for hungry ­hikers includes steak and ale pie, fish and chips, and “ploughman’s lunches” featuring local cheese, ham, bread, pickles, and salad. After roaming the hills, the beer garden of the Rambler Inn beside Edale Station is a tempting place to wait for the train back into town.

Sidesteps England

ISTOCK

ISTOCK

ANDREW LOCKING

THE BACKBONE OF ENGLAND

LOVELY LAKELAND The Lake District, just two hours from Manchester by road or rail, is a region of superlatives.

Here you can find England’s highest mountain (Scafell Pike, 978 m), largest lake (16-km-long Windermere), and rainiest village (Seathwaite, soaked by 3,552 mm of rain and snow in an average year).

Energetic visitors can rent rowing boats or canoes to get out on the lakes, but a less strenuous option is to join a scenic lake cruise.

Cruises on Derwent Water from Keswick, or between Bowness-on-Windermere and Ambleside particularly offer fine views of Lakeland’s serene waters and lofty mountains.

The Lake District is first and foremost a paradise for walkers. Stupendous views over green valleys and lovely lakes can be enjoyed even on easy routes like the popular ramble around Grasmere. For a more extreme trek, trudge up precipitous Striding Edge to the summit of Helvellyn.

The Old Nag’s Head pub in Edale is the starting point for Britain’s bestknown long-distance hiking trail, the Pennine Way. This epic route runs 429 kilometres along “the backbone of England” from the Peak District National Park to the Scottish border.

“It takes 16 to 25 days to walk the whole way, camping out or staying in hostels or B&Bs, but some people do the trail bit by bit over many years,” says national park ranger Tom Lewis.

“The first day-long stretch makes a great walk from Edale up a rocky slope known as Jacob’s Ladder, and on to the fine cliff and waterfall at Kinder Downfall, overlooking the village of Hayfield,” he notes.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

69

>

YORKSHIRE DALES NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY

ISTOCK

WELSH WONDERS It’s also worth heading into North Wales, to discover some of the most spectacular mountain scenery anywhere in the British Isles, in Snowdonia National Park.

A trek up Mount Snowdon (1,085 m) can be slightly challenging, especially as the weather is notoriously changeable. Less intrepid visitors can reach the top of the summit by way of a unique mountain railway.

Snowdonia offers great settings for adventure sports from rock climbing and mountain biking to kayaking and river rafting.

Many place names reveal that this upland region is a proud stronghold for the Welsh language. Good bases for exploring Snowdonia include Llanberis, Betwsy-Coed, and Blaenau Ffestiniog.

70

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

YORKSHIRE'S DISTINCTIVE DALES Just 80 kilometres north of Manchester, the Yorkshire Dales National Park boasts windswept moorlands, leafy woodlands, cascading falls, and rugged crags.

One of its best-loved walks starts from Malham, and heads up to a plateau covered with remarkable whitish blocks of rock known as limestone pavement. On the top of the Malham Cove cliff, Britain’s most famous fictional wizard faced his demons in a dramatic scene in the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Hiking, mountain biking, and pony trekking are popular ways to explore the high hills and deep dales. And don’t miss the renowned crumbly local cheese from Wensleydale. 

FINNAIR FLIES TO Manchester

(MAN) two times a day.

When you need a holiday with this view

VUOKATTI

New ski hotel in Vuokatti offers the perfect setting for a dream vacation.

HELSINKI

SLOPES & TRAILS Start the day on skis straight from the hotel door. Vuokatti slopes and 150 km of scenic ski trails start directly from the Hotel Aateli courtyard.

BOUTIQUE HOTEL Enjoy the breathtaking scenery from the balconies of the atmospheric rooms or climb the hotel’s Northern Lights tower to admire the sky’s vivid colours.

The local delicacies of the harvest season are made in the restaurant’s charcoal grill.

Vuokatin Aateli also offers luxurious villas and apartments at the heart of Vuokatti Slopes.

BOOK NOW: VUOKATINAATELI.FI

ZEN SPA Close your eyes and relax. Balance your mind after an active day with a moment of peace and quiet. The Zen Spa is a perfect place to treat your body and soul.

72

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Investigation

For the love of the game China sets its sights on footballing glory.

TEXT DANIEL ALLEN ILLUSTRATION EMMI-RIIKKA VARTIAINEN

D

ecked out in his team's cherry red scarf, hat, and hooped jersey, and clutching an outsized tiger mascot, there's no mistaking which Chinese club Chen Yusheng supports.

The diehard Guangzhou Evergrande fan is in a buoyant mood as he marches towards the home side's Tianhe Stadium with a contingent of fellow football fanatics. “We're playing Jiangsu Suning today, so it'll probably be five-nil to us,” he says with a grin. “But I'd settle for a hat-trick by Ricardo Goulart (the club's Brazilian striker).”

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou is fast becoming the country's hotbed of football. Having won the Chinese Super League for the last seven years, Evergrande are now carving a name for themselves as the “Manchester United of China.” Local kids attempt to emulate their heroes in backstreet games each day, while posters of the latest squad adorn the walls of countless restaurants. During the football season the city is hooked on the team's triumphs and tribulations, with the club's ardent fan base regularly shoehorning itself into the local stadium to voice their support.

“Football is now a huge part of life here in Guangzhou,” says Chen Yusheng. “Evergrande fans are very passionate. If our team is doing well, we show our support. If not, we show our displeasure. We have high expectations.”

But these days expectations of China-based

football aren't limited to the Evergrande team.

In March 2015, driven by the ambition of current president Xi Jinping, the Chinese government published a 50-point plan for Chinese football.

With a focus on grassroots development, it calls for China to become a “football powerhouse,” with the capability of qualifying for, hosting, and winning the World Cup by 2050.

