The Beijinger Blog - Simon Lim

From the Gallery: Images from Notch Festival, Acupuncture Records Anniversary Party and Air at Yugong Yishan

thebeijinger — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:00:07 +0800

Head over to the Beijinger Gallery to view images from some of the best events that took place in Beijing over the October holidays. We've just uploaded pics from the NO+CH 2008 Festival, Air's performances at Yugong Yishan and Acupuncture's First Anniversary Party at Star Live.

Beijing Digest – Sep 24

thebeijinger — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 17:00:35 +0800

Tour the Olympic Venues
The Bird’s Nest, Water Cube, National Indoor Stadium and the Olympic Village will all be opened to the ticket-buying public from Sep 29 to Oct 5. If you’re planning on going, be warned that it’s likely to be very crowded and that you’ll need to get your tickets in advance as no tickets will be on sale at the venues.

How to get Tickets
Tickets are being handled by Ticketmaster China and can only be purchased from five ticket offices around town, we’ve listed three of them below. However, long lines have been reported at Gongti with some tickets already selling out and scalpers are already offering tickets at twice the original price.

Bring It On: Meet the woman behind one of China's cheerleading squads

thebeijinger — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:45:27 +0800

"Jiayou Zhongguo! Jiayou Aouyonghui!" so goes the official Beijing Olympic chant. Testament to the One World, One Dream mantra of this year's Games, it's a Korean who has been charged with teaching these words (plus a few nifty dance moves) to some of China's top cheerleaders. Cho Soojin is her name, and this August her girls will be performing at two of the Games' biggest events.

Cho established herself as go-to girl for cheerleading in China after her squad of dancers turned heads at the 2002 World Cup. The use of Chinese elements in their dance and costume attracted a lot of positive attention, and since then her studio, Soojin Dance, was designated the official cheerleader-training center for the CBA from 2002-2004.

the Beijinger met this hot Korean cheerleader captain to talk about her unusual career.

the Beijinger: You started your career as a gymnast, how did you get into coaching cheerleading in China?

I originally brought RMB 40,000 with me to come to Beijing Language Culture University to learn Chinese. I planned to spend only half a year in China, but I really liked Chinese culture. I am an extrovert, but in South Korea women are not allowed to [behave like] this … I feel more comfortable in China. I soon noticed that there were no cheerleaders in China, so I decided to organize my own cheerleading squad. In the beginning I taught classes in the park for free.

Hybrid taxis and other taxi-related news

thebeijinger — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:30:34 +0800

According to a recent article in The Beijing Evening News and translated here, 50 new Chery A5 hybrid taxis are now in service across Beijing. The Beijinger photographer Simon Lim caught this photo of one of the new cabs over at Jiaodaokou earlier this morning, but was beaten to the cab by another passenger.

Seven of Beijing's various taxi companies have been running the taxis, the first batch of "weak-hybrid" vehicles to enter China's taxi market, since late June. The taxi's have

Hybird Electric Vehicle (混合动力汽车 Hunhe Dongli Qiche) written across the door. According to the article:

The 'weak-hybrid' model uses gasoline as its main power, and its working engine will recharge a special cell in the vehicle. The electric power will start to work for the vehicle at idle or initial speed. When the speed reaches 5km/h and above, the power program will switch back to gasoline. This power system, which is suitable for cars on the often-congested Beijing roads and streets, can reduce a vehicle's fuel consumption by 15%.

In other taxi news:

Due to a recent rise in petrol prices, the subsidy paid out to Beijing's taxi drivers has been increased by 525 kuai to RMB 1,305 a month. Despite this, there have been anecdotal reports of an increase in late night cab fares and the price rate jumping once the meter passes 50 kuai.

Special taxis that are able to transport passengers in wheelchairs were also unveiled this week. The new cabs resemble the shape of a black London cab but come in Beijing's own distinctive two tone color scheme. The cabs can be booked by calling 961001. Only 15 of the 70 cabs on order have been released so far. Non-disabled passengers will also be able to ride in the spacious cabs, which cost the same as a regular cab and can sit 5 people in the rear.

Beijing's traffic police have announced that they’ll be cracking down on the city's cabbies for the rest of the month. They’ll be making sure that drivers, among other things, keep their cab clean, only accept passengers in designated taxi zones and are also threatening drivers with a fine of up to RMB 2000 if they deliberately take passengers on a longer route than is necessary.

World's largest adidas store to open in Sanlitun at midnight tonight

thebeijinger — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:30:03 +0800

Until recently, the local front in the Nike versus adidas war has been played out on the billboards lining Wangfujing and Xidan. The two global brands are also struggling to be the providers of whatever sporting apparel athletes choose, or are instructed, to wear at the Beijing Olympics. The competition between the two brands in the Chinese market heats up with the opening of adidas' flagship store at Sanlitun's village tonight. The Beijinger's Fashion and Beauty Editor Halla Mohieddeen got a chance to take a sneak peek at the store yesterday and gives us her take below. Images by Simon Lim

adidas Brand Center
Daily 10am-10pm. Bldg 11, South Area, Sanlitun Village, 19 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District.
朝阳区三里屯南路19号11幢

Designed to create a village within a city, the striking development in the heart of Sanlitun is slowly taking shape. The boards have come down, and we're now starting to see more of the eclectic mix of structures that will make up the shopping and entertainment district. The first store to throw open its doors is the new adidas Brand Center, adidas' global flagship store.

