the Beijinger

Every year we ask you, the readers, for your opinion on the best in Beijing dining at the Reader Restaurant Awards. We value your opinion very highly but we thought you'd also value the opinion of the experts so we canvassed a select few. Here's part two of their picks (and a little introduction as to why we consider them to be experts). Bon appetit.

The time has come for sleeveless tops and short shorts. Unfortunately, after being holed up for all of winter, many of you may feel shy about baring your pasty limbs. For ways to cheat your way to a summer glow, check out our list of the top tanning salons in town.

With all the results announced on Saturday at our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards party, now it's time to take a closer look at who won, who narrowly missed out and what it all means.

Let's start with one of the big ones. Traditionally, we've given a single "Bar of the Year" award marking one venue out above all others. In 2004, the very first year of the Bar & Club Awards, a nightclub (Cloud Nine) actually won the top award, but since then the Bar of the Year award has been dominated by cocktail bars (Centro, Q Bar, Mesh), all-rounders (Fubar, First Floor, Browns) and a sole rock venue (D-22). This year, we decided to give the clubs more room by creating a "Club of the Year" award to parallel the "Bar of the Year" contest. So what of the "Club of the Year" winners?

Sure, it's getting hot, but you might want to think twice about cooling down with a popsicle. Or at least choose wisely: the Global Times reported yesterday that dangerously high bacteria levels were found in the Ruihua brand of classic popsicles. In restaurant news, Han Cang, the popular Hakka restaurant at Houhai, has served its last. On a happier note, Shangri-La Hotel Beijing will be hosting a gala dinner at Michelin chef Yannick Alleno's S.T.A.Y., alongside other great chances to wine and dine.

“Mastermind” is a regular magazine column in which we quiz Beijing’s barkeeps on general knowledge as well as on a subject in which they consider themselves to be a specialist.

Contestant: Jeff Ji, Mai

Specialist Subject: Cocktails

Every year we ask you, the readers, for your opinion on the best in Beijing dining at the Reader Restaurant Awards. We value your opinion very highly but we thought you'd also value the opinion of the experts so we canvassed a select few. Here's part one of their picks (and a little introduction as to why we consider them to be experts). Bon appetit.

Here's a list of Dianping.com's active coupon discounts for some of the most-popular restaurants in Beijing with savings from Hatsune, Blue Frog, Flamme and more.

If you were one of the approximately 1,200 guests who came along at some point to our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards party at Sanlitun Soho on Saturday, we hope you had a good time. The numbers suggest that you must have - collectively, we managed to get through around 700 liters of beer, not to mention countless bottles of spirits and cans of wine spritzer. We're also pretty sure some of your memories of the day might be hazy at best, but isn't that what the photo galleries on this website are for?

China Music Valley Festival 2012 ended on Sunday with a sparse crowd staying to catch the headline act. UK pop diva Joss Stone looked decidedly less than impressed that revelers left in their droves as she gave the final performance of the three-day extravaganza in Pinggu district’s Yuyang International Ski Resort on Sunday night.