the Beijinger

Tim Hunt, former Kunlun master-chef, took over Frank's Place from Glenn Phelan earlier this year, and now he’s heating up the back deck for the long winter haul.

What it was: In cold weather, nothing.

What it is: Tim's enclosed the whole place under a tent and filled it with heating pillars. The patio furniture and planked flooring will change to a bottom-lit glass floor, with funky lounge stylings to accompany the imbibing.

The toys: A pool table graces the tented deck, and a giant screen presides over it all (see below for what's showing).

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by Shelley Jiang



It may sound improbable or even ludicrous, but it’s true: There is life teeming amongst the clouds of dust rising from the construction sites that make up our beloved CBD.

In the spirit of honesty, though, we must admit that the lifespan of the average CBD establishment seems a mite shorter than that of venues in luckier climes – just look at the survival rate of the bars and restaurants from one CBD Area Guide to the next. Jianwai Soho stands out here as a particular culprit of demise.

But all is not gloom and doom. All these closings mean fresh faces to take their place – and it also gives us impetus to update the Immersion Guides CBD Area Guide for the December issue of that’s Beijing. Read more...

Yeah okay, so it’s been nearly a decade since I spent many a downtempo night coming down and chilling out to a college soundtrack made up primarily of the K and D Sessions, but it’s a good bet that Peter Kruder (one half of the seminal Austrian remixing duo Kruder and Dorfmeister, who put out the aforementioned Sessions) will still lay down a set of Viennese coolness at Vics tonight. And, it’s just been announced that the ticket prices have gone down to RMB 30!

Wait, 30 kuai at Vics? Is that possibly correct? Well, the official Austrian National Tourist Office of China is behind this one, so hopefully there won’t be any price gouging. Of course, it is Vics, so let me add this disclaimer, for those of you who haven't figured out how shysty Beijing clubs can be: Prices (and not to mention the date and time, location, venue's identity, scheduled performer, their health and/or visa status, etc) are always, always subject to change in this town.

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Trader Vic’s was founded in Oakland, California in 1937. Since then, the popular South-Pacific-beach-themed restaurant has opened branches in more than 20 countries (Beijing being their 27th). The Shanghai branch opened early this year and another location in China is in the works.

What to expect here: It’s a mix between Giligan’s Island and Disney’s Tiki Room. You’ll find canoes, tikis, fishing nests, and Polynesian dressed wait staff.

Type of food: Polynesian and International food. They have a wood-fired oven for some fire-less roasting.

Specialty dishes: Bongo bongo soup made with fresh oysters, cream and spinach. Beef cho-cho is beef BBQ made with a special sauce. Beef Sirloin and Salmon is also a must try. Mai Tai is an absolute must-try.

Size of restaurant: Can seat up to 100 people with two private dining rooms and a bar.

Open: Dec 12th

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Liu’s responsibility to China as the gold medal breadwinner has sparked full-bodied financial support. Literally.

You might have heard the rumors that J Lo insured her rear? Well, now Liu Xiang has gone and taken a $13.3 million insurance policy out on his precious hurdling legs. The money was donated by Ping An of China as part of their sponsorship of the Chinese track and field team. Despite the fact that the 2008 Olympics are still about nine months away, pressure is already building for Liu. His already impressive results – Olympic Gold Medal (2004), individual world record (2006) and a World Championship (2007) – are meaningless, unless he manages to win the gold that the whole of China is expecting in Beijing come August.

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Blind Acting

Li Yang, director of the recently-released Blind Mountain, gave a talk this morning to a motley-crew of listeners as part of the Channel Zero documentary-making class that continues until Dec 2 (click here for more info about the classes). Li talked about the making of his films Blind Shaft (Mang Jing) and the more recent Blind Mountain (Mang Shan) – which after careful consideration by SARFT has been allowed to screen in mainstream cinemas. See below for screening times.

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Kevin Rudd has the coolest sounding Chinese name of any western leader and that's because he chose it himself. Rudd, or 陆克文(Lu Kewen), led the Australian Labor Party to a solid victory in the country’s Federal election on the weekend (apparently the place for local supporters to gather and celebrate the victory was the new Irish pub Paddy O'Shea's located opposite the Australian Embassy on Dongzhimenwai Dajie) and has replaced the long-serving John Howard as Prime Minister. Rudd made headlines in China and upstaged Howard when during the APEC conference in Sydney earlier this year he was able to use his formidable mandarin to charm Hu Jintao (see clip below).

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There was this one time I got in a pushing, scratching cat fight with a grandmother on the subway. It was the end of the day, I was tired and it was that time of the month (deadline time, I mean) and I TOTALLY DESERVED that seat – you know, the one reserved for the disabled, elderly and pregnant. And the lao taitai wasn’t really all that lao - she was one of those strong young grandmothers that spend every evening practicing fan dances on the street corners. Anyway we lunged for the seat at the same time and I (sort of accidentally) elbowed her in the gut and then …

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Kris, the kingmaker behind Rickshaw, Cox, and Saddle gave a solid vote of no confidence in the Tongli Studio area a few weeks ago, begging off the Saddle space because of the high rent. A brand-new, brain-bashingly innovative new establishment has sprung up in its place.

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Cult Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-Wai (王家卫) has been in town for the past couple of days promoting the upcoming Chinese release of his latest feature Blueberry Nights. The film, which opened the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, is scheduled for a China-wide release on Dec 22. Duringa press conference at the foot of the Great Wall on Tuesday, the director – in trademark dark sunglasses – revealed that inspiration for Blueberry Nights came from a deleted scene from his popular 2000 feature In the Mood for Love. Producers of the film are probably hoping that Blueberry Nights receives a more positive reception than it did abroad. You can take a peek at the trailer here.

