We are very proud to announce that today we opened our first shop in a "Second Tier" city in China - in nearby Suzhou. Dragonfly @ Jinjihu has opened in the heart of the SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park) district - as I like to call it the "Suzhou Industrial Resort" - because it does not much resemble an industrial park in China, particularly with the nearby scenic Jinji lake.

We are excited to now be able to offer our old and new customers in Suzhou an alternative to the 2 hour drive to Shanghai to get their Dragonfly fix.
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In order to better serve our Dragonfly members in Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou we have hired a capable young lady responsible for Members Services. Laura Lonardi takes on this responsibility and is available during regular business hours to answer any concerns our members have about their membership benefits.
Laura will also be working closely with our team to launch new member benefits in the new year.
Laura@dragonfly.net.cn or tel: +86 21 61325068 ext/29.

In celebration of US Thanksgiving Day we have launched the first "Dragonfly Cabin" - a mini Dragonfly suitable for use within a residential compound in the upscale Rancho Santa Fe compound in Minhang, Shanghai.

We came close - and with Georgie in attendance at the Black Tie BASA Awards ceremony we walked away proud that Dragonfly has been recognized by the industry as a new player on the scene.

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This month -- after many requests from our suburban customers, we have launched on a trial basis a new line of relaxing facials at our Biyun retreat. This service features high quality manually applied Sothys products for a wide range of skin types.

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This past weekend saw a nice full page writeup about our CEO & Founder Georgie Yam in the "Mind your own Business" section of the South China Morning Post. Georgie had some advice in this article for business startups in China.

This weekend we sponsored two parties in Suzhou to alert our friends in Jiangsu that Dragonfly is coming soon to the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) area.

Dragonfly @ Forbidden City was nominated "Day Spa of the Year" by the Baccarat AsiaSpa Awards. This is an exciting surprise - and we will be present in November for the awards ceremony to see the results of the nomination - where we are alongside some of the "big boys" in the industry.

Oriental ambience separates spa experience from competitors by Yang Di -- Most people who value their relaxation time will already be aware of the Dragonfly therapeutic retreats in the city. Its friendly and skilled therapists along with the clean Oriental ambience make it one of the best options for those seeking pampering.

Today we had the pleasure of an interview by Shanghai based contributor to the "Beauty Business News"and "International Cosmetic News" - Stephanie Rigaud.
It is always nice to have the attention of trade press and nice to know that Dragonfly is on the radar screen of the cosmetics industry - not just the spa industry.

After much anticipation - Dragonfly @ Shunyi has opened its doors in the northeast of Beijing near the airport - and in a key residential area, Shunyi. Located in the busy Pinnacle Plaza this retreat features our first use of a beautiful "relaxation room" to be enjoyed by our guests before or after their treatment.

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Dragonfly participated in Extravaganza 2006 in Pudong, Shanghai with a booth where we were offering free body massages and head & shoulder massages to the show participants.
The target market was not quite our target market but the show was a good opportunity for us to manage a booth in a trade show environment. We introduced Dragonfly to many of the visiting exhibitors who appreciated our service offering.

This week's Time magazine Europe & Asia editions spoke highly of Dragonfly.
If you only have one night in Shanghai then one should consider "...ending the night with a typical Shanghai treat: a relaxing massage at Dragonfly.."

Dragonfly @ Sanlitun is now open. This spacious new Retreat is nestled at the foot of South Sanlitun road and is the largest Dragonfly yet in China, with over 500 m2 of service facilities.

Dragonfly Oslo held its grand opening party on 19 May and featured Georgie Yam presenting a Dragonfly @ Oslo chop to Retreat owners Anita Kavlie & Finn Dalheim.

Dragonfly @ Oslo was featured in a full 2 page spread in the Aftenposten - Norway's major daily newspaper in the weekend edition. The full article is also available online here.

Good Morning Norway ("God morgen Norge"), the popular morning show on Norway's TV2 aired a 15 minute live outdoor massage reportage on the busy pedestrian street alongside their downtown Oslo offices. Oslo partners Finn Dalheim & Anita Kavlie were onsite to answer questions from two of Norway's most popular television hosts.
It is possible to watch the whole report online here.

Dragonfly @ Fuxing Park has opened its doors - only minutes from the entrance of Fuxing Park and the Yandang lu walking street in Shanghai. This tiny Retreat is a complete redesign of a previous shop known as Senso - that has breathed new life into this quaint old building. Shop owners Candy Lopez & Joy Ren are extremely pleased with the results.

Yesterday Georgie Yam and Joyce Gong our very talented and dedicated Personal Assistant have been scouting locations for the opening of our Dragonfly Academy in Chongqing, Western China. The Dragonfly Academy will open mid-summer and will be an important step forward for Dragonfly to support our ongoing expansion with qualified staff.
After a successful day, they celebrated Joyce's birthday in Dragonfly style. (maybe followed this morning by a Hangover Relief Massage?)

