The red lanterns that line Dongzhimen Nei turn on each night about an hour before sun down, marking the rebirth of Beijing’s most celebrated dining experience: Gui Jie. Although it’s known as “Ghost Street” because of the ghostly spectacle of the grocery and produce night market formerly located ... Read more »

DJ Chozie’s album, “Walking Backwards,” hits Beijing

Amidst the minions of Beijing DJs understated as a minimal tech party in a basement, a man with diamond-encrusted turntables hanging from his neck will surely catch your attention. DJ Chozie (aka Timothy Kin-Hing) certainly isn’t trying to keep a low ... Read more »

How Kool-Aid Man bust through the Great Wall

Who would have thought last January that in 2007 we’d see such a cavalcade of top notch international acts coming through the capital? Ziggy Marley, The Roots, Killa Kela, Goldie, Laurent Garnier, Sonic Youth and Public Enemy all gave Beijing audiences ... Read more »

Four restaurants to launch your epic night out

Anyone who has spent some time on the Beijing nightlife circuit knows how unlikely it is that the average club denizen, on weekend reconnaissance missions from dance floor to dance floor, would ever pack on the pounds. Even if you factor in ... Read more »

But culinary innovation is ramping up in Beijing

There was a time when El Bulli, the world’s most famous restaurant, couldn’t have been farther from Beijing’s culinary reality than the geographical distance that separates its mountainous Spanish Costa Brava home from the hutongs of our home city ... Read more »

PTE brings HIV education to China's schools

The teacher started from scratch in a recent lesson on AIDS to sixth-graders: “Nobody ever dies of AIDS or HIV; they die of a common illness because their body is too weak to fight anymore.” Twelve-year-old hands shot up to answer questions ... Read more »

Chad Lager, US: Manager, Rickshaw

My event is the New Year’s Party at the Rickshaw. I’m psyched because our party will be totally cool this year. Most New Year’s parties are all the same, so we’re really going to try to mix it up. We’re ... Read more »

Matilda Bragnatz: France

Suzie Wong’s is the best place in Beijing. I like it because it’s between a nightclub and a bar. You can talk to people easily there and there’s always good music. I like the terrace, and also all the different rooms with different music ... Read more »

Tim Wieringa: Switzerland

My favorite place in Beijing is Bellagio (Taiwanese). The food is very simple but also very good. And compared with normal Beijing food it looks very healthy and not greasy at all. I like the kung pao shrimp, and they have a delicious mango dessert. The atmosphere ... Read more »

Kody Hennessey: Canada

As the global leader in office furniture, Steelcase International is a great company to work for. There’s more to office furniture than you think and I like being able to sell a product that is creative and unique while creating an innovative work environment for our ... Read more »

Fusion - Trader Vics

Beijingers now have a place to indulge their exotic culinary fantasies as this popular, Oakland-based restaurtant chain makes its way to Beijing, bringing with it the sights and sounds of the South Pacific. Amidst hand-crafted tikis, Polynesian prints and live music we happily sipped our Trader Vics ... Read more »

Fusion - Olio

Olio’s clean lines and open, inviting seating arrangement advertise a streamlined, relaxed dining experience. This design ethic extends even to the attractive appearance of the menu, whose contents skip nimbly across countries and regions. Upon first glance such a dizzyingly diverse variety of dishes and flavors looks ... Read more »

Fusion - Amigo

Bottom line: Amigo is a relaxing comfortable environment with good, fresh food, but it’s the wines that will keep us coming back. Inside, its soothing colors and soft chairs provide an ideal venue to sample a bottle or two. The wine list is overwhelming, with a huge ... Read more »

Heat

From the brushed metal crossbones above the door, it’s evident that the latest addition to Sanlitun’s Courtyard 4 area (Nanjie, Salsa Caribe) has paid attention to its décor. Inside this two-storey, gangsta’s paradise, Sanlitun booze hunters find black walls, black couches and a black bar, all ... Read more »

Sure the newest hip kid on the Beijing electronica block has a shopping mall (The Place) sitting on top of it, but Song won’t suffer commercial suffocation. Neebing, one of the founders of the Chinese techno scene, has tentacles spread throughout the global art-osphere. He wears designer glasses and ... Read more »

1 Acupuncture Records Genesis 2008

Acupuncture Records, with a whirlwind six months of minimal tech parties, has swiftly made its mark on Beijing. They’re looking to make 2008 the year for Acupuncture by celebrating the brand-spanking new year in the Bauhaus-style 4000 square meter gallery of 798 Originality Industry ... Read more »

“There are a lot of things that you don’t necessarily have an answer for, but I have expressed a meaningful line of thought, a kind of uncertainty. It’s not necessarily clear, but it is truly a mental state of mine. I am always looking for an appropriate method ... Read more »

Champagne News

Soviet Secrets

Hidden on the shelves of Jenny Lou’s across the city, disguised perhaps by its Cyrillic label, is Sovetskoye Shampanskoye, AKA “Soviet Champagne.” This generic brand of sparkling wine was produced as a state-run initiative all over the Soviet Union as “champagne for the people,” and ... Read more »

Meet four expats who make the unknown their everyday business.

The Underwater Adventurer | Steve Schwankert

American Steve Schwankert, owner of Beijing-based diving outfit Sinoscuba, is Beijing’s answer to Jacques Cousteau. A natural water baby, Schwankert made his first dive at the age of 10, and was PADI-certified by the ... Read more »

Snowgazing at Asia’s OTHER breathtaking winter festival.

For seven days every February, Sapporo, Japan, transforms into a winter wonderland for its annual Snow and Ice Festival. Now in its 59th year, this celebration of snow attracts two million visitors annually, easily outdoing Harbin’s famous ice festival, with its ... Read more »

Chinese performance comes of age as Paul Andreu’s egg finally hatches.

Paul Andreu’s vision has become reality. His masterpiece, The National Center for the Performing Arts, or NCPA, the giant silver dome west of Tiananmen Square, has been brilliantly lit for its December debut and ticket sales are ... Read more »

DIRECTORS: Wong Kar-wai

It’s criminal of a critic to give a Wong Kar-wai film less than four stars, the famed Hong Kong director is a legend, perhaps one of the last few standing. This year he was chosen to head the jury at Cannes, the first director from the ... Read more »

Steve Zdarsky takes us on a 540 double twist spin through last year’s Red Bull Nanshan Open qualifier.

6:30 a.m.

Home—Miyun, near Beijing

I wake up because my phone alarm is ringing like crazy. Then it's straight to the bathroom.

6:40 Get cleaned up ... Read more »