Copper by TRB, the new event and cultural space from Beijing’s award-winning TRB restaurant group has got us a little hot under the collar.
Housed in a former copper-wiring factory, hence the name, the renovated venue is located behind a private entrance down a sleepy hutong and offers a sense of exclusivity while remaining a truly Beijing experience.
Introducing the newest venue to, erm, pop up on Bespoke Beijing’s Hidden Beijing Boutique Experience, we’re delighted to introduce the delights of Pop-Up Beijing in Sanlitun. This new shop is located over two levels in the newly buzzing Sanlitun No. 4 Courtyard and finally offers a chance to buy the kinds of objets d’art you’d normally have to schlep to the sprawling Gaobeidian furniture street for right here in the city.
There’s something for everyone and every price point, whether you are looking for a gift to take back home or you’re looking for ways to brighten up your apartment that doesn’t involve the hassle of IKEA or the haggling of Panjiayuan. Items range from ceramic cups – made in Jingdezhen, China’s home of pottery – from 28-30RMB to full-scale Tiananmen chests that are priced nearer the 8,000RMB mark.
Read all about it! Read all about it! Nanjing East Road area in decent café shocker! It’s a bit of an odd part of town, this, isn’t it? The long stretch between the Bund and People’s Square has plenty of gorgeous heritage architecture but, where they haven’t been ripped down to create malls, most of the buildings here seem to remain occupied by obscure government departments determined to let them crumble into obscurity.
New café The Press, then, is rather a breath of fresh air in what we’ve often described as a ‘culinary wasteland’. Sitting pretty on the corner of Hankou Lu and Shandong Lu, the smiley staff serve a decent selection of coffee and western food. But we’d be lying if we claimed it was all about the food, folks, it’s the space here that makes the headlines. Huge windows and a high ceiling giving an airy feel rarely found in Shanghai. In fact, it’s the gorgeous curved and ornately plastered ceiling that provides the incredibly grand look.
To say the BBC’s Sherlock adaptation has been a huge hit in China is something of an understatement, its star famously being honored by his legions of Chinese fans with a quirky Chinese nickname (juan fu, or ‘curly fu’ after his hairstyle in the show). So we admit we were more than a tiny bit excited when we were invited to accompany Benedict Cumberbatch and entourage around Shanghai for the evening.
Would the star reciprocate the city’s affection? After all, one local fan was so besotted that she opened a café, 221B Baker Street, dedicated to the man (it’s at 50 Ruijin Er Lu if you must, and yes, we told him about it!).
Spring has arrived with a bang in Shanghai, so Team Bespoke has been out pounding the streets before the full heat of summer arrives to try out the city’s newest restaurants. Hey, it’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it…
First out of the blocks comes POP American Brasserie. Replacing former tenant New Heights, POP seems determined to make a splash with bold branding and beautifully presented dishes. While the menu of American classics – think Caesar salads, New England clam chowders and plenty of fresh seafood choices – plays it pretty safe, the abundance of colours and fresh flowers used to present the dishes make for a lovely seasonal touch that certainly brightened up our lunch.
The Shanghai Museum of Natural History had, let’s face it, long been a bit of a laughing stock. Opened in 1956 in a lovely old colonial building behind the Bund, it would surely have been something special back in the day. Rarely (if ever) updated, the dusty corridors and bizarre exhibits (ragged looking mummies, animal specimens in formaldehyde) gave the impression of an eccentric professor’s laboratory: quirky and amusing, but hardly living up to Shanghai’s 21st century aspirations.
But now the museum has reopened and has been given more than just a makeover. This is a full scale reboot including a new location in Jing’an Sculpture Park. Serious amounts of time and money have been spent here, and with its dramatic new design, the museum hasn’t been short of attention: so many locals turned up on opening day in mid-April that ticketing had to be halted an hour in.