“Not many people know that China invented football,” says Chen Yusheng. “If we could one day win the World Cup, football really would be coming home. I can't see it happening anytime soon, but it's a beautiful dream.”

LET A HUNDRED MESSIS BLOOM The Evergrande Football School, situated around one hour's drive north of Guangzhou in the city of Qingyuan, opened in 2012. The largest football academy in the world, it boasts a stadium, auditorium, outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts, and gym, not to mention a small army of Spanish football coaches.

This vast, 148 million euros complex typifies the huge sums of money now being invested in Chinese football by both the government and professional teams. By 2020, China intends to have 70,000 football pitches across the country and 20,000 training centres. By 2030, the target is to have one pitch per 10,000 people.

The need to develop Chinese footballing talent is both obvious and urgent. China's national football >

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

73

“Many parents still view football as a hindrance to education.” team, which has only ever qualified for one World Cup, currently wallows in 70th position in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between Finland and Mali. If all goes to plan, the kids learning to dribble, pass, and shoot at the Evergrande Football School today will become supremely talented stars representing Guangzhou Evergrande and their country a few years down the line.

With a lack of skilled Chinese football coaches, China's drive for homegrown footballing excellence demands international support. The Premier Skills programme, a global partnership between the United Kingdom's Premier League and the British Council, launched in China in 2009. By 2020, the aim is to have trained 5,000 Chinese coaches and reached out to five million children.

Xi Jinping's footballing vision depends on millions of children taking up the sport. But while young people in China may be as motivated to play football as in any other country, many of their parents still view the game as a hindrance to education.

“Awareness of the benefits of sports and physical activity is generally low in China,” says Jazreel Goh, director of education and sports marketing at British Council China. “By showing that football can make young Chinese people healthier and more confident, Premier Skills is helping to develop a love of football in China that supports the Chinese aim of creating a national football culture.”

MORE THAN A GAME Today football in China is big business. Most clubs in the top tier of professional Chinese football are backed by corporations or billionaires, who see investment in their teams as a means of raising the profile of their brand and currying political favour.

This has seen eye-watering sums spent recently on importing football stars from the West. With

74

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

weekly wages of nearly 800 thousand euros on offer, high-profile players such as Hulk, Carlos Tevez, and Didier Drogba have decamped eastward over the last few seasons.

These purchases may have excited Chinese fans, but many observers, including the Chinese government, have viewed such astronomical spending as counterproductive to China's football blueprint, loading clubs with unsustainable levels of debt and skewing investment away from grassroots development.

“While the potential scalability of football in China is an exciting prospect, one of the key challenges for Chinese Super League clubs is the danger of trying to run before they can walk,” says Paul Rawnsley, director of Deloitte's Sports Business Group.

Times are now changing, however.

With domestic viewing of Chinese football games at record levels, revenue from broadcasting rights is increasing, helping Chinese clubs bolster their financial position.

Last year Beijing imposed a new tax on foreign players, making such imports doubly expensive. This has seen a growing number of Chinese Super League clubs commit themselves to nurturing homegrown players, with Guangzhou Evergrande announcing their intention to field an all-Chinese team by 2020.

Many experts on Chinese football see this as another step in the right direction.

“I completely support the import tax and proper distribution of financial resources to grassroots football in China,” says Rowan Simons, chairman of China ClubFootball FC (a Beijing-based amateur football club) and author of Bamboo Goalposts, a book about Simons' quest to introduce Chinese people to football. “Despite all the spending, the biggest challenge to Xi Jinping's ambition remains the same,” he continues.

“Getting the Chinese nation to fall in love with football.” 

SAY HELLO TO MILAN T H E N O R D I C WAY

EXPERIENCE THE CITY WHERE THE LOVE OF BEAUTY IS VISIBLE EVERYWHERE.

Get a taste of everyday Italian life in one of the world’s leading fashion and design cities – discover endless art collections, have a drink in a cosy bar close to Duomo di Milano or dive into the class and style of Italian night life. Finnair flies to Milan twice a day. Book your flights at finnair.com

Showroom

COMPILED BY SILJA KUDEL

Celebrating creative outcomes

Hot at Hyéres

THE EARS HAVE IT Laser-cut plywood is a gravity-friendly choice for fans of bold, dangly ear accessories.

THREE STUDENTS from Finland’s

GUILLAUME ROUJAS

Aalto University have been chosen as finalists in the Hyères Fashion Festival in France this April. Linda Kokkonen, Anna Isoniemi, and Antonina Sedakova are among the contenders for the prestigious Fashion Prize, continuing Finland’s head-turning recent success at Hyères.

“According to previous juries, our students’ collections are fresh and unprejudiced, but with a very high level of technical execution. They also have a very strong story to tell and fashion is about storytelling,” says Aalto Fashion Design lecturer Tuomas Laitinen.

Elina Mäntylä adds drama without extra weight. Halo earrings draw attention without stretching earlobes. €28 from MadeBy Helsinki

DESIGNMARCH

ICELAND’S DESIGN MARCH

VALONA jewellery by

The cream of the local design scene takes over downtown Reykjavík during DesignMarch, Iceland’s annual design festival.

Showcasing top talent in over 100 events, the festival’s new highlight is Design Diplomacy, a series of design talks in Reykjavík’s embassies from March 15 to 18.

HALDIN Wrestler Koala earrings add a playful vibe to any outfit. Loved in Japan, Haldin’s colourful ear candy definitely ticks the kawaii box. €28 from Haldin

JANNE RÄTY

BEAUTY OF RECYCLING PLASTIC RECYCLING has been in the

headlines recently, but many would-be recyclers are demotivated by the prospect of ugly clutter in the kitchen. That excuse no longer flies thanks to Finnish-made Ecosmol recycling stations created by award-winning designer Harri Koskinen.