Boasting 3,170 sqm of floor space, this new store will be adidas’ largest worldwide. What's more, it brings together all the brand's concept lines under one roof, another first for the brand. This means that whether you want shoes, kids clothing, accessories and apparel, or lines such as Y-3 or adidas by Stella McCartney, it's now all available under one roof.

Review: 2008 China Athletics Open

thebeijinger — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:30:14 +0800

One of the last, and probably most important, of the Good Luck Beijing events, the 2008 China Athletics Open, wrapped up at the Bird's Nest last night. The Sichuan team's emotional win in the final of the men's 4 X 100m relay was one of the highlights of the evening's competition. Throughout the weekend, members of the Sichuan team had been given the loudest cheers during the introduction of athletes prior to the commencement of an event, but last night's win, which saw the team come from behind to defeat both Japan and China's national teams, was especially memorable. Another highlight of the final evening was the exciting final of the men's high jump. Malaysian competitor Lee Hup Wei (pictured left), with a bit of encouragement from the crowd and a weird taiqi-like warm-up ritual, managed to take gold in the event with a personal best jump of 2.27m.

Other highlights of the four-day event, the second test event to take place at the National Stadium after last month's walking and marathon, included the crowd going crazy every time superstar Liu Xiang made an appearance. After false starting, the golden boy went on to win the final of the 110m hurdles on Saturday night in a time of 13.18s (you can take a look at the video of the race here). It was obvious that many spectators had come especially to see the hurdler compete, as on the three nights that he took part in the Open, there was an obvious thinning out of audience numbers after Liu Xiang's event was over.

Hot Ticket Item: 2008 China Athletics Open

thebeijinger — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:30:48 +0800

Your last chance to check out the Bird's Nest before Zhang Yimou reveals what he's been doing with all those smiles at the Olympic opening ceremony on August 8. Aside from a not particularly spectator-friendly marathon swimming event out in Shunyi at the end of the month, it's also the last of the series of Good Luck Beijing events. You can still get tickets to the 4-day track and field meet but they're now only available from the National Stadium's ticket office between 7-11am and 4-8pm daily. You can only buy tickets to sessions that are just about to take place (i.e tickets to the evening session are not available in the morning) and there is a limit of 5 tickets per person. Despite the name, the open is not limited to Chinese participants and 154 foreign athletes will also be taking part. They'll also be four paralympic events, including wheelchair racing. China's most famous athlete Liu Xiang will be taking part and you can catch him in the final of the 110m hurdles on Saturday evening. The Beijing subway has also announced that given the late finish to the evening sessions (events don't wrap up until past 11pm on Thu and Sat night), they'll be extending the service on lines 1 and 2 for half an hour over the next four days.

Sports Roundup

thebeijinger — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:00:24 +0800

After being convincingly defeated by the US on Thursday evening, the Chinese women's basketball team bounced back with a closely fought victory over the American team on Saturday evening. The home crowd of over 12,000 people packed in to the 18,000 capacity Wukesong Stadium, and with a little help from some B-boys and a squad of cheerleaders who would emerge during the breaks, cheered the Chinese women’s team to victory. However, the team fielded by the US was far from full strength and they are still favorites to pick up the gold medal during the Olympic games in August.

As an Olympic venue, the Wukesong Indoor Stadium appears to be much better prepared for the games (only 100 days to go!) then the older, and recently refurbished, Workers’ Stadium. There were no seats spattered with paint and concrete here – the venue was complete, polished and looked great both inside and out. Also, unlike Gongti, not only were there timers that let the audience know just how long the US team had left in order to draw the game with a last ditch 3-point attempt, but stats as well as video replays and more, were all well displayed on a high-tech NBA style monitor that hung above the center of the court.

Images from the April Fool's Day Freeze Party at Jianwai Soho

thebeijinger — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:00:37 +0800

Images by Simon Lim and Burntbread

Update: Video of the event is available here and here.

According to one of our forum users who attended the event:

Everyone started to gather around Starbucks at about noon and by 12.30pm about 100-150 people had gathered. One of the guys (I presume it was one of the organizers) then counted down from 3 and everyone froze for about 2 minutes. It happened again about 15 minutes later. Amomg people “freezing” normally, there were also more imaginative freezers: pickpockets, fighters, a basketball player, lovers and a busker with guitar. There were no police/security incidents and it went on peacefully with a big cheer at the end. There were numerous photographers and a few camera crews here. All in all a great lunch hour!

Pic of the Week: The Marital Salute

thebeijinger — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:30:36 +0800

Photographer Simon Lim noticed this customer perusing wedding cannons (Lihuabao 礼花炮 or Libinghua 礼宾花) while heading along Xisi Beidajie last Friday afternoon. The cannons are for hire (although only as part of a package and not for individual use) and are normally used to add a bit of bang to weddings or other major events.

Links and Sources:
Roma Rona 罗曼罗兰
Wedding Cannon Company in Henan