See Archives: - Page 11 of 21 Bespoke Travel Co

Baitasi Is Back and Jingling its Bells

October 3, 2015 Beijing

Bored of Sanlitun and Gulou? Feel like you ‘know’ Beijing? We have a suggestion for you. Go west! Thanks to the Beijing Design Week development projects, new life has been breathed into the scramble of lanes that surround Baitasi, west of the Forbidden City, putting it right back on our radar.

A wander around the area feels totally different from the better-known hutongs in the eastern districts of Beijing. First of all, you’ve got that huge, gleaming ‘stupa’ of Baitasi visible from much of it.

China Fashion Week 2015

September 21, 2015 Beijing

Get with the season: the Spring/Summer 2016 collections are ready for their runway outings during China Fashion Week this 25th October to 2nd November.

Beijing gears up for Formula E Championships hospitality

September 14, 2015 Beijing

Formula E race Beijing ePrix — Formula E revvs up for the Beijing ePrix (Photo via Motori Italia)

After hosting the inaugural Formula E championship in September 2014, Beijing is preparing again for the ten teams to race back into town for the opening round of the FIA Formula E Championship 2015 – or ePrix for short.

Here at Bespoke we’re practising our chequered flag moves to welcome the teams and spectators to the races, and also to Beijing and the rest of China.

Five Evening Activities for Visitors (That Aren’t Cheesy River Cruises)

September 10, 2015 Shanghai

Tourist sites in China tend to stick to absurdly old-school timing, often slamming the doors shut by 5 p.m. at the latest. If you’d like to explore the city when the lights go down, please don’t feel you need to clamber aboard a neon-clad boat and sail up and down the Huangpu with the tourist hordes – there are plenty more enjoyable ways to pass an evening. And if Bespoke’s fabulous Cocktail Experience or Night Biking just aren’t quite enough for you, here are a few of our favorite ways to see another side of Shanghai.

All that Jazz

Shanghai has a proud jazz heritage that harks back to her 1930s heyday. The Jazz Bar in the Peace Hotel remains the most famous option and with good reason – the veteran performers have an average age of 80! Those wanting to delve a little deeper into the contemporary scene should head into the former French Concession, where the slick JZ Bar and slightly rougher and readier Cotton Club both have nightly performances. (JZ Club: 46 Fuxing Xi Lu; Cotton Club:1416 Huaihai Zhong Lu)

Bespoke’s Latest Tour: Shanghai Night Biking!

September 10, 2015 Shanghai

First thing we’d do as Mayor of Shanghai? Ban motor vehicles from the city center and make the bicycle king of the road again. Yes, there was a time when the tree-lined streets of the former French Concession weren’t clogged with hulking pieces of metal honking and hollering at every intersection. To counter the traffic-shredded nerves that arise from being a modern day bicycle commuter in Shanghai, Team Bespoke has been making regular nocturnal jaunts through the city, and now we’re inviting our visitors to join us to see a side of the city that few do.

Yu GArden — The Yu Gardens as you’ve never seen them before…

Our ride starts at 9pm as Shanghai’s residents tuck themselves up in bed or concern themselves with more sinful pursuits, leaving the streets (relatively) free for us to whizz through. You’ll be led by an experienced rider who knows the city like the back of their hand (as well as being handy with a repair kit, should it come to that), and each rider will be equipped with a sturdy city bike, front and rear lights, and a helmet.

The Sihang Warehouse: Shanghai’s Newest Museum

September 10, 2015 Shanghai

If the 3rd of September rings a bell, then it’s very likely due to the fact that its China’s newest public holiday. Or the fact that its likely to be almost impossible to travel anywhere that day thanks to a military parade of apparently epic proportions taking place in the capital. But with all the bravado from Beijing, it’s easy to forget that this day commemorates events that were hugely significant here in Shanghai.

70 Years Anniversary — The Shanghai government is going all out for the anniversary.

For this date marks the end of, ahem, ‘The War of Chinese People’s Resistance Against Japanese Aggression’ – a war that started in 1937 and would go on to merge with World War II, concluding in 1945 and leaving the region changed forever. Shanghai played various key roles throughout the period of conflict and the city government, never ones to let such an opportunity pass by, have overseen several new projects commemorating the various incidents. The Shanghai Jewish Refugees Museum (a Bespoke favorite, and one that we would encourage any inquisitive visitor to include in their itinerary) has just reopened with a new exhibition, including a recreation of the White Horse Café, a 1939 establishment that was said to have sheltered hundreds of the Jewish refugees who arrived in Shanghai from Europe.

« Previous Page

See

All that Jazz

Cities

About Bespoke