the Beijinger

What do fireworks, great action movies, fruit wrapped in baskets, fancy envelopes, new clothing and people getting fat have in common? You guessed it, they’re all things you see during Chinese New Year! As this year’s chunyun comes to a close, let’s take a minute and look back on some of the impressive figures that were rung up during the CNY period.

This women's shoe brand, first founded by expats in Shanghai in 2007, is now up to 14 Beijing branches and counting. (For a list of all existing store locations, click here.) According to their website, D:FUSE "strives to bring the latest Scandinavian urban trends to the fashion forward Chinese consumer."

It just so happens that their trend-conscious footwear appeals to us expats as well. And now, one lucky reader has the chance to win a pair of free shoes! Whether sandals or pumps, their designs typically range from RMB 600-1,500, with most of them priced at around the RMB 700-800 mark. You can check out some of D:FUSE's latest styles below, or peruse the full collections here.

The rules? With the exception of the higher-priced Desire line, you can choose whatever pair meets your fancy (though do note that their largest size available is 39).

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.

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Having clothes made to measure has so many benefits over buying off-the-shelf, but it can be difficult to know who to trust or even where to begin. Here’s our list of recommendations for arriving at the perfect fit.

If e-commerce is the art of conjuring profit out of intangible pixels – of siphoning money from consumers who don’t need to handle the goods before they buy them – then it’s quite fitting that the conglomerate named Alibaba (which owns Taobao.com) has a wizardly lock on online retail in China. But don’t count out the ol’ brick-and-mortar just yet. The Washington Post reports that Taobao is using good old-fashioned tactile persuasion to make gains in one of the few sectors where e-commerce is still weak.

Ever since my brother and I spent a summer in a small town in Taiwan, passing the muggy afternoons by draping our limbs over my aunt’s tatami in her air-conditioned room and watching My Neighbor Totoro over and over, I’ve been enamored with the fat forest spirit. His image (and those of his smaller friends) act like talismans, protecting me from stress, homesickness and Beijing traffic.

Meanwhile, several weeks ago here at the Beijinger office, it was announced we’d be putting together a feature on getting all types of clothing custom-made in Beijing. I was nominated to take on knitwear, since I live closest to Shangdi, home of Wool City.

Sometimes it's better to shop without all the hassle of, you know, leaving your home. No cramped fitting rooms, no annoying salespeople and no lines. Below are some of our favorite e-commerce shopping options for clothes and accessories.

With a new season comes fresh trends. You might have caught wind of the fashion world’s current enthusiasm for psychedelic furs or mixing prints (see September issue’s Get the Look feature, out later this week). But we betcha didn’t know such temporal whims applied to hairstyles as well.

Leave it to British academy and salon chain Toni and Guy to bring the focus back to our locks. The main issue with hair “trends” is that any changes we make, we must commit to. (It takes much longer to grow out an angled bob than to, say, remove a feather earring.) The more adventurous amongst us, however, can peruse their new collection – titled 2067 on account of its '60s and '70s influences – for a bold new look. Plus, we have free discount vouchers for a few of our lucky readers. Keep reading to learn how to win.

It’s summertime. You know what that means, right? New swimwear.

“Underendowed” women have long had access to push-up bikini tops. As usual, men have been unfairly neglected in that department.

But no more. A Chinese company has recently launched a “Male Size-Enhancing Speedo Bulge,” now available on Taobao.com. (Read our step-by-step guide for Taobao.com here.)