76

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

PINJAPUU botanythemed jewellery makes a green style statement.

Express your inner forest nymph with sustainable Fern earrings. €32 from PinjaPuu

Bone for vintage hounds A YAWNING GAP on the Helsinki

Open by appointment, the gallery caters to collectors, designers, and architects – “and anybody inspired by timeless Finnish design. My personal favourites are obviously Alvar Aalto and Tapio Wirkkala, Kati Tuominen-Niittylä in contemporary crafts, and of course Yrjö Kukkapuro in furniture.”

Yrjönkatu 8A, Helsinki

ELINA SIMONEN

design scene was filled with the recent opening of Gallery Lemmetti, a unique venue specialising in classic and contemporary high-end Finnish design.

“I have received a great deal of positive feedback both from abroad and home stating that this concept was long needed in Helsinki,” says the founder Juhani Lemmetti.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

77

Globetrotter

On the road with a travel blogger

The magical light illuminates the sky.

Drinking coffee in Lisbon is serious ­business.

Colours abound in the tiles, flowers, and decorative cobbelstone called calçada.

The lightness of Lisbon Saara Helkala fell for the colours of Portugal’s capital and never left.

How did you end up living in Lisbon?

I came here for a holiday and fell in love with the colours and the light of the city. I ended up moving here to study.

What is your favourite detail of the city?

It is in fact still the light. More specifically the light around 8:30 pm in the summer, an hour before sunset when the light hits all the ­pastel-coloured buildings, beautiful tiles, and ­cobblestone pavement. Walking around feels like being in a beautiful movie setting.

78

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

If you could time travel into historical ­Lisbon, which year would you pick? My late grandfather travelled to Lisbon in the ’50s and filmed it with his old cini film camera. I never got to see the films since they were damaged. I wish I could see the city as he saw it!

Share a Lisbon secret? I’d have to say Jardim da Tapada das Necessidades. It’s an abandoned giant ­garden with old palace-like buildings and ­beautiful plants. Pack a picnic and enjoy quiet time away from the noisy city.

Finnish born Saara Helkala lives in sunny Lisbon where she documents her life.

As do the Portuguese, she believes there’s always time for a coffee break! lily.fi/blogit/visual-diary

Fly

The world of Finnair

Inspiring journeys The world is your playground with Finnair’s extensive network.

World of Finnair Destination of the month

CAN

Guangzhou

WELCOME TO THE HI-TECH CITY

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou might be famous for its distinctive Cantonese cuisine and majestic skyscrapers, but the city has also grown into one of the country’s hi-tech hubs. Often referred to as the “factory of the world,” Guangzhou is shedding its manufacturing reputation in favour of transforming itself into a test-bed for innovation and entrepreneurship. The city already has a local success story – the mobile chat application WeChat was born here.

Finnair flies to Guangzhou four times a week during the summer season.

80

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

World of Finnair Highlights of the month

Best of Finland NĬ hăo China Finnair has been chosen as the partner airline of EU-China Tourism Year, a celebration focusing on travel and tourism between China and Europe.

“China is a strategic market for Finnair and we have placed considerable effort into developing services for the Chinese passenger.

We have incorporated Alipay and WeChat pay solutions, Chinese

cabin crew are onboard flights between China and Helsinki, and Helsinki Airport boasts Chinese signage and customer service staff,” says Juha Järvinen, chief commercial officer at Finnair.

With the launch of the Nanjing route in May, Finnair will connect seven cities in Greater China with more than 100 cities in Europe via its Helsinki Airport hub.

Finnair has teamed up with the Culinary Team of Finland to design a special menu for Economy Class passengers on all longhaul flights departing from Helsinki.

“Finnair is delighted to offer a piece of the Nordics to the thousands of ­customers who fly with us every day from Helsinki to Asia and the Americas,” says Maarit Keränen, who oversees ­Finnair’s on-board food concepts.

The winter menu, featuring F ­ innish delicacies, is currently being served onboard and will be followed by seasonal menus for summer and autumn.

FINNAIR ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Finnair This week we start flying athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea with our A350 aircraft.

We wish all athletes good luck!

Finnair Rika Maezawa has designed seasonal signature menus to be served in Business Class on our flights from Tokyo to Helsinki. Itadakimasu!

feelfinnair @saratickle went to check the city vibes of narrow streets and avenidas of Lisbon. The city says it with all its heart: Bem-vindos! Welcome!

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

81

World of Finnair Services

STAY CONNECTED

Fly the short northern route

FINNAIR CHAT Finnair Live chat is available on weekdays 7 am to 10 pm, on Saturdays 9 am to 6 pm, and on Sundays 10 am to 10 pm (Finnish time).

MEET FINNAIR’S chatbot, affectionately known as Finn, who is ready to help plan your journey via Finnair’s global Facebook Messenger account.

FINNAIR APP Tap your way through your journey. Log in with your last name and booking reference or your Finnair Plus username and password.

SKY HIGH WI-FI All Finnair

WITH A MODERN FLEET, extensive route network, and world-class service, Finnair offers a comfortable and convenient way to travel.

A330 and A350 aircraft offer Wi-Fi connections.

WECHAT

E

stablished in 1923, Finnair is one of the world’s oldest airlines. Since then, the company has grown from a small carrier to one that is a respected member of the international airline industry.

With over 100 destinations in Finland, Europe, Asia, and the Americas, Finnair’s route network includes 19 destinations in Asia,

7 in the Americas, and 100 in Europe. In 2016, Finnair carried more than 10.8 million passengers, with more than 1.6 million passengers flying between Asia and Helsinki every year.

Finnair’s modern and ­ecofriendly fleet consists of over 60 aircraft, most of which are Airbuses.

