the Beijinger

It takes a special personality to be a wedding emcee – to say those sweet words over and over again with the greatest sincerity. Fortunately for Li Yao, he really does seem to be in love with love.

Whether you’re shopping for yourself or your sweetheart, when it comes to lingerie, everybody wins. Here, we’ve rounded up a list of Beijing’s best stores to buy sexy bras, panties and teddies, with helpful photos to boot.

The ski season is starting to wind down. It's time to strap your skis on and hit the slopes before all that lovely powder turns to shui. Here’s a list of ski resorts, plus some organized trips if you don’t want to arrange it all yourself.

Yes, snowboarders are welcome too.

Tickets went on sale yesterday for Capital M’s Literary Festival. The restaurant’s fortnight of talks on writing, food and travel begins on February 25, which also serves as the unofficial kick-off date for Beijing’s book-based festival season. Here's a rundown of what to expect, where to purchase tickets, and the novelists, journalists, memoirists and adventurers who will be showcased at the Capital M Literary festival.

Spring has sprung and with it the hibernation of Beijing’s sports scene begins to end. We’ll tell you all about what you have to look forward to over the coming months. But first, the sports news of the week.

The International Schools Choral Music Society (ISCMS) music festival is coming to Beijing and we've got two pairs of VIP tickets to give away to the Gala Concert on February 18. This year's star guest is Welsh music luminary Karl Jenkins, the most widely performed living composer in the world. If you want to see him and the cream of the world's young musical talent perform at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, just read on and answer one simple question. You should know that this performance will include the world premiere of Qing Zhu ("Celebration"), composed especially for ISCMS and conducted by Jenkins himself.

Forgive me, I’ve been less on top of artsy news this week because I’ve been too busy trolling the internet at odd hours to keep up with this Jeremy Lin business. Yes, I am the world’s most intermittent basketball fan. But that’s beside the point. There are actually quite a few exciting things going on this week, like Capital M Literary Festival tickets going on sale, great indie films, a blind movie-watching experience and your last chance at several art exhibits! Click through for more.

For those who tire of the formulaic martial arts aesthetic that dominates in everything from Chinese epics to the likes of Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes franchise, this indie film with a purist attitude will be a breath of fresh air. (And a very nerdy one, at that.) Xu Haofeng, whose credentials include martial arts training, a major in film directing and several successful novels under his belt, released his directorial debut, The Sword Identity, last year. (He's also the scriptwriter for Wong Karwai's highly-anticipated Ip Man biopic, The Grandmasters.)

In this film, the story unfolds around a fighter trying to open a new martial arts school to keep his master's legacy alive, but who faces resistance from the old guard because they mistake his weapon for a Japanese katana – a big no-no in that day. The film was praised for its directorial precision, character development and no-nonsense aesthetic after its showing at the Toronto International Film Festival, and now BC MOMA's hooking us up with a Beijing premiere (tonight, Feb 10) and followup screening Feb 18. But first, we chat with the director to plumb the depths of his martial arts cred ...

Beijing hotels, like so many aspects of the Chinese economy, are wildly variable in quality and value. I’m sure you can all think of some horror* stories! Well, it turns out the the capital is in fact home to what has been voted the best hotel in the country – and that includes Hong Kong and Macau. Under the auspices of Tripadvisor, the holiday/hotel review website, the annual Traveler’s Choice Awards saw 60,000 hotels throughout the Middle Kingdom voted on. Fairmont Beijing, in Jianguomenwai Dajie, came out top – well done for them!

Head to agendabeijing.com for more on Beijing's best and worst and to share your own experiences of hotel hijinks.