Archive > April 2008

quirkyBeijing reads

• Hanzillion: all hanzi belong to me! A student of Chinese collects the characters by taking photos from her daily life in Shanghai (via Shanghaiist) • China Madness. It’s China. It’s mad. Gotta love it. (from Sara) • The Rather Difficult Font Game tests your knowledge of fonts.  It is, as the title says, rather [...]

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You Say Party! We Say Die!

Last night we went to a brilliant night of indie rock at D-22 in Wudaokou. The headliners were Canadian band You Say Party! We Say Die! with three fantastic opening bands from Beijing: Candy Monster, Guai Li, and Ourselves Beside Me. It was the attack of cute female lead singers channelling their aggression through music! [...]

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sweet toast of mine

While my friend and I were out meandering around Joy City Xidan, one of those new fancy malls that are springing up around Beijing like mushrooms, we went to a shop that practically screamed “quirky!” The shop in question was Potato & Co. Here is part of their store window. Not only did they carry [...]

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in praise of china scene

One of my favourite sections of China Daily, the official English-language daily here, is China Scene. Divided up into regional sections, China Scene compiles the offbeat and slice-of-life stories around China, with fun illustrations. Here is one example about a would-be thief: Shoplifter is head-trapped (from February 27, 2008) A shoplifter in Fushun, Liaoning province, [...]

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big city, small spaces

Apartment complexes are the jack-of-all-trades of Beijing’s buildings. Due to some contortions of the zoning laws and permits, apartment buildings often double up as office buildings–and more–because it is often much cheaper for tax purposes and economically viable for small businesses. Scott’s office, which doubles up, even has that most luxurious of furnishings–a bathtub! The [...]

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quirkyBeijing reads

- DIY Ceiling Cat, from Tubbypaws, itself an adorable blog about papercrafts – How Wong Kar-wai lost his way by Grady Hendrix of Kaiju Shakedown – The Misadventures of Hello Cthulhu. A webcomic that dares to ask who is more evil, Sanrio characters or the dread lord Cthulhu. Hilarity ensues. – Chinese cooking video: Mark [...]

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daytripping on an organic italian farm

I often have days in Beijing when I simply want to see something green, instead of the usual smoggy, dreary urban jungle.   Luckily, last Friday I had the opportunity to visit Agrilandia, an organic Italian farm in Shunyi district on the outskirts of Beijing. Even though it was a cold and drizzly sort of day, [...]

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found: the totoro bun!

As readers may be aware, I have been on the search for the Totoro bun from Tous Les Jours for a while now. I have finally found him! The Totoro bun was found lurking in the Nurenjie 女人街 branch of Tous Les Jours. I had been on his trail for many weeks now, waiting to [...]

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