Today we had the pleasure of welcoming the our very elegant friend YueSai Kan - a well-known television and business personality in Shanghai - for the first time to our flagship retreat. I am very happy that she was pleased with our service and surroundings - because she has very critical taste and a true eye for beauty. Come back again Yue Sai!

Today we distributed the second edition of our quarterly Dragonfly Staff Newsletter (Spring 2006) to all of our staff in China. Much of this edition was dedicated to profiles of our nine staff who went abroad to Oslo this Spring. Our growing family of staff now exceeds 300 proud members!

It has been more than a month since our staff flew to Norway to assist with the shop opening in Oslo. This is a wonderful photo of our staff experiencing the wonderful beauty of the Norwegian environment. A bit different from the Huangpu river back home...

This week has been busy with franchise inquiries targeting all points of the globe: Japan, France, Russia, Brazil, Chile, Australia... For a small company we are certainly attracting a great deal of attention from around the world.

This week we have had a surge of interest from prospective business partners in Latin America. To help spur this on we have added some more testimonials from Spanish and Portuguese customers - with the help of a good friend Katherine Wong.

Today we learned the exciting news that Fuji TV will be coming on Friday the 10th to film our flagship shop on Xinle Road. Irashaimase!

This Sunday marked a historic moment for Dragonfly - as we formally opened our doors with the soft opening of Dragonfly @ Forbidden City - just minutes away from the former seat of the Emperor in Beijing.
Located in Dongcheng district just minutes from busy Wangfujing shopping street - and the famous Tiananmen Square, we expect this Retreat to change the competitive landscape in China's capital city.

We are very excited to announce that Dragonfly @ Oslo has opened its doors on Arbinsgate 11 - in the heart of the Norwegian Capital.
It has been an enormous challenge for all of us but now the Dragonfly has landed in the heart of Scandinavia.
Mention "Greetings from Shanghai" this month and your friend can enjoy a treatment of equal or lesser value than your own - free of charge.

We were delighted yesterday to read this comment in the Shanghai Daily:

"The masses agree, when it comes to relaxation havens in Shanghai, Dragonfly can't be beat."
"With locations all around the city, it's certainly worth paying a little extra to spend an hour in the tranquility that engulfs these wonderful, wonderful oases of peace and calm."

Shanghai Daily, 28 Feb 2006

"Surely," you must be thinking, we do something more every day than just search for tattoos. Well we are indeed busy preparing for our Beijing launch, but we continue to be fascinated by the reasons that people choose to add a Dragonfly tattoo. Jacqueline was planning for several years to have a tattoo - and then one day she spotted a lady in Shanghai with a Dragonfly tattoo on her back -- and she said "that's it."

We believe that the lady she spotted may well be the mystery lady we are still searching for.

Today we entertain Minmin Ma a visiting beauty editor from Lush Magazine in Toronto, Canada who is keenly anticipating our Emperor's delight. Minmin was born in Shanghai but left at the age of 10.

Today we entertain Minmin Ma a visiting beauty editor from Lush Magazine in Toronto, Canada who is keenly anticipating our Emperor's delight. Minmin was born in Shanghai but left at the age of 10.

Today we had the pleasure of bidding our colleagues farewell (9 of them plus Joey our massage trainer) who are off to Norway for 1 year to startup the new Dragonfly @ Oslo retreat!

There was surely not a dry eye in the crowd as friends, family & management bid them all farewell from Shanghai's Pudong international airport.

We know our customers are from all points of the globe - but it is particularly refreshing to hear that we have international referrals for our customers' friends coming to Shanghai. Today I made my first international booking for an American client enroute from Paris to Shanghai. He was looking for some extreme pampering when he arrived near his hotel (the Ritz Carlton).

People sometimes wonder why a customer would visit our Retreats rather than enjoying the services in their own 5 star hotel. Two reasons: price & atmosphere. Our charges are typically 20% of an in-house hotel spa, but more importantly people like to escape from their hotel in Shanghai for fine dining or massage. There is a social element to coming to Dragonfly - and even being seen in our Retreats. Certainly 5 star hotel customers can afford the services they offer, but if they get the equivalent (or better) from Dragonfly and can visit four or five times for the price of one -- why not?

In his words: "Fantastic Visit."

Today we have received word from our fast-moving partners in Norway that they have located staff quarters for our team of Therapists now readying to leave for a year overseas in Oslo. This is really very exciting for all of us to contemplate -- that a young team of Chinese staff will soon be living at the top of the world in a totally different culture.

We were delighted over the Spring holiday to be visited by the second lady we know sporting a Dragonfly tattoo.

Miss Tjin Dewi Narotski was very proud to show us where she had placed it. We are following up with her to find the tattoo artist that is helping to ensure the longevity of the Dragonfly brand for years to come - here and overseas.

More tattoos visible at: www.dragonfly.net.cn/pages/brand_me.htm

Welcome to our new Dragonfly blog - about relaxation and our Retreats.