Throwback Thursday: Two Hemispheric Debuts from 2007 Have Stood The Test of Time

Throwback Thursday takes a look back into Beijing's past, using our blog archives as a source. We started blogging a little more than nine years ago, so it seems fitting we glance back to September 2007, that heady era before Beijing was host to the Summer Olympics (and preparing to host a winter one).

Two venues made their Beijing debut in September 2007, and both still exist in Beijing – one inevitably, and one inexplicably. Both in their own way feature a rather obsessive concern with hemispheric objects.

The National Center for the Performing Arts, otherwise known as the Big Egg, hosted its debut performances in September 2007, and our writer Alice Xin Liu and photographer Simon Lim were invited to take a glimpse at the interior of the venue for our now-defunct architecture and real estate magazine tbjhome (later rebranded as Urbane before closing, partly as a consequence of China placing heavy new restrictions on foreign investment in real estate).

Liu remarked:

"[From the moment we entered] it was obvious we were witnessing something very special. 'Historical event,' 'beautiful' and 'impressive' were words we kept repeating to each other during our three-hour stay. Spacious and classy, everything seemed translucent inside the Theater. The columns shone and reflected light. The ceiling was glassy and transparent, and we could see the waves from the water feature on the other side of the ceiling through the glass. The circular structure of the theater made the main hall seem even more elongated."

Since that time the Big Egg has taken its place as one of the must-visit performance halls in the city. Tonight alone (Sep 15) they are hosting five separate performances, from classical Chinese opera to contemporary comic theater to a performance of The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Meanwhile back in September of 2007 our bars and clubs editor Matt Jager went out in pursuit of globes of another kind, by attending the grand opening of American boob-themed restaurant Hooters in Sanlitun. He was not impressed by the warm beer, slow service and flat chests he encountered within:

”After we’d eaten satisfying American diner-grub ... a pair of dancers with pom-poms performed an energetic routine. In a tragically misinformed musical selection, they tossed their hair and wiggled their empty white shorts to Sir Mix-a-lot’s Baby Got Back. An enormously overweight guy with a fat trembling lower lip asked for napkins. A Hooter’s girl got on her tip-toes to wipe the sweat off his bald head. ’Now,' howled the hostess, ‘everyone please gather to enjoy our traditional dance!' The girls clambered onto stools and performed the YMCA. I took off running.“

Oddly, Hooters has also stood the test of time, and while it's not a must-visit like the Big Egg, it deserves at least some begrudging praise for lasting as long as it has, in one place, in a city with a fickle and ever-changing food and beverage scene. If you told me nine years ago that they would outlast its next door neighbor The Den, I would have called you crazy.

And should you fancy a visit to this long-standing Beijing venue (and for a reminder that we live in some sort of weird parallel universe), why not take your wife and kid for brunch to indulge in their family brunch special where Little Johnny eats for free (and you get to, oh, explain to him all about owls).

Images: Matt Jager, Wikipedia