If you have looked in the sky this afternoon you can't help but have noticed that there's smoke been filling the air. There was a fire close to Hujialou Middle School (a few hundred meters southeast of Chaoyang Theater), an area around Chaoyang Beilu and the East Third ring road. The fire appears to have started in one small temporary structure - much like those put up to house construction workers when subways are being built -  before spreading to another two similar buildings. Thankfully the fire now appears to be under control. We'll keep you posted with more info as we get it but for the time being you'd be better off keeping away from the area if you can.

Disappointingly CCTV again failed to deliver a spectacle to match the amazing fireball extravaganza of 2009 that saw the station sacrifice their own building in downtown Beijing for the sake of Chinese New Year festivities – but that doesn’t mean this year’s holiday hasn’t seen its fair share of human and architectural casualties.

According to Xinhua, “China's Spring Festival fireworks setting frenzy caused 194 fires in Beijing in the first six days of the week-long holiday, which was 99 more than in the same period last year.” Way to go Beijing! There were also 388 firework-related injuries in the city (including one casualty who apparently “received an eyeball removal surgery”) and at least two fatalities.

Beijing winters are a mess of bad choices. If the Siberian winds are not howling around your head, you choke on smog. If your heating is actually working, then you’re probably sweating up a storm reading this. Whether you need to cool down or heat up, Beijing’s got some sweet options to see you through the rest of the winter.

Fashionistas familiar with local talent will be thrilled to learn that this day has finally arrived: Vega Zaishi Wang, who graduated from Central Saint Martins and once worked with the late Alexander McQueen, has finally opened her own boutique.

A bit of drama went down earlier today at the Wanda Plaza Walmart/New World Shopping Center complex in front of the True Run Media offices as employees and shoppers were evacuated in the late morning due to a fire in the building. Details were sketchy at the time of writing, but the fire apparently broke out in one of the upper floors (and thankfully not in the basement supermarket) and was quickly contained. No injuries had been reported at the time of writing.