To celebrate the sport’s growing accessibility, the Heyrobics team is offering all Beijinger readers free Heyrobics sessions at their new Lido location (at 3e International School) for the month of January.

Among expats, one complaint rings louder than the others: It’s damn near impossible to find a decent pair of shoes around here. The local boutiques are oversaturated with manmade “leather” and cheap frills, while the Western brands are practically marked up twofold. Villa Rouge, smack-dab in between Yashow and Steve Madden, is poised to lead the Beijing women’s shoe market in a new direction.

Mere months ago, we reveled in the opening of this Hong Kong boutique in warehouse form. Now Beijing is finally being treated to the real thing. At 20,000 square feet, the China World branch – with two floors of men’s and women’s fashion and a sweeping staircase that looks like it was made for gliding – is the largest and most impressive in the region.

If you want insight into China’s collective consciousness, think about the cultural imports it consumes. Do your Chinese friends love TV shows like Friends and Prison Break? This might be their way of telling us: “China’s ready to groom a generation of codependent adult children, and I want to be one of them” or “We have a deep-seated obsession with escape strategies!”

No, they don’t sell monocles. Not the one-eyed corrective lenses, anyway. This exclusive boutique is the retail extension of Monocle, the super-stylish global culture magazine headquartered in London.

The first Monocle Shop opened in London in November 2008 as a pop-up for Christmas, but was made permanent due to its success. Beijing marks its sixth boutique in the world, joining London, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Osaka.

“Sorry … by law we can’t change your wife/mother-in-law/boss for a new one” reads the sign on the store’s front window. Before you snap your fingers in disappointment and trudge away, take a peek inside the swap shop and be amazed at the sheer amount of memorabilia that line the floor, shelves and ceilings. For those searching for a way to rid themselves of that out-of-fashion necklace or embarrassing Barbie doll, Change is the store for you.

In Chinese, “bie wu ta chu” means unavailable elsewhere, and if owner Grace is referring to her wire-wrenching husband, she can put money on it. The DIY hole-in-the-wall shop is the spirit of Gulou personified: originality. Ethnic trimmings and vintage finds (from RMB 5-200) leave no space uncovered, but we suggest you scavenge for the couple’s one-of-a-kind creations.

New live music venue Temple opened last Friday at 206 Gulou Dongdajie. I didn’t make it along to the opening party, but heard the place was packed out with a strong, French-heavy crowd (one of the owners is former Salud man Clement Berger). Unfortunately, the live music only lasted about 30 minutes, as the police showed up to shunt the band off the stage, but the party continued anyway. We’ll have a proper writeup on Temple for you soon, but this Friday, look out for the latest Whale! party going down at the venue. Whale! now has its own signature, drink, the “Blowfish” – try it on Friday.

We've been harrassing the owners of Let's Burger for months trying to find out when they'd be opening their new venture, Let's Burger Plus. Well, today was the day, as Let's Burger Plus opened in Sanlitun Village North this morning, just in time for US Independence Day celebrations. The restaurant is in the lower level of the Village North, opposite Colibri Cafe and Starbucks, with space for a couple of tables outdoors.

Good news for cacao and coffee bean lovers: Black Koko has finally filled the gap for a specialty store specializing in both these types of divine essence. Australian-Chinese owner Kelvin Meng considers chocolate and coffee as his greatest passions, and after a global search for the perfect chocolates and espresso beans, he’s created a sleek space consisting of display counters and cupboards, all in black, featuring a wise selection of self-branded chocolates and handcrafted coffees.