The Beijing Wire

April Fools

Lest you take this post too seriously, we'd like to remind you that it was posted on April 1, otherwise known as April Fool's Day. Have a great one!

 


The Corner Melt Reopens Tuesday, Oct 14

Following the close of its original location on Fangjia Hutong within what felt like mere melty cheese seconds, The Corner Melt readies its second, more official, presumably more licensed, and even more pickleback-fueled venue just off of Xingfucun Middle Road, across from The Big Smoke. To celebrate the occasion, the guys dare you to gorge from the go, rising particularly early to serve breakfast to anyone heading to work in the area between 8-10am, before reopening their doors to anyone returning home in the area between 5pm and midnight. That's awholelotta cheese.


Final Tour of Beijing Hits the Road This Weekend, Oct 10-14

The annual Tour of Beijing, which began in 2011, pedals off into the horizon for it's final stint after having been cancelled by the new Union Cycliste International (UCI) President Brian Cookson when he took the position in September of last year. Cookson stated that there was a clash of interests within the UCI governing body after it branched out into events promotion, giving it both a financial stake in the race while at the same time acting as an independent regulator.

The Beijing course starts today (Oct 10) in northwest Chong Li and features two mid-mountain stages before climbing to Mentougou Miaofeng Mountain at 3,290ft for the closing of stage four on October 13. On October 14, cyclists hit the flat and make their way through from Tiananmen Square to the Bird’s Nest Piazza. Spectators are welcome at any section of the stages.

Read more about the race's background here or visit the official Tour of Beijing page here, which includes a full route map of the event.


Meanwhile, Traffic is Costing Beijing RMB 8 Million Every Hour of Every Day

In an article in today's China Daily, experts point out that the economic cost of traffic in Beijing is about RMB 70 billion annually, which works out to a cool RMB 8 million every hour of every day.

The article sites a survey by the National Development Research Institute of Peking University, which breaks the costs down as 80 percent to lost time; 10 percent to wasted gas and 10 percent to environmental damage.

And in perhaps the grimmest statistic of all, the story says that the average daily congestion time in 2013 was 1 hour and 55 minutes. That's the average commute.

The report cites lots of "measures" the city has taken to curb congestion – things like plate restrictions and license lotteries – yet once again pretends that it has nothing to do with things like incredibly poor driving behavior and an almost complete lack of traffic enforcement in most areas; not to mention building construction that fails to take traffic patterns into account and the ridiculous wholesale use of traffic fences that divide the road into completely empty bike lanes and create the necessity to travel for kilometers simply to turn around. 

No stats are available for 2014 yet, but our guess is things aren't getting any less grim.


Get Plastered Friday Night at Great Leap (Doujiao Hutong)

Plastered 8 launches its Comic Beijing exhibition Friday, September 26 (tonight) at Great Leap Brewing's 6 Doujiao Hutong location.

Comic Beijing is a collection of comic book artwork inspired by Beijing. This ironic and iconic artwork is a collaboration between Plastered 8 and Beijing's most talented graphic artist, Berlin. Or so the Plastered folks say.


American Apparel Looking for Models This Saturday

We'd normally reserve model casting calls for the Classifieds, but as it's rare that an internationally recognized brand (and a controversial one) in China has a search open to the public, we wanted to share this with you: American Apparel is looking for people for upcoming photo shoots and they're holding an open call this Saturday, September 27.

They say: "All candidates must be in fitted, simple clothing with little to no make up and hair in its natural state. Looking for women and men of all shapes and sizes."

If this sounds like it could be your big break, head to their Sanlitun store any time between 1-5pm.


Park Life: Visit Beijing's Parks for Free on National Day, Oct 1

In a move that we can only hope is to disperse the crowds this National Day, some clever clogs has decided to waive the entrance fee for 373 ie. 96 percent of the capital's parks. That means unlimited designated concrete path walking, unlimited no lying on the grass time, and unlimited viewing of fountains that probably haven't been turned on for over a decade. Ka-ching!

To brighten things up even more, Yuyuantan Park, Tiantan Park, Chaoyang Park, The Garden Expo, and Taoranting Park are holding flower-themed bonanzas in celebration of Beijing's first 3D-printed flower pot (we assume). 

Also, the Beijing Botanical Garden is ground zero for this year's Chrysanthemum Culture Festival from September 25 to October 25. Activities include: saying chrysanthemum in quick succession over and over again until you fall over braindead, and everyone's family favorite, how many chrysanthemum leaves can you stuff in your mum's mouth?

Joking aside, chrysanthemums are pretty great. Here, have some free chrysanthemum-themed desktop wallpaper on me. Chrysanthemum:

Other parks of note that may be worth a visit are the Beijing Botanical Garden, the Fragrant Hills, the Old Summer Palace, Ditan Park, and the Park of Broken Dreams. Ok, maybe not the last one but knowing how crazy things get around these holidays it may just be best not to go to any of them, wait, and then pay a few kuai the following day, thus rendering this wire completely obsolete. Happy holidays!


Last Chance to Dine at Mosto ... And Take Part of It Home

Before Modo and Moka Bros came the restaurant that started it all. Six years ago, it was Beijing's coolest dining spot, and while it's still going strong, Mosto Group has decided its time to freshen up its very first venture.

That means tonight is the last night to grab a meal at Mosto as we now know it, and after 9.30pm, the bar will be open for drinks and Mosto's chairs will be up for grabs for those who want to take a piece of the space with them. (Limited to one per person, and there's a better guarantee you'll get a seat if you make reservations.)

Here's what the Mosto Group says about the upcoming changes:

"We celebrate this by honoring you; the Beijingers who’ve toasted to your friendships, shaken hands at your business meetings, locked eyes on your date nights and made us who we are over the past six years."

It looks like they won't make us wait too long to see what's next. They say they'll be open again after the October holiday.

 


Burger Cup Final Set for Tuesday, Sep 23

This is it: Balloting has closed in the Final Four and the finals in the 65-contestant Burger Cup will be announced this afternoon .... stay tuned here for the matchups of the city's best burgers

 


Muse Duo Live at Phoenix Retreat, Plus Makeovers and Mini-Spa Services

An evening of pampering amid a nutty let's-cram-everything-into-one-long-week before the holiday gets going might be a necessity, and for that, Phoenix Retreat is coming to the rescue. The newly rebranded Dragonfly Spa is welcoming Bruce Gremo and Yu Miao of Muse Duo for an evening of soothing guzheng and flute in its first music salon of this season, which, of course, comes hand-in-hand with mini-massages, makeovers, and wine.

A RMB 100 ticket gets you in on a private two-hour session with experts from Catherine de France to help you freshen up, juices by Circle Chic, one complimentary glass of wine provided by Cheers, and lucky draw prizes.

If Thursdays don't suit, Phoenix also offers community yoga classes every Sunday, from 10.30-11.30am, followed by brunch at a surprise venue. Follow PhoenixRetreat on WeChat for more information.