The Urban Edit

5 Beijing Life Hacks

November 8, 2015 Beijing

Panda life hacks — Take it easy around town.

Forget globalisation for a minute. Every city you go to needs to be handled slightly differently. And then there’s Beijing where life hacks ensure your very survival. We’ve put together all the things you need to live smart in the capital – whether for a few days or years.

1. How to use Google, Facebook and Instagram in China

Phone cables — There is a way around this. Photo: Alan Levine

Get things off to a good start. If you want to access internet services you use at home, including all Google services (and you might want to use maps), then you’ll need a piece of software on your laptop, tablet and phone to get over the Great Firewall. These are called VPNs – Virtual Private Networks – and make the internet think you’re device is in a different country. You may be able to just use a free trial from a provider, or you may need to pay a small fee. Their efficacy is in constant flux, so if you want to be a real pro, then install several so you can jump between them. But whatever you do, install them before you arrive!

The 5 Best Places to See a Show in Beijing

November 7, 2015 Beijing

Duck Egg on Tiananmen Square — Art meets politics – The Egg on Tiananmen Square. Photo: Lei Han

Beijing, as it likes to project right to the back row, is the cultural capital of China. Pretty big claim, but for performance arts and classical music, it’s a dead cert. There are dozens of theatres and concert halls across the city, from small, traditional (or, let’s say, ‘tourist friendly’) Peking opera theatres through to striking new celebrations of performance prowess. You can’t politicise the stage much more than putting a performing arts centre on Tiananmen Square.

5 Top Places to Culture Up

While the shows themselves come and go (big ones at the time of writing include War Horse and Phantom of the Opera), we’ve got the lowdown on the best venues in town thanks to the expert insight of Nancy Pellegrini who’s been writing about the performing arts scene for over a decade as Stage Section editor for both Time Out Beijing and Time Out Shanghai.

Dadong Peking Duck Burgers – Big Flavour, Small Bill*

October 31, 2015 Beijing

DaDong duck burger — Can you see what they’ve done there?

We have now seen and, most importantly, eaten everything. Because high-end Peking duck restaurant chain DaDong has just opened a new venture here in Beijing.

Behold Dadong Duck (大董鸭), a take on Peking duck so casual that it comes in a sesame-seeded bread bun. Before we go any further (and we ordered the entire menu), we would like to point out that the duck burgers contain a big piece of duck meat, complete with its crispy skin, and not some monstrous reconstituted duck meat patty.

Limber Up For Our Great Wall Pop Up Tour

October 12, 2015 Beijing

Sunrise from the Great Wall — Different to the view from Migas

There are many theories about why the Great Wall was built and what it was used for. We can literally shed new light on this – it must have been built exclusively for watching the sun rise up out of the mountains. And for hiking along.

Stay tuned for a Pop Up Limited Edition Wild Wall Weekend this October 31 with world-renowned Great Wall expert William Lindesay OBE.

Traffic Jam Bingo

October 6, 2015 Beijing

Despite introducing an odd-even number plate system a few years back to curb the volume of cars on the road, Beijing still has a bit of a car problem. Here at Bespoke we favor the humble bicycle, but turning up to meetings sweaty (or shivering) isn’t a good look, so we’ll occasionally take taxis. That’s when we’re reminded how frustrating (but also hilarious) it can be. In fact we think we’ve seen it all cruising the streets of Beijing – you couldn’t make some of this stuff up. So next time you’re caught in a jam, why don’t you play a game of Traffic Jam Bingo with your friends. Draw up a grid with the below items in and the first to score a row wins.

Dogs in bike baskets

Unsurprisingly, you can’t take dogs on the subway, and taxi drivers won’t accept canine passengers either. But Beijingers don’t let such trifling details prevent them from carting their pooches from A to B. Oh no. If you’ve got a basket big enough, just throw Muttley in and off you go! Got two dogs? No problem – simply add another.

5 Ways to Scare Yourself Witless in Beijing at Halloween

October 6, 2015 Beijing

Seen Paranormal Activity and loved it? No? You’d rather eat your own feet? Ok perhaps you’d best not read on. But for those who enjoy giving themselves a fright, we bring you the top 5 scariest Beijing sights to visit by night.

Halloween might not be native to China, but ghosts sure are. In fact the ancient capital is brimming with ghost stories and eerie deserted back alleys. So grab a friend you’d also like to scare this Halloween, and ask them if they fancy going for a late night stroll in a lesser-visited part of town. Go on, we dare you.

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