china :: beijing :: general

[Q]

Can anyone recommend a nice boutique hotel in Beijing? They all seem to be monolithic chains.

[Q]

especially in or near the Dashanzi Art District. thanks.

[tintin]

i've traveled to beijing several times in that past to visit family (many moons before discovering this forum). but i've always found the city to be empty and characterless, lacking anything really interesting beyond the obvious (albeit stunning) tourist sights. you know what i mean if you've been there right -- endless bland tile buildings, tracts of mouldering soviet-style apartment blocks and avenues with eight lanes across of traffic.

but recently, some of my friends have come back from there and said it was really cool, with lots of interesting, funky stuff. well, the last time i was there was '99, so i don't doubt everything is completly different, but i would have described beijing as "institutional" at best --or whatever the most opposite word from funky is. has it really changed that much?

if it has changed, where is all this cool stuff? interesting shopping areas. clubs, etc?

any superjetsetters out there based in beijing? what the deal yo?

[presto718]

Check out Green T. House and Courtyard for some good eats, they both have small gallery space with in thier restaurants too.

[tintin]

thanks presto718! will definatly check it out, but do you have an address for them?

i'll be in beijing for about 10 days over christmas/new year's to visit family. does anyone know if anything special happens on new year's eve, or do they just save it all up for spring festival/chinese new years in february?

[presto718]

No problem. I would suggest to make reservations for both restaurants.

Green T. House

No. 6 Gongti Xi Lu Chaoyang, Beijing 100027 PR China

Tel: + 86 10 6552-8310 / 8311

The Courtyard Restaurant

95 Donghuamen Ave.

100006 Beijing

+86 10 65268883

[Rick Jeams]

Hi,

I`m flying to Beijing on saturday, and wondering if any of you has any tips on what to do over there?

Good places to go shopping, places to drink & anything else..

Thanks!

[xcoldricex]

beijing is ill, i love that city. eat lots of yang rou chuanr (lamb kebabs on the street), buy shitloads of bootleg dvds, and drink yanjing beer like the locals do.

[aan den rijn]

Weather will be hot and the pollution won't help, but at least it's not as bad as Hong Kong.

For bizarre fun, check out the preserved body of Chairman Mao, south side of Tiananmen Square.

[e s k i]

Any more recs? I'm heading over too in a week and a half...

[girlwonder]

Just bumping this on up because I'm leaving for Beijing in about a week and I'm going to be there for the entire month of August.

Things to see, places to go, bars, restaurants, shopping, anybody?

[greentea]

you visiting family?

[girlwonder]

you visiting family?

Nah, I'm going for a 4-week Mandarin course to brush up on the Mandarin I learnt during my gap year.. which is now 3 years ago. I have classes in the mornings but not much to do in the afternoons, so I'm going to tackle all the touristy stuff day by day.. and possibly get a job teaching some kids English or French, we'll see.

[girlwonder]

So.. anyone? Places to go in Beijing?

[aan den rijn]

They also have huge KFCs and other various fast food restaurants. I mean HUGE.

[Tisswat]

They also have huge KFCs and other various fast food restaurants. I mean HUGE.

Nice nick. Dutch roots?

[xcoldricex]

oh yeah. baijiu (white rice wine). that shit taste like gasoline- opt for the 2RMB (25 cent) bottles of erguotou - will get you drunk in no time (and probably burn a hole in your stomach).

for shopping you can go to xidan- you'll have to do lots of digging- there's two building with about 7 floors of stuff. check out panjiayuan for "chinese" stuff - huge flea market with interesting stuff- mix of touristy goods, authentic antiques, paintings, etc.

for clubs- you can check out banana for a "chinese club" experience- they have a dance floor that is on springs so the whole thing bounces. for hiphop there's still vics and mix. propaganda over in wudaokou. lots of new places have opened up that i'm not familiar with like tango, ibiza, etc. a large portion of sanlituanr (the bar street) has been torn down so i have no idea what's going on there really anymore.

[aan den rijn]

Nice nick. Dutch roots?

Not really, really loved the Low Countries though. Quaint yet cosmopolitan when you want it to be. Would love to live there sometime but for now, New England, LA, and Montreal is enough on my plate.

EDIT: ^^ Good bai jiu like wu liang ye or mao tai is actually pretty awesome, but for a local flavor (I'm not too familiar with Northern China, I spent a lot of time near Shanghai though), the yellow, hot wine that they serve typically in the winter during weddings is really nice. But if you want to kill yourself with Xanax and er guo tou, then be my guest. That shit's vile and I'd say it's like like the Thunderbird of China.

[Rick Jeams]

I just got back from beijing, and some other chinese places, yesterday.

We actually went on the banana club, which was great except from the coke & the time it took to get some beer. Funniest thing was the staff that walked around cleaning the floor with brooms while everybody was dancing and drinking..

Regarding the shops, I didn`t really see anything special there.

There was malls with hugo boss, dior, gucci etc., nike stores and the silk market with all the fakes. Good possibilities to get something sewn there.

Bought two suits with 4 shirts for around 150usd(the taylors came to the hotel for fitting after taking measurements at the shop). A friend of mine got a suit sewn with burberry fabric, hehe..

And all the kids had pants like these:

[xcoldricex]

EDIT: ^^ Good bai jiu like wu liang ye or mao tai is actually pretty awesome, but for a local flavor (I'm not too familiar with Northern China, I spent a lot of time near Shanghai though), the yellow, hot wine that they serve typically in the winter during weddings is really nice. But if you want to kill yourself with Xanax and er guo tou, then be my guest. That shit's vile and I'd say it's like like the Thunderbird of China.

even mao tai tastes pretty terrible to me...

[snkrbndt]

qingdao beer! damn i miss/love that stuff... sorry I won't be much help, mostly spent time in Shanghai. have fun! and dont forget to eat lan zhou la mian(handpulled noodles)

[aan den rijn]

even mao tai tastes pretty terrible to me...

The more you drink the less you'll be able to taste it

[groovbusta]

heading to beijing for a week during xmas... any updates on current nightlife hot spots? last time i hit banana club and it was pretty good, but that was 3 years ago. mainly been going to shanghai to party, so clueless about beijing right now.

any info appreciated!

[jikuty]

Heading to Beijing at the end of february/march. Was wondering what the prices were like, and what I should be looking to buy when shopping. How do the prices compare in terms of designer clothing / watches (I'm looking to buy a Tissot) / Electronics? And where should I go to shop?

Thanks

[xcoldricex]

don't buy designer clothes in beijing.

[jf30]

electronics are cheap (locally made ones anyways), designer clothes are a miss they are sooo expensive because of import duties, if you want designer stuff head to hong dong.

[jikuty]

thanks, any idea where I can go shopping for computer components?

[CactusArmy]

where are the good tailors at?

[sell veg]

hong kong...

[xcoldricex]

yep hong kong.

there's some people doing their own thing in beijing though - mostly women's stuff unfortunately