Scan and follow Finnair’s official WeChat account.

SMART PACKING

TIPS FOR A SMOOTH TAKEOFF

Pack too much?

Booking made easy

Off-peak lounging

Discover Finland

Need more time to decide? Hold my Booking guarantees your flight price for up to 72 hours. Go to ­finnair.com for more information.

Use Finnair Plus points for a reduced price Finnair Lounge voucher at Helsinki Airport or buy access in advance for €39 via finnair.com.

Why not book a Finnair Stopover on your way between Europe and Asia!

To book a stopover package go to finnair.com/stopover.

82

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Avoid excess baggage fees by paying in advance for extra allowance at special pre-paid prices directly from finnair.com.

Liquids rule Liquids are allowed through security in containers (max 100ml) packed in a transparent resealable 1-litre plastic bag.

World of Finnair Frequent flyer program

FI N LU T A /P M IN O JO R.C I A

N

S

Finnair Plus membership THE FINNAIR PLUS program allows you to earn both tier points and award points when travelling with Finnair or a oneworld airline and award points from services provided by Finnair Plus partners.

A WORLD OF BENEFITS

WHAT’S NEW THIS MONTH?

Donate points

J

oin Finnair Plus for free by filling in the form attached to this magazine or online at finnair.com/plus.

As a Finnair Plus member, you get access to valuable benefits and rewards.

Earn points for flights and services and use them both at home and abroad.

You can use your Finnair Plus award points for additional Finnair services such as seat selection, meals, and extra baggage payments. The number of points you pay depends on your flight and the chosen service. You can pay for travel extras at the time you book your reservation or later through the Manage Booking tab.

Go to finnairshop.com to find Finnair gift cards, partner services, and award vouchers.

BEST FROM PARTNERS

In honour of International Women’s Day (March 8), help make a difference by donating Finnair Plus points to UN Women – and help girls and women follow their dreams. finnairshop.com

The new Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo tier brings additional benefits to Finnair’s most frequently flying customers.

For example, you can give Gold membership to two Finnair Plus members as well as bring up to four guests to any Finnair lounge! You can reach the Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo tier after collecting 450,000 tier points.

See all benefits and qualifying limits: finnair.com/plus

Taste of Europe Helsinki’s Vanha Yliopilastalo is the place to be April 27-28 to sample Italian, French, and Spanish wines, as well as food.

Finnair Plus members can redeem tickets using points or a combination of money and points. finnairshop.com

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

83

World of Finnair Deals of the month

7 reasons to love finnairshop.com SHOPPING ALERT! The Finnair Shop is your one-stop shopping site to pre-order products before your flight, use your Finnair Plus points to buy Nordic design items delivered directly to your home, and use your Finnair Plus points for various Finnair Plus partner services.

FAZER Domino biscuit chocolate 250g Available onboard and from finnairshop.com for seat delivery. Order no: 2242

€4

Not yet available in Finland

POLAAR Eternal Snow or Night Cream Available from finnairshop.com for seat delivery.

MAKIA Weekend bag, black Available from finnairshop.com for seat delivery.

€38 each

€107 RETAIL THERAPY

SHOPPING MADE EASY! LANSON Black & Rosé 2x0.2L GP Available from finnairshop.com for seat delivery.

€25

84

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Now you can use your Finnair Plus points to pay for your pre-order products and ­onboard purchases!

Go to the complimentary Nordic Sky portal onboard – the ­pre-order webshop is always open on Wi-Fi connected Finnair flights. Find the best deals on ­tax-free products and enjoy special Finnair Plus offers.

World of Finnair Deals of the month

1, O 00 FF 0 ER P

MARCH DEAL

20% OFF CAMPAIGN!

OH YEAHH!

Two more reasons to shop this month! Receive 20% off when you pre-order for your Finnair flight flown within March. And receive 20% off all purchases made onboard March 19–31.

Happy Lip Balm set Available from finnairshop.com for home delivery.

€25 + 1,000 p

4X WAYS TO SHOP BALMUIR

ONBOARD Shop online via your own mobile device during the flight using the complimentary Nordic Sky portal.

€99 + 1,000 p

1, O 00 FF 0 ER P

Emelie pouch with wristlet Available from finnairshop.com for home delivery.

PRE-ORDER Pre-order online before any Finnair flight. finnairshop.com

MEDIDENT VOUCHER Redeem a dental care award voucher with points or with a combination of money and points.

Available from finnairshop.com.

€1,282 + 20,000 p

HOME DELIVERY Use Finnair Plus points to shop for products delivered directly to your home.

VOUCHERS Use Finnair Plus points to redeem a voucher for restaurants, hotel stays, car rentals, and much more.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

85

World of Finnair Flying stories

Every seat has a story

3X #FEELFINNAIR Share your Finnair moments on Instagram using @feelfinnair. If you want to be featured, use #feelfinnair.

IT’S THE CUSTOMERS who make Finnair and that’s why we’ve dedicated this page to your travel stories.

MEET THE FREQUENT FLYER

arscaaa Ikävä tulee näitä ihmisiä ja hienoja yhteisiä hetkiä. Kiitos Finnair ja Suomen olympiakomitea. Photo by @jessevaananen #OlympicTeamFi

Stephanie Li Finnair Plus ­member from Shanghai Finnair Plus tier Basic, since 2015 Average flights per year 6-8 Next destination Helsinki

What is your all-time favourite ­destination? Helsinki. It’s beautiful, peaceful, and we have family there.

What items could you never travel without? Comfy clothes.

86

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Which Finnair Plus benefit do you use most? I use points for restaurant vouchers.

susselsson We have had a lot to learn and now it’s time to take that knowledge and put it into use.

