Mid-Autumn Festival is fast approaching, and while the best thing you could arguably do during the break is to eat, drink, and listen at our very own Belt & Road Food Fest happening Sep 15-17 (scan the QR code in the poster below to buy tickets), we’ve put together a few other things we feel are worth checking out.
This isn’t a comprehensive list – expect that to come later this week – but rather a look at a few things in the realms of history, art, music, food, and drink worth exploring.
History
Your best bet to get a sense of history over the holiday is underfoot, with the return of both Bizarre Beijing’s haunted nighttime walking tours and Beijing Postcards’ hutong scavenger hunts.
Kicking things off on Friday the 13th (couldn’t pick a better night for a spook than Halloween), is Bizarre Beijing, which will take participants through the hutongs surrounding the city’s former execution grounds in Caishikou. The tour ends in the Huguang Opera Guild Hall in Xicheng, which was allegedly constructed over an ancient burial ground and… well, you know the rest. Spots are RMB 300/person add Jim Nobles on WeChat (ID: jimnobles) to sign up.
On a less haunted and more sleuthing kind of note is Beijing Postcards’ Hutong Scavenger Hunt. Back after a very long break, the hutong scavenger hunt takes teams all around the ancient markets and backstreets of Dashilar south of Zhengyangmen. Tasks include everything from writing calligraphy to finding Chinese remedies in one of the city’s oldest TCM shops and more. Spots are RMB 300/adults and RMB 150/children. You can register by scanning the QR code in the poster above.
Art
One of the most intriguing shows you can see in Beijing right now is that of James Jean, whose work blends Chinese and Japanese art styles with Renaissance portraiture to create magical and fantastical realms and visuals. You can catch his Beijing show, James Jean: Eternal Spring IV, at the Today Art Museum in Shuangjing. You can buy tickets and find out more via this link.
The whimsical is also taking over the China National Art Museum near Dongsi over the holiday, thanks to a solo exhibition of the works of artist Wu Didi. Using both traditional and contemporary elements, her works take inspiration from the twisting and weaving of bamboo, vines, birds, insects and nature to focus on their abstract forms. The exhibition is free entry, you can find out more in the poster above.
Music
Beijing’s music scene is in for some fun this weekend with the return of nugchella, the annual festival hosted by now long gone but not forgotten hutong live house nugget. Taking over DDC on the night of Sep 16, expect to see nugget favorites like lost memory machine, 2D Foil, SOURTOWER, and others for a night of indie pop and other fuzzy sounds. Read more about it via the Beijinger tomorrow.
On the mellower side of things, Blue Note sees its Blue Note China Jazz Orchestra back for a continuation of their series on the capital, focusing on the hutongs for two concerts on Sep 14 and 15. The orchestra uses the series to bring locations around Beijing – from Xizhimen to Tiantan – to life through jazz in order to give listeners a better appreciation for the city. Tickets are RMB 300-520 and can be purchased via the QR code in the poster above and you can learn more here.
Food & Drink
Italian hutong bar Nina made a comeback this past Friday after its untimely demise last month via a pop-up at Voyage at Temple, which lies in the same complex as TRB Hutong. Thankfully, it’s not a one night deal, as from this Friday onward from 6pm-1am, guests can enjoy all of Nina’s classic negronis and spritzes all in the confines of the Temple complex.
Further outside the city, and happening for one day and night only on Sep 15 is uh-huh’s wine tasting and dance party at Cannan Winery in Hebei. There’s going to be a tasting of selected wines from Chapter & Verse – plus lots more wine, to be sure – a buffet dinner by Simone Thompson of Malo’s, a lineup of DJs and more fun. Tickets are RMB 418 plus an extra RMB 198 for the tasting. Click here to read more and purchase tickets.
For those looking for a pick me up that’s on the nonalcoholic side, there’s the 2024 CBD Coffee Festival. Taking place from Sep 14-17, we’re willing to bet there’s going to be a whole bunch of coffee to smell, drink, and savor as it wakes you up for a good day. Read more about it here.
READ: Take the Subway and See: Yuanmingyuan, the Old Summer Palace
Images courtesy of the venues/organizers