A charming 19th century maison de maître

This is Angela's domain: she is the pilates and gym guru. In fact, without (the now defunct) Will's Gym in Golden Eagle Plaza off Nanjing Road in Shanghai, well, it could have been a very different story, as that is where Andrew met Angela. How they met is a series of soap-opera like events: his first personal trainer had a fight with her boss and left him trainerless with little more than a text message about having "to go back to her home town" for an urgent matter, and then his next personal trainer decided to leave Shanghai to pursue a (doomed) love affair. Then he was handed over to another personal trainer who seemed more interested in chatting about her boyfriend than personal training. Not the most auspicious start. Angela started by putting Andrew through a pretty full-on exercise routine for a couple of hours every week, often starting at 6am, and it stayed that way for several years, with Andrew coming back to the office exhausted, but with that buzz and afterglow that only a tough workout can give you.

Fast forward to the present day, and little has changed (other than the colour of Andrew's hair which is now more grey than black), as Angela is still Andrew's personal trainer, he is still fitting in sessions between deal negotiations and she is still putting him through his paces at, of all places Will's Gym in Shanghai (but not the same one, which has long since closed).

The gym is located in small house to the right in the garden in front of the Château. You can pick up the key to access at any time, but please be considerate of other guests sleeping nearby if accessing late at night or early in the morning.

There is everything you need in the gym room for a great workout, from a conventional treadmill, free weights and a multigym to a full set of pilates equipment. Andrew can vouch for the fact that pilates is a lot more challenging than it looks. Angela will also be setting up a 'sky yoga' class when the new winery is up and running (if not before), as you need about 3 metres of ceiling clearance to do this safely.

The air quality at Château Mitaud is superb, and in summer you can sometimes smell the cut grass, so taking a run in the surrounding area especially early morning is a great way to get to know the surroundings and fill your lungs before returning to the smog of the city. Local drivers do drive fast so face the ongoing traffic and wear bright/fluorescent clothing.