Tucked away near the Lama Temple, ING provides a welcome escape from the noise and bustle of Beijing life. The tiny tea-shop/bar hybrid is quiet and cozy, with a uniquely animal take on décor (live goldfish swim below your feet, a mynah bird sings and there’s also a couple of iguanas) that can be enjoyed from the comfy loft.

Here Bar is surprisingly relaxed, considering it’s located just meters from East Third Ring Road. The modern interior includes a glassed-in alcove with cascading water; its cozy booths are well-suited for small, intimate gatherings.

Join ORIENTED Beijing and agenda for a Professional Networking Happy Hour at Loong Bar, Thursday at 7pm. Enjoy the company of other business professionals for an evening of networking, drinks and prize drawings in the beautiful dragon-themed lounge of the JW Marriott.

General admission is RMB 100, but ORIENTED members can register online to receive a 50% discount for standard membership and free admission for premium membership. Entry includes one free drink (additional drinks are two-for-one until 10pm), tons of finger foods served throughout the event, and a chance to a free deluxe overnight stay at the JW Marriott. Most importantly, the Happy Hour allows unlimited professional networking opportunities. Dress is business casual. Don't forget to invite friends and colleagues, and bring plenty of business cards.

It's time, once again, for our monthly happy hour, sponsored by the beijinger magazine. This month's festivities go down at Paddy O’Shea’s this Friday from 5-9pm.

Since the August edition is all about sports in Beijing, everyone is encouraged to wear their favorite team’s jersey to the event. There will be plenty of food and drink specials including RMB 15 bottles of beer, RMB 30 burgers and pizzas, and buy-one-get-one-free deals on all mixed drinks and cocktails. Anyone who donates a sports team scarf, flag or pennant to Paddy’s also gets free beer.

This week, stargazers from around the globe will flock to Haiyan County in Zhejiang Province to witness a once-in-a-lifetime event of cosmic proportions. On Wednesday, Haiyan is expected to be the best place on the planet to view a total solar eclipse that will begin between 9 and 9.30am and is expected to last more than six minutes.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes directly between Earth and the sun, temporarily blocking out a portion of the sun’s light. Wednesday’s event is significant because an eclipse of comparable intensity and longevity has not occurred in nearly 1,000 years, and will not happen again anywhere on Earth until 2132. In other words, no one living now has seen such an impressive astronomical rarity, and nobody will see one again for a number of generations.

Good news! The Desert Dance is still on for Saturday. The following is information from an e-mail sent be the event host:

Greening the Beige is pleased to announce that Desert Dance is still scheduled for this Saturday, July 18th, despite the closing of its originally scheduled venue, the White Rabbit. The new spot for the event is a 500-year-old courtyard temple located just north of the drum and bell towers at No. 4 Zhangwang Hutong (opposite Bed Bar, look for the golden gate entrance), Jiu Gulou Dajie. We are extremely grateful and honored  to have found such a stunning and generous new home for our event.

More news to come on other White Rabbit events and happenings.

Kempinski Resort & Spa Sanya is currently offering a family getaway package to their highly-acclaimed resort on Hainan Island. The package includes a stay in a Deluxe Ocean View room, breakfast each morning, daily BBQ dinners, complimentary snacks and activities for children, free internet access and transportation to and from the airport. Guests also have access to the resort’s six swimming pools, two children’s water slides and the only private beach in Sanya.

Prices start at RMB 1,480 per night (minimum of two nights), but the offer is for a limited time only and is subject to room availability, so act fast if you’re interested.

The battle between Beijing and Shanghai for the reputation as China’s top city may be heating up on more than one front in the near future. Shanghai is working out final details for its World Expo 2010 set to begin in less than a year. The expo features the theme "Better City – Better Life" and focuses on Shanghai's status as an economic and cultural world leader.

Living in Beijing, it’s easy to forget that there are areas in China where people are living in extreme poverty, earning RMB 650 or less annually. These people are cut off from the rest of society, so they often do not have access to assistance to help improve their living situation. Cheng County, in Gansu province, suffers from such poverty; its problems were exacerbated when the area was heavily damaged by the May 12 earthquake last year. The disaster destroyed 11,000 homes and damaged more than 46,000 others. The people living in this area have been unable to rebuild their lives, as the majority of residents are subsistence farmers living in relative to extreme poverty.

You might not guess it while chowing down at your favorite noodle joint on a meal that cost you the equivalent of a pack of gum in many countries, but according to BusinessWeek, Beijing is one of the most expensive cities to live, eat and wash clothes in.