See you in the sky! #finnaircrew

How do you stay busy onboard?

I like to talk to people!

What is the most impressive airport? Singapore’s Changi Airport. It’s clean and tidy with a large transit area.

Share one tip to combat jetlag.

Do not go straight to sleep when you land – adapt to the local time.

m11kkka Good morning Goa! #india

World of Finnair Sky Food

Eat well FANCY A SNACK ONBOARD? Finnair offers a wide selection of seasonal and healthy options that combine the best of the Nordics, Europe, and Asia.

3 WAYS TO A TASTY MEAL SIGNATURE MENU. Business Class passengers on Finnair long-haul flights can enjoy Signature Menus prepared by chefs from top restaurants.

Complimentary beverages Complimentary coffee, tea, water, and Finnair’s signature blueberry juice are always served on Finnair flights.

Pick of the month Enjoy a breakfast sandwich or a light salad for lunch or an evening snack onboard European flights! You can preorder Nordic Bistro meals for just €7 or 2,300 Finnair Plus points. Pre-order latest 7 hours in advance.

SKY BISTRO. Passengers on Finnair flights within Europe and the Middle East can mix and match favourite tastes from the onboard Sky Bistro menu.

CHEF OF THE SEASON

FINNA

SKY BISTRIR O

PRE-ORDER. Passengers on Finnair flights within Europe and the Middle East can choose sandwiches, salads, breakfast, or dinner in advance from the Nordic Bistro menu.

A TASTE SENSATION awaits long-haul Business Class passengers flying from Tokyo to Helsinki when chef Rika Maezawa, Finnair’s first Japanese Signature Chef, creates her four seasons menu.

Maezawa serves up vegetable-centric meals that stretch beyond the conventional boundaries of Japanese cuisine.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

87

World of Finnair Wellness & comfort

3X TIPS FOR CABIN COMFORT

Onboard wellness

STAY HYDRATED It is recommended to drink 250 ml (8 oz) of water every hour. If possible, minimise the amount of tea, coffee, and alcohol you drink.

HEALTHIER AIRCRAFT The Finnair A350 combines the latest technology with advanced passenger comfort features to help you rediscover the thrill of flying.

An advanced HEPA filtering system changes the cabin air every two to three minutes ensuring comfort and health for all passengers. Large

windows let natural light flow into the cabin and LED technology emits lighting and colours that are customised to fit the time of day, destination, or season. The noise level is 16 decibels below the standard requirement, so resting and relaxing while onboard is easy.

GET SOME SLEEP The best way to tune out is to wear an eye mask and ear plugs. Keep warm, too – have a jacket or blanket handy in case you need it.

2X COMFORTABLE UPGRADES NORDIC BUSINESS CLASS

ECONOMY COMFORT

Finnair’s Business Class seats let you fully recline on your intercontinental flight. The seats transform into a 200 cm (6’6”) horizontal bed, so you can enjoy a good night’s sleep.

Finnair’s Economy Comfort seating in the front of the Economy Class cabin makes intercontinental travel even more pleasurable with 8–13 cm (3–5 inches) more legroom.

88

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

GENERAL WELLBEING Try to bring something to snack on.

Fruit and veggies are always a great healthy option. And remember to wear comfortable clothing.

World of Finnair Flight mode

Stay connected THE NORDIC SKY Wi-Fi portal is available on all intercontinental flights and gives you access to news, destination information, and Finnair services. You can use the portal to connect your own devices to the internet.

HOW TO GET STARTED

1

FINNAIR APP – YOUR TRAVEL COMPANION Get boarding passes, book flights and travel extras, view your Finnair Plus balance, and much more with the Finnair app. The app supports your Finnair journey all the way from home to your destination and back!

urn your T device to flight mode and ­enable Wi-Fi

2

Join the Wi-Fi ­network Nordic Sky

3

Open the browser of your choice

4

Start exploring at nordic-sky. finnair.com

1 HOUR

3 HOURS

12 HOURS

7.95€

11.95€

19.95€

You can purchase or redeem internet access directly from the portal.

WHAT’S PLAYING COCO Aspiring musician Miguel teams up with a charming trickster named Héctor on an extraordinary journey through the Land of the Dead.

THE SHAPE OF WATER America circa 1962.

Elisa’s life is changed forever when she and co-worker Zelda discover a secret classified experiment.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME 17-year-old Elio learns that there is much that remains innocent and unformed about him, particularly about matters of the heart.

MOOMINS The eerie and charming animated adventures of the Moomins and their friends.

WONDER August Pullman, a boy with facial differences, enters fifth grade, attending a mainstream elementary school for the first time.

YOUNG SHELDON Meet Sheldon Cooper in childhood, as he embarks on his innocent, awkward, and hopeful journey towards the man he will become.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

89

World of Finnair Staff tips

A riot of colour in Puerto Vallarta

Magical Mexico

PHOTOS JUSSI HELLSTEN

The beach paradise of Playa Conchas Chinas

Surf’s up in Sayulita

MILLA VÄÄNÄNEN is fascinated by the beauty and tastes of Mexico and shares four reasons to visit this enticing destination off Mexico’s Pacific coast.

PUERTO VALLARTA

LOCAL FLAVOUR

For an authentic taste of real Mexico, head to the friendliest city in the country. The El Malecon boardwalk and local beach hotspot Los Muertos are definite must-sees as is Zona Romantica (the old town) with its beautiful floral bordered cobblestone streets.

There’s more to do in Puerto Vallarta than hit the beach. Mexico is the perfect destination for avocado enthusiasts. The guacamole won’t disappoint; neither will the delicious tortillas, ceviche, and seafood.

SAYULITA

PLAYA CONCHAS CHINAS

This quiet and peaceful beach is located only a few kilometres from downtown Puerto Vallarta.

