Hot Clocking: Interior Design Exhibit and a Peek at a Pagoda

Joey Knotts, Contributing Editor | Feb 22, 2021 4:30 pm | Add a comment | 412 reads

Have you clocked in yet? No, we’re not talking about your 9-5. The phenomenon of 打卡 dǎkǎ clocking in is how netizens refer to hitting the must-see spots. But just where are Beijing’s latest gotta-get-there, totally selfie-worthy sites? We've got the round-up in our newest column, Hot Clocking.

Markor Cave

Commuters who regularly travel along Chaoyangmenwai Dajie may have already noticed the latest architectural addition to the neighborhood – a large white rectangle of a building, its edges flaring at both the base and roof, standing in the space previously occupied by a humble electronics store.

This is Markor Cave, part exhibition center of interior design, part unaffordable furniture store, with a bit of food and beverage in the mix to boot. Of course, it’s the former qualifier that brings in the masses, and boy did they flock in droves over the New Year holiday to experience the cutting edge of Western aesthetic. From sculptures to murals to model rooms, there’s plenty to gawk at in the 35,000 square meters of space before grabbing a new pillow from the gift shop (assuming you’re not there to buy a mattress).

It’s not exactly Ikea, but Markor Cave has taken a page from the Swedes and placed a dining and bar area on the third floor (navigable by spiral staircase, naturally), and it’s a good bit classier than a meatball cafeteria.

Markor Cave 美克洞学馆
99 Chaoyangmenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District
朝阳区朝阳门外大街99号
Open daily, 10am-9pm.

Yida Times Art Museum

This art museum, which opened late last year, is another spot that makes good use of skylights and intriguing interior, but of course, it’s what’s on the walls that is important in this case. Currently, the key exhibition (running until Mar 15) is showing off the works of Käthe Kollwitz, a German printmaker, painter, and sculptor who became the first woman elected to the Prussian Academy of Arts.

Yida Times Art Museum 亿达时代美术馆
157 Dongsinan Dajie, Dongcheng District
东城区东四南大街157.
Open daily, 10am-6pm (doors close at 5pm)

Tianning No. 1

The Tianning No. 1 Cultural and Technological Innovation Park is an interesting site in itself, with its aging iron machinery similar to the old structures that populate 798 as well as some space-age models like a bubble-home that you might expect to see on Mars one day.

As nice as that all is, it’s not the real reason that netizens are making the trek. The actual attraction is the Tianning Temple, a 12th-century pagoda made of brick and stone. The tower was restored in the 1970s, but it’s not currently open to the public. As it happens, Tianning No 1 is the closest spot to sneak a peek.