5 Things to Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear, and See This Weekend
Beijing can be overstimulating, to say the least. Let’s be real: Sometimes even our sixth sense gets a decent workout, the one where you know that stick of chuan'r will get you sick for the next two days (but you gobble it up anyway). With such a wide variety of events, restaurants, and gigs to attend, we suggest bathing each of your five senses in one, if not all, of the nourishing goings-on below.
Taste
Nov 24: Naked Boxing Bao
It may sound like a clickbait-worthy misleading title, but it's not to be taken literally – everything advertised will take place in your mouth. Wait, that sounds even dirtier. With a Boxing Cat Brewery beer in one hand and a Naked Nut-Buttered Baozza (baozi made from cookie dough and filled with nut butter) in the other, you have everything you need for a delicious night in at Zarah. Free. 7pm. Café Zarah.
Smell
Tiki Bar Hot Drinks
Winter deprives us of plenty of funnery – going for the dip in the sea, picnics in the park, strolls down the old-town streets with a fresh scoop of gelato from the family store ... Eh, who are we kidding, we don't get any of that in Beijing, anyway. However, Beijingers are still deprived of being outside as much as we'd normally like, so come winter, we are constantly looking for ways to get our kicks indoors, or at least somewhere warm. One of the survivors of The Great Brickening, and a refuge of endless summer vibes year-round, Tiki Bar is adapting to the colder climate by updating their menu with some hot island drinks, including the "Buttered Rum." Head to Tiki Bar this weekend to warm up your cold fingers and heart.
Touch
Nov 25: Moka Bros Christmas Hygge
You may have heard the word, and if you're not Danish, you may still not be sure exactly how to pronounce it. Hygge, pronounced hue-guh, basically amounts to any moment or space that is extremely cozy and is considered a quintessentially Danish concept (or at least the Danes would like to think so). As more and more businesses look to commercially capture the ethereal, eye-moistening moments of comfort, Moka Bros now vies for some of the action, selling æbleskiver, little apple-shaped balls of dough and are similar to a pancake in that they're eaten with jam, butter, and other condiments of your choice. Because globalization. Free. Midday-until sold out. Moka Bros.
Hear
Nov 25: Hip-Hop Series 'Open Fire'
Hip-hop is for sure having a moment right now in China. With no shortage of mean rap parties, the rhymes have taken the nation by storm, mostly through this year's TV reality show The Rap of China, which really has nothing on the local underground hip-hop scene of Beijing. School Bar will get stuffy and hot when Odd Couple, Drop Science Crew, DJ Quaver, SLAN.G, Lofthestar and more step onto its stage. See what our fair city has to offer, then go check out Sichuanese Rap of China contestant Vava at Tango on Sunday. Compare, contrast, discuss. A word of caution: You might download QQ music afterward only to look for Chinese hip-hop. School Bar. 9pm. RMB 80.
See
Nov 25: Modernista's Anniversary Show
Sprinkle some heat on the approaching Beijing winter with Modernista's anniversary Moonglow Burlesque show. Presenting one of a few times in our life during which it will be acceptable to use the phrase "ooh-la-la," the Modernista crew has put together a series of events marking the bar's continued strength in the face of city planning's attempts to quash it. With a red velvet curtain framing the stage, expect plenty of whistling, cigar smoking, suspenders, and unending hooch this Saturday in celebration of another Modernista anniversary. Free. 10pm. Modernista.
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