Tag Archive > beijing

Pimp my ride, China-style!

Cars are a symbol of modernity and luxury, and particularly so in China, the largest car market in the world. Everyone is in on this: the government, auto companies, and of course, the sacred cow of the international economy, the rising Chinese middle class. As a country and a generation goes wheels up, one of [...]

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PaperTalk: Celebrating the Charm of Paper

PaperTalk is one of my favourite, favourite places in Beijing. Nestled in Fangjia Hutong (方家胡同), this adorable shop specializes in paper products and specialty papers from all around the world. It is all very fitting considering that paper was a Chinese invention. PaperTalk Proprietor Haiyi is passionate about paper, and PaperTalk is a perfect platform [...]

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Life at 134 Jiaodaokou Nan Da Jie (交道口南大街134号)

It’s been an embarrassingly long time since I updated this website! Now that I’ve managed to update WordPress and get the comments working again, it’s time to update qB itself. My friend V and I did a hutong photo shoot. These photos were taken at our last stop, a row of street food vendors.

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thumbgirl: the aesthetic of cute

卜算子 陌生的尘埃MV from ThumbGirl’s latest album, 伤花怒放 Based in Beijing but tracing its influences back to the UK’s Sarah Records, ThumbGirl (拇指姑娘) is China’s first tweepop band.  Like their name – a translation of Thumbelina – their sweet and gentle music evokes a child’s sense of wonder. This is a band that makes Belle and [...]

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beijing in vintage postcards from images of asia

Street cleaners wash down a city street in old Beijing. Chinese Lunch Counter on the Streets of Beijing   Chinese Water Carrier The Images of Asia stock image website combines two of my favorite things: vintage postcards and historic China. These evocative postcards, some with their original stamps, are organized by cities and by studios.  [...]

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mapping beijing, isometrically

  Google Maps are pretty cool, but if you ever wanted to know what Beijing and other Chinese cities would look like if they were in Sim City, check out these maps created by Edushi.com.  Not only can you “walk” around a cartoon version of the city, you can also search by streets and landmarks.  [...]

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a life displayed: song dong’s ‘waste not’

From the New York Times is this wonderful slideshow and related article of a thought-provoking exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Created by the artist Song Dong, the exhibition displays the accumulated everyday possessions from the life of a Beijing woman, the artist’s mother Zhao Xiangyuan. Even the most ordinary and inconsequential items [...]

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mr. wu of tongzhou: farmer, robot creator

This is an old YouTube video that I’ve been wanting to blog for a while.  Over in Tongzhou, there is a farmer who makes robots despite a lack of any formal training. He loves making robots, but his wife is not so fond of them, especially after Mr. Wu burned down the house.  On the [...]

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The World At Your Fingertips

The setting of the highly recommended Jia Zhangke film The World 世界, World Park brings the world’s greatest monuments in miniature straight to residents without ever having to leave China. As even obtaining a passport is an excercise in bureaucracy, never mind trying to get tourist visas, it’s easy to see why World Park would [...]

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“none holds for me the abiding charm that is peking”

I have just discovered the Travel Film Archive, a collection of travel footage from 1900 to 1970 available on YouTube. If you’re a fan of old newsreels, you’ll probably love this.  Complete with serious voiceovers and the slightly patronizing tone of the man on the spot to those funny foreigners, they capture a time when [...]

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