But if you want to access a hidden gem of beach paradise, take a short boat trip from the Puerto Vallarta harbour. If you’re lucky, you may even spot a whale or two!

90

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

Located north of Puerto Vallarta, this hippy-chic village is ideal for the aspiring surfer. Surfboard rentals are easily available and the waves are considered friendly enough for beginners. Those preferring dry land can hike the trails through the jungle. End a perfect day by admiring the mesmerising sunset.

Milla Väänänen is responsible for the marketing and product development of Aurinkomatkat travel service ­company.

World of Finnair Holiday sampler

Experience more with Finnair

TOP 3 VIVA ESPAĂ‘A! Take a look at these three relaxing vacation packages from aurinkomatkat.fi.

Palma. A cultural holiday awaits in the Mallorcan capital with its gorgeous historic town and mixture of galleries and museums.

EXPLORE FINNAIR HOLIDAYS THE STORY of a lifetime is waiting for you. Flights, hotel, unique experiences, and triple amount of Finnair Plus points can now be found from one place. Finnair Holidays is available in Finland and Sweden. Find your story at finnair.com/holidays.

Intriguing destinations

Triple Finnair Plus points

Finnair Holidays opens the door to the most intriguing places in the world. Choose a theme for a unique holiday experience.

You can earn three Finnair Plus tier and award points for every euro used on your Finnair Holidays experience.

Marbella. Roam the alleyways of this historic Costa del Sol town or amble along the beach boulevard and admire all the haute couture boutiques.

Flights, hotel, and a holiday experience Finnair Holidays is an easy way to find flights, hotels, and unique experiences all in one place.

Sitges. Stroll the charming art-deco style streets and dance the night away in this seaside town near Barcelona.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

91

World of Finnair Sustainability

HARRI TARVAINEN / LUMILAUTALIITTO

More power to Paralympics T

ero Kuorikoski, secretary general of the Finnish Paralympic Committee, anticipates a successful campaign for the national team taking part in the Winter Paralympics in South Korea this month. Success, that is, measured not just in medals but also in unprecedented public interest.

“In Finland the national TV company Yle broadcasted just 15 hours of events at the last Winter Paralympics in Sochi,” says Kuorikoski. “This time they’ll be screening 70 hours. I want to encourage audiences to tune in to witness some great events and stories.”

Snowboarder Matti SuurHamari is expected to shine in

this year’s Winter Games, and Kuorikoski expects him to figure in the tally for at least three medals for the Finnish team.

“Our team of 13 athletes competes in five out of six disciplines: cross country skiing, biathlon, curling, alpine skiing, and snowboarding,” says Kuorikoski. The missing discipline is sledge hockey, close cousin to Finland’s most popular team sport, ice hockey.

Kuorikoski welcomes the recent signing of a partnership agreement between Finnair and the Committee. “Finnair has put, and will continue to put a lot of effort into accessibility, service, and convenience for disabled passengers.”

BETTER PLANET Finnair’s sustainability strategy is built on three principles – cleaner, caring, and collaborative.

DO GOOD Finnair Plus members can make point donations via finnairshop.com to • The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation • Crisis Management Initiative (CMI) • The Association of Friends of the University Children’s Hospitals • The Cancer Society of Finland • The Finnish Red Cross • UNICEF Finland • Hope • UN Women

90+ YEARS AND COUNTING 1923

1924

1947

1952

1968

1969

1980

1992

Finnair, known as Aero, was founded

Finnair receives its first aircraft: Junkers F 13

Finnair air hostesses take to the skies

Helsinki Airport opens

Finnair reveals its new logo and name change

First Finnair trans-Atlantic flight to New York City

Blue Wings launches

The Finnair Plus program is introduced

92

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

World of Finnair Fleet

AIRBUS A350-900 Number 11 + 8 on order Seating capacity 297-336 Length 66.8 m Wingspan 64.75 m Cruising speed 903 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 13,000 m AIRBUS A330-300 Number 8 Seating capacity 289/263 Length 63.6 m Wingspan 60.3 m Cruising speed 870 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,600 m AIRBUS A321 Number 18 Seating capacity 196–209 Length 44.5 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A320 Number 10 Seating capacity 165 Length 37.6 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m AIRBUS A319 Number 8 Seating capacity 138 Length 33.8 m Wingspan 34.1 m Cruising speed 840 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 11,900 m EMBRAER 190 Operated by Norra Number 12 Seating capacity 100 Length 36.2 m Wingspan 28.7 m Cruising speed 850 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 12,300 m ATR 72-212A Operated by Norra Number 12 Seating capacity 68/72 Length 27 m Wingspan 27 m Cruising speed 463 km/h Maximum cruising altitude 7,620 m

1995

1997

1999

2004

2013

2014

2015

2017

Finnair’s website launches

Finnair joins oneworld alliance

Arrival of ­ irbus A320 A

Online check-in opens

Launch of Marimekko for Finnair collection

Finnair celebrates its 90th anniversary

Arrival of ­ irbus A350 A

Finnair celebrates Finland’s centenary UNDER THE

NORT HER N SKIES – 100 STORIES CELEBRATING

FLYING –

| VIEW FROM THE COCKPIT | KING | STYLE IN THE CRAB FLIES CARGO SKIES | DISCOVERIES | WELCOME TO WITH | FINNISH SNOW-HOW NOBEL LAUREATE BENGT HOLMSTRÖM HEL | | BEHIND THE SCENES | LOVE IN THE AIR | AT THE AIRPORT |

FEBRUARY 2018

BLUE WINGS

93

World of Finnair Airport info

55

53

54

52 SOUTH PIER GATES 54–55

2ND FLOOR

BUS GATES 51 A–D

NONSCHENGEN AREA

FINNAIR LOUNGE FINNAIR PREMIUM LOUNGE

T2

34

33 GROUND FLOOR

BUS GATES 50 A–M

Security control

NONSCHENGEN AREA

32 32a

Welcome to Helsinki Airport

2ND FLOOR

TRANSFER SERVICE 2

TRANSFER SERVICE 3

Border control

CHECK YOUR GATE and departure time on the airport monitors. All Finnair and Nordic Regional Airlines (Norra) departures are located in the same terminal. If you do not have a boarding pass for your connecting flight, please contact the transfer service desks in T2.