We haven't heard of any Wong Kar-wai sightings around town yet – though someone must have seen the guy, he's close to 2m tall! – so if anyone has caught a glimpse of a tall guy in sunglasses wandering the streets of Nanluogu Xiang or getting stuck into a plate of Beijing Duck at Dadong, be sure to let us know.

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The new Bingmasi (Maybe Mars) label may be turning people's ears with their high-profile projects of late – their next batch of albums will likely include two albums with some professional production help (Demerit, produced by Public Enemy’s Brian Hardgroove; and White, produced by Blixa Bargeld). Among the label's initial releases, of course, was Snapline’s Party is Over, Pornostar, produced by Martin Atkins – giving the label a triple-threat of overseas credentials.

Certainly, each producer has their own motivations and personal China connection. Among the three producers, however, Atkins has thus far proven to be the most controversial – arriving in Beijing with a stack of contracts and attempting to sign as many bands as possible. After a whirlwind two-week visit, Snapline and Subs, among others, were added to his Chicago-based Invisible Records roster. While the licensing of Pornostar's Chinese distribution rights to Bingmasi has given Atkins a bit of Beijing goodwill, the wild-haired producer’s intentions don't seem nearly as gracious when compared to someone like, say, Hardgroove, who doesn’t own a label, wasn’t looking to sign bands, and seemed to genuinely want to, in his own words, "contribute to the scene."

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On Tuesday commuters waiting for bus numbers 723 and 458 were met with a pleasant surprise, as instead of the regular old bus pulling into the stop, the first of the more than 2000 bright and shiny, environmentally-friendly buses that the Beijing Public Transport corporation is bringing into service this winter, glided into the stop. Despite running on diesel, with the help of something like a catalytic converter (anyone know how to translate 尿素液注筒?), the buses meet strict European IV emission standards and measuring in at 15.4 meters long, they’re also have the added advantage of being able to transport up to 200 passengers.

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The sound-proof tunnel pictured above forms part of the recently completed Zhanxi Lu that opened to traffic yesterday. The road allows commuters to avoid the traffic snarl that is Xizhimen Qiao by cutting through Beijing Zoo on an elevated flyover that connects Chegongzhuang Dajie to Gaoliangqiao Xiejie. The road is 2.16km long, and the 1.8km section that passes above the zoo has also been fitted with a soundproofed cover in order to prevent noise from the traffic disturbing the animals.

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With Thanksgiving just around the corner, we went a turkey huntin' in Beijing. We share our catch with you below, so that you won’t be left out in the cold this holiday season. Gobble Gobble!

For those looking for a place to go and enjoy a Thanksgiving feast, check out this week's 7 Days in Beijing newsletter for a comprehensive list of restaurants around town offering special Thanksgiving spreads.

1. Bento and Berries: RMB 900/kg for fully cooked. Turkeys weigh in at around 6-8kg. Need to order one day in advance

2. Boucherie Michel: RMB 75/kg for US turkey; RMB 50/kg for China turkey. Turkeys are around 4-10kg. Additional 30% for a cooked turkey. Comes with stuffing and gravy.

3. Lido Deli: RMB 138/kg for fully cooked bird. Turkeys are around 5-8kg. Includes stuffing and gravy.

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Zhou Xuan Retrospective

If you’ve ever flicked through a pile of "vintage" posters at Panjiayuan, you've probably come across this woman's face.

Zhou Xuan (1920-1957) was known as "golden voice" and reached the peak of her fame in the '30s and 40s. Her smooth and silky voice (which you can listen to here) was the inspiration for Wong Kar Wai’s In the Mood for Love, with the film itself being named after one of Zhou Xuan’s songs.

This week the China Film Archives offers a special series of Zhou Xuan films (eight in total) to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the star’s tragic and premature death. Visit the CFA website for more details about screening times. In Chinese, no English subtitles. Until Nov 25. RMB 8. After the retrospective is over the CFA will go into hibernation to emerge as a renovated version of itself early in 2008.

For screening times of all the English-language films showing in Beijing today and more movie news ...

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2, 889, 900

Number of passenger trips recorded on Beijing's subway system last Friday, Nov 16. A new record for the swamped system whose load has increased dramatically since last month when line 5 opened for business and fares were reduced to 2 kuai. As we discovered recently when trying to take a train home from the Dawang Lu station, Fridays are the busiest days. Two weeks ago during the evening peak hour the station was closed for 20 minutes due to platform overcrowding.

We have People's Daily to thank for this prize quote from a Beijing Subway official:

 

"Passengers should go to work earlier and come back home later than usual, so as to avoid transport peak."

 

34.5

Percent of the city's commuters choosing public transport. This is the first time this number has exceeded the percentage of people driving a private vehicle to work (32) since figures were first recorded in 2001

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The Good Luck Beijing International Boxing Tournament gives Gongti a taste of 2008

The Workers' Gymnasium finally reopened its doors over the weekend to host the Good Luck Beijing International Boxing Tournament. Beginning on Saturday Nov 17, the preliminary rounds saw 76 prospective Olympians from 12 countries and six different weight categories get in the ring at a newly renovated Gongti. The first two days saw impressive progress by the Mexican and American teams, all of whom advanced to the quarterfinals on Monday. At time of writing, America’s Deontay Wilder disposed of China's Wang Leilei to proceed to the semis, while British boxer Anthony Daniel Price's victory against Zhang Shuai ensured China would take no further part in the latter stages of the 91kg competition.

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