5 Things to Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear, and See, Nov 12-14
Beijing can be an overstimulating place to live, to say the least. Let’s be real: sometimes even our sixth sense (the one that tells you when that stick of chuan'r will make you sick for the next two days) gets a decent workout. With such a wide variety of events, restaurants, and gigs to attend, we suggest bathing each of your five senses in one, if not all, of the nourishing goings-on below.
Taste
Nov 14: Chi Le Ma Market & Street Food Tour
If you still find yourself walking into Chinese grocery stores or produce markets and feeling both overwhelmed by the selection, and simply unsure about what the hell you’re looking at, perhaps it’s time to enroll in The Hutong’s Chī le ma? Market & Street Food Tour. For RMB 300 (RMB 260 if you’re a member), you’ll embark on a guided tour – nay, a culinary odyssey – through some of the ubiquitous markets and street-side vendors you pass on a daily basis but always hesitate to fully explore, while getting a crash course in the staples of Chinese flavor profiles, altogether upping your own game in the kitchen. Price includes street food and snacks along the way. To reserve your spot, click here. RMB 260-300. 9.30-11am. The Hutong
Smell
Nov 13-14: White Truffle Four Hands Dinner
Make like a pig and sniff out the decadent truffles at Opera Bombana’s White Truffle Four Hands Dinner. Okay, luckily you won’t have to sniff them out yourself, but you will get to enjoy them all night long as two-starred Michelin Chef Riccardo La Perna drops by from Bombana’s 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo in Shanghai, joined by Opera Bombana’s Executive Chef Andrea Susto. The special, two-night-only menu includes a pumpkin and winter vegetable foam with white truffle, homemade pasta with white truffle and roasted milk-fed veal sirloin, and a chestnut ice cream topped with – you guessed it – white truffle, as well as a few other surprises. To make a reservation, call 010-56907177. RMB 2,598. 5.30-11pm. Opera Bombana
Touch
Nov 14: Paragliding and Picnic
Feel that cool autumn breeze caress your cheeks – and a hot shot of adrenaline course through your veins – as you glide on the winds above Beijing’s sprawling countryside. Slightly less intimidating than skydiving, paragliding is a unique and unparalleled way to experience the capital. Marketing this 11.11 as an opportunity to buy experiences, not things, the event is hosted by HiChinaTravel and includes paragliding, transportation to the liftoff spot, a tour guide, picnic, and insurance. Book with two or more people and save RMB 100. For more information and to book your spot, add HiChinaTravel on WeChat (ID: hichinatravel2015). RMB 999-RMB 1,099.
Hear
Nov 11: 2020 Winter Noise Showcase Vol. 1
Winter is an odd season, known both for cozy nights in and a frigid bleakness, or that which we affectionately call, “the dead of winter.” So what better way to manifest all that it has to offer than with an evening packed into the sweaty confines of a Wudaoying club, coming face-to-face with icy synths, glacial tones, and a journey through dark voids created by some of Beijing’s finest conceptual noise-makers. School Bar’s 2020 Winter Noise Showcase kicks off with field recording aficionado and veteran of the scene Zhang ZhongShu, Hebei-based noise man Zhao Binggao, Dutch-born modular freakazoid, Xu Ran, the enigmatic, haunting presence of Dead Labor, and psychedelic sonic weaver Zhang Yiding. RMB 70. 9.30pm-late. School Bar
See
Nov 12: Drag Thursday
Put on your rose-tinted glasses this Thursday as Red Dog transforms into “Haus of Lily, the only drag house in Beijing.” The queen of honor this week will be none other than Miss Hymn, whose elegance and class will doubtlessly leave you feeling schlubby and homely by comparison. Nevertheless, the night is sure to be fierce, fabulous, and entirely divine. Just the thing you need to get yours through the end of the week! Free. 10pm-late. Red Dog
READ: EAT: The Rug SLT Finishes Renovations, New Menu at Tribe, Dining Deals at Las Musas
Images: Chuttersnap (via Unsplash), Max van den Oetelaar (via Unsplash), Opera Bombana, Dorothea Oldani (via Unsplash), School Bar, Red Dog