GATE AREA

31a-e 30

29

1ST FLOOR

28

T2

CHECK-IN 240–270

27 GATE AREA

26

FINNAIR CHECK IN/ SERVICE DESKS 201–229

CHECK IN 101–114

31x 31

SCHENGEN AREA

Border control

Security check

2ND FLOOR

HAPPY LANDINGS

Security check

TRANSFER SERVICE 1

HELSINKI AIRPORT has 35 automated border control gates for travellers flying to or from destinations outside of the Schengen area. Fifteen are located in the departure hall; 15 are located in the upstairs arrival hall; another five are available in the downstairs arrival hall (for EU/EEA/CH citizens only).

Passengers from the EU, EEA, CH, Japan, and South Korea with biometric passports can use the automated border control gates. Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and U.S. citizens with biometric passports may use the automated border control upon departure only. All other nationalities must use the manned border control booths in the departure and arrival halls.

Those passengers travelling with infants, baggage trolleys, or wheelchairs must use the manual control lane.

25

Security check

11

24 12

13

14

15

16 17 18 19

20

21

22

23

PHARMACY

T1

TOURIST INFO BAGGAGE STORAGE

GROUND FLOOR

FINNAIR LOUNGE 3RD FLOOR

1ST FLOOR

WIRELESS INTERNET Helsinki Airport offers free Wi-Fi throughout the airport.

94

BLUE WINGS

MARCH 2018

PLAYROOM Children’s playrooms offer toys, videos, and baby care facilities.

NON-SMOKING Smoking is prohibited outside of designated smoking rooms.

THE FINNAIR CITY BUS to the Helsinki Railway Station leaves from T2 every 20 minutes, stopping also at T1.

Travel time is approx. 30 minutes. €6.30 THE RING RAIL LINE connects Helsinki Airport to downtown Helsinki via train. There is direct access from the corridor between T1 and T2.

World of Finnair The Nordic Way

Fly the short northern route FLY VIA HELSINKI and take the most direct route between Europe and Asia.

Thanks to Helsinki’s location, Finnair’s northern route is a geographically convenient way between Europe and Asia. The northern route also offers competitive travel times to destinations in the US from many European cities.

The Helsinki Airport is efficient, compact, and easy to navigate, making it ideal for transferring between Europe, Asia, and the US with short transfer times.

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

95

World of Finnair

Russia

Domestic and European Destinations Tromsø Reykjavik

Ivalo

From Helsinki

Iceland Kittilä Rovaniemi Kemi Oulu

Finnair Destinations New Finnair Destinations 2018

Norway Oslo Bergen

Dublin Ireland

United Kingdom London

Spain

Portugal

Madrid

Lisbon Malaga

Saint Petersburg Tallinn Estonia Tartu Latvia Riga

Stockholm Visby

Denmark Billund

Manchester

Copenhagen Hamburg

Amsterdam

Netherlands Berlin Brussels Germany Düsseldorf Belgium Prague

Gdansk

Ivalo 931 01:35 Joensuu 360 01:00 Jyväskylä 235 00:50 Kajaani 464 01:20 Kemi/Tornio 609 01:35 Kittilä 823 01:25 Kokkola/Pietarsaari 391 01:10 Kuopio 335 01:00 Kuusamo 667 01:15 Mariehamn 282 00:55 Oulu 514 01:05 Rovaniemi 697 01:20 Tampere 143 00:35 Turku 150 00:35 Vaasa 348 00:55

Lithuania Vilnius

Kraków

Bulgaria

Varna

Greece Skiathos Mytilene Preveza Athens Kos Zakynthos Santorini

Alanya Dalaman Cyprus Rhodes

Malta

Chania

Heraklion

Canary Arrecife Islands Tenerife Norte Fuerteventura Tenerife Sur Las Palmas

Paphos Israel Tel Aviv-Yafo

Eilat

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

Alanya/Gazipasa 2722 03:45 Alicante 3034 04:25 Amsterdam 1525 02:35 Arrecife 4518 05:55 Athens 2490 03:40 Barcelona 2632 03:55 Bergen 1112 03:30 Berlin 1123 02:00 Biarritz 2581 03:45 Billund 1060 01:50 Brussels 1651 02:40 Budapest 1481 02:20 Catania 2636 03:45 Chania 2756 03:50 Copenhagen 895 01:40 Corfu 2329 03:25 Dalaman 2639 03:40 Dublin 2030 03:10 Dubrovnik 2027 03:00 Düsseldorf 1512 02:25 Edinburgh 1717 02:40 Eilat 3457 04:45

BLUE WINGS

Turkey

Corfu

Madeira Funchal

96

Samara

Moscow

Naples

Catania

From Helsinki

Yekateringburg Kazan

Poland Warsaw

Frankfurt Czech Republic Paris Stuttgart Vienna Salzburg Zurich Munich France Geneva Innsbruck Austria Budapest Hungary Switzerland Slovenia Venice Ljubljana Lyon Milan Croatia Biarritz Verona Pula Rimini Nice Pisa Split Italy Dubrovnik Rome Barcelona Ibiza Menorca Palma de Alicante Mallorca

