2018 Year in Review: Beijing's Top Viral Blogs
As the year comes to a close, it's time for us to look back on some of the happy, the sad, and the downright weird happenings in Beijing over the past 12 months. Without further ado, here is your 2018 Year in Review.
Analyzing which blogs and posts resonate most with our audience – those that go viral and get shared, re-shared, and commented on over and over – gives us invaluable insight into you, and by extension, humankind itself. What makes you tick? What are your deepest, darkest desires? Why do you prefer reading about dirty buns over dumplings?
While looking back at the year in terms of viral blogs, which in fairness is totally unscientific and probably doesn't teach us much at all, it does make for a fun read, a time to remember some of the biggest and weirdest stories of 2018.
Inside Xiaomi’s Everything Store at Beijing's The Place
With plenty of cheap electronics brands on offer (yes, you can get a blender for RMB 50, no it may not last to make a second smoothie), Xiaomi is famous for their cheap and cheerful wares. Back in March, the brand branched out beyond their usual electronics and opened a haven in The Place for... well, almost everything. Smart running sneakers? Check. Sofas? Check. Xiaomi toothbrush? Check. Apparently, you guys were also excited to hear the news given that this article skyrocketed towards the top of this year's most viral blogs.
Instant La: The Best of China’s Self-Heating Hot Pots
Still looking for a light-hearted Christmas gift to take back home? Why not something spicy and so quintessentially Chinese? In the first half of the year, we were excited to learn about self-heating hot pots, so much so that we bought the bestsellers off of Taobao and got to cooking in the office (much to chagrin of our colleagues, who were reminded of the taste test by the smell of their clothes long after the experiment had been completed). If your local Haidilao happens to be too crowded, invite your friends over after a quick run into your local supermarket and you can just about achieve the same result in a fraction of the time (and price). Pro tip: ventilate well afterward.
Why Are People Queuing for 3 Hours to Buy “Dirty Buns”?
First there was cheese milk tea and then there were dirty buns – the two pillars of 2018's food fads. January had us questioning why oh why people were so excited to line up for three hours just to smother their faces in chocolate. Now, almost a year later, these little dirty buns can be found in almost every bakery or 7/11 in the city, a true testament to their sticking power and probably a sign that if you've yet to try one, now may just be the time.
Why I’m (Not) Leaving Beijing
"I'm leaving Beijing" is probably one of the most widely uttered phrases from anywhere between now and early spring as expats weigh their options for the new year and prepare to ship out sometime in the leaving season of summer. However, our long-term historian and Capital Rant columnist Jeremiah Jenne convinced us otherwise, addressing the questionable bits of Beijing in this personal post, explaining why, for him, they are in fact "the charming bits." Yeah, we'll be staying on too.
WeChat Pay Now Allows Users to Bind Overseas Credit Cards
Good news! We can not only spend our hard-earned Chinese money but also all of our offshore savings as well! Back in January, WeChat finally allowed foreign cards (Visa, Mastercard etc.) to be bound to WeChat wallet, meaning that many foreigners were now able to reap the benefits of convenient mobile payments without having a Chinese bank account.
Plug (and) Play: New Beijing US Embassy Sculpture Likened to Anal Beads
Remember when the US Embassy in Beijing installed a giant set of anal beads on their grounds? Good times. It's unlikely that the US Embassy will soon forget either given that it was roundly ridiculed by Chinese netizens as soon as the new sculpture was erected in the embassy's backyard. Even if you don't have the correct permissions to get yourself inside the embassy, you can in fact glance the sculpture from Tianze Road.
Chinese Netizens Jeer at Beijing Expat Smoking on Subway, Told to "Put Out Your Cigarette or Leave China"
We've seen eating, peeing, screaming, fighting, and swearing on the subway before, but this expat went a step too far when he lit up a cigarette in one of the carriages. In the heat of a verbal argument, in which both sides traded profanities in English, other commuters were less than impressed, telling the stand-up citizen to "go back to your country."
Bike to Work: Beijing's Bicycle-Only Highway to Begin Construction in September
Biking on Beijing's roads can sometimes be a little nerve-racking, which is why authorities proposed a bicycle-only highway project that was due to start construction in September. However, skimming through the latest news from Chinese media, it doesn't seem like the project moved further than the blueprints, rendering it yet another piece of positive news relegated to the files of never-to-be-seen cool stuff proposed by the Beijing Bureau of Grandiose Planning.
Much of Forbidden City Perimeter Wall Now Open to Visitors for First Time
If you ever had an urge to try and climb the regal surrounding wall of the Forbidden City in order to avoid the unending crowds, now you can! Thanks to its flat landscape, we're not exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to panoramic views in Beijing, so any chance to get a bit of elevation is exciting. Southern, eastern, and northern sections of the wall are now open to visitors, conspicuously excluding the western portion, which would provide unwanted peeking opportunities into Zhongnanhai.
2018 Year in Review: Beijing's Top 10 New Bars
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