Kajaani

Finland Kokkola Kuopio Joensuu Sweden Vaasa Jyväskylä Tampere Turku Helsinki Mariehamn

Gothenburg Edinburgh

Kuusamo

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

From Helsinki

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

Ekaterinburg 2098 03:05 Frankfurt 1543 02:35 Fuerteventura 4578 06:05 Funchal 4310 05:45 Gdansk 768 02:00 Geneva 1994 03:00 Gothenburg 785 01:25 Hamburg 1 172 02:00 Heraklion 2777 03:55 Ibiza 2897 04:00 Innsbruck 1701 02:35 Kazan 1521 02:30 Kos 2620 03:45 Kraków 1 186 02:00 Las Palmas 4700 06:10 Lisbon 3369 04:50 Ljubljana 1713 02:40 London 1863 03:10 Lyon 2081 03:10 Madrid 2950 04:25 Malaga 3357 04:35 Malta 2822 04:15

MARCH 2018

From Helsinki

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

Manchester 1817 03:00 Menorca 2688 04:05 Milan 1953 03:05 Moscow 876 01:40 Munich 1577 02:30 Mytilene 1471 03:35 Naples 2283 03:25 Nice 2202 03:25 Oslo 766 01:30 Palma de Mallorca 2777 04:00 Paphos 2898 04:00 Paris 1900 03:05 Pisa 2093 03:20 Prague 1322 02:10 Preveza 2397 03:25 Pula 1865 02:55 Reykjavik 2429 03:50 Rhodes 2668 03:45 Riga 382 00:55 Rimini 1993 03:00 Rome 2235 03:25 Saint Petersburg 301 01:00

From Helsinki

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

Salzburg 1592 02:30 Samara 1698 02:35 Santorini 2660 03:40 Skiathos 2353 03:30 Split 1956 02:55 Stockholm 400 01:00 Stuttgart 1637 02:45 Tallinn 101 00:30 Tartu 245 00:50 Tel Aviv-Yafo 3230 04:25 Tenerife Norte 4691 06:10 Tenerife Sur 4745 06:10 Tromsø 1078 01:55 Varna 1911 02:55 Venice 1847 02:55 Verona 1903 02:55 Vienna 1462 02:30 Vilnius 633 01:15 Visby 481 01:25 Warsaw 940 01:40 Zakynthos 2526 03:55 Zurich 1781 02:45

Winter season 2017–2018 Finnair adds flights to popular winter destinations in Lapland, including new non-stop flights from London, Paris, and Zurich London Gatwick – Ivalo 2 weekly flights London Gatwick – Kittilä 1 weekly flight Paris – Kittilä 1 weekly flight Zurich – Kittilä 1 weekly flight

World of Finnair

Intercontinental Destinations

Beijing Seoul South Korea

Xian

China

Nanjing

Nagoya Osaka

Japan Tokyo

Fukuoka

Shanghai

Chongqing Delhi Dubai United Arab Emirates

Guangzhou

India

Hong Kong

Thailand Bangkok

Goa

Vietnam Ho Chi Minh City Phuket

Krabi

Singapore

Chicago San Francisco

Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

From Helsinki

Bangkok 7912 09:45 Beijing 6325 07:55 Chongqing 6736 08:40 Delhi 5229 06:50 Dubai 4537 05:55 Fukuoka 8060 09:30 Goa 6328 08:50 Guangzhou 7693 09:30 Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) 8510 10:50 Hong Kong 7821 09:35 Krabi 8350 10:20 Nagoya 7780 09:40 Nanjing 7165 09:35 Osaka 7751 09:30 Phuket 8312 10:05 Seoul 7050 08:40 Shanghai 7410 09:05 Singapore 9272 11:30 Tokyo 7849 09:45 Xian 6421 07:50

New York

United States Great Circle Estimated distances / km flight times

From Helsinki

Miami Mexico Puerto Vallarta

Havana

Chicago Havana Miami New York Puerto Plata Puerto Vallarta San Francisco

7139 09:15 8703 11:15 8342 11:10 6626 08:45 8410 11:15 9960 12:30 8724 10:45

Cuba Puerto Plata Dominic Republic

MARCH 2018

BLUE WINGS

97

FINLAND FACTS Nature

75%

land covered by forests

188,000 lakes

Government

1917

Sovereign parliamentary republic

1995 Monthly temperatures in Helsinki (2017):

area

390,908km2

Member of EU since January 1995

200 members

elected for four-year terms

Parliament

land used for agriculture

Population

Languages SÁ

5.5

million

SE

FI

whooper swan

Economy

elected every six years; current president is Sauli ­Niinistö, who was re-elected to a second term in January 2018

Education

Universities

GDP

(2016*)

€216 billion

the annual change in volume 2.1% *preliminary

88% speak Finnish 5.3% speak Swedish 0.04% speak Sámi

President

Currency

EURO

71% of students

who have ­studied beyond basic ­education

Consumption of coffee per capita

Fun facts

9.9kg

12.3 l

418,000*

National food: rye bread 98

BLUE WINGS

15

Ice cream consumed per capita

MARCH 2018

2,000,000* saunas *estimate

overnight stays by foreign travellers (Nov 2017) *preliminary

Source: Statistics Finland Illustration: Angelina Luzhina

7%

National bird:

DISCOVER SOMETHING NEW IN TOKYO T H E N O R D I C WAY

FALL IN LOVE WITH THE CITY THAT NEVER STOPS SURPRISING YOU.

From Japanese gardens to dazzling neon lights, this lively city has something to explore for everyone. And with more Michelin star restaurants than any other city in the world, it’s paradise for foodies. Finnair flies daily from Helsinki to Tokyo. Book your flights at finnair.com

AUTAVIA HEUER 02 CHRONOGRAPH