Last weekend was quite arty, so I will use this post to talk a bit about the finer things in life in Beijing.
- Art: we're obviously too new here to have properly explored the art scene. But we visited Art Zone 798, which is home to tens (hundreds?) of Chinese galleries (and a nice Italian restaurant - Jessi can't look at art (or generally engage in non-eating activities (nested parentheses are fun #meta (http://xkcd.com/33/))) when hungry).
It was a fun experience - and some of the pieces on display were interesting - but overall, I must confess that I wasn't wowed. Most of the work there felt a bit too common, too derivative, to use what is probably the bitchiest criticism in the world (in seriousness, if giving feedback to someone in person, I think that saying their work is derivative is horrible - it's not helpful in any way, and it's hard to argue against).
Of course, I plan to visit again, as we only managed to visit a small number of galleries, given how many there are there. But what I enjoyed more than the art district was...
- ... the furniture market. I must confess that when it comes to art and a lot of forms of design I am biased, I think Western know-how is superior. For example, we visited an exhibition at the V&A in London which showcased Indian jewellery. I felt that the India-inspired jewels created by western manufacturers like Cartier were superior to the Indian ones themselves. Which is why I (embarrassingly?) was genuinely surprised at how beautiful Chinese furniture is, when I saw a few pieces still at the V&A.
So, having heard that there is an area with lots of furniture shops here, I pestered Jessi to go. And so we did. And it was awesome. The area we visited has nothing but furniture shops, and you can find all sorts of Chinese designs - classical (reproductions though, not antiques) and modern. And both styles are beautiful. You can see desks that are imposing, heavy and solid, or thin, long and light, and yet both elegant. Bookcases made of wood and iron, either in a minimalist style, or with intricate shelf designs. Partition screens, painted or carved, beds, couches, coffee tables (it's funny - we spent four years in the same flat in Geneva without a coffee table because we never found one we thought was perfect, but here we hardly saw any we didn't like) - all wonderful, except for their chairs. These are just large and made of wood - they don't look very elegant nor comfortable. But everything else was great. Also, the variety of styles means you could decorate any sort of house with items bought here - a summer house in a Greek island or a Swiss chalet. Definitely recommend it.
- Tailoring: in Beijing you can get tailored shirts for the same price you get off the rack ones in the UK (~20 GBP). The service is also very fast - about 1 week. Jessi and I have both ordered shirts, but we haven't tried them yet... stay tuned. If they are good, when I get a job, I've warned Jessi that I will buy a quantity of suits that is somewhere between "a lot of suits" and "all the suits". Especially as my salary to suit-cost ratio (my personal Big Mac Index) will be about 25-30 VS 4 in London.
- Alcohol: wine and whisky are about the same price here as in London, but I've been warned that there are a lot of fakes around, so one needs to be careful. In restaurants, people drink mostly beer or tea - Jessi and I aren't keen beer drinkers, but we've tried some very good ones here. Micro-brewing seems to be a trend in the East just as much as it is in Europe. Still, I think having tea with our dinner is probably a welcome break for our livers... at least until we move into our flat and start buying wine again - which reminds me, forgot to list this above: also found lovely bar furniture - which I've always wanted. Definitely recommend the furniture market.
Also - there is a great tiny bar where there are no menus (hardly any tables for that matter - maybe 2 or 3). Instead, you tell the barman what you feel like drinking, and he will make you something. Your instructions can be dull, like ours were (something sweet, whisky based for me, something refreshing, gin based for Jessi) or more creative (something "autumny" - as requested by a friend of a friend, who apparently sent the drink back for further modification for not being autumny enough). From what I understood, the limit to the instructions you can give the barman is set by your imagination - you could order a mood, or a drink based on a poem etc. Will confirm this next time and let you know.
- Art: we're obviously too new here to have properly explored the art scene. But we visited Art Zone 798, which is home to tens (hundreds?) of Chinese galleries (and a nice Italian restaurant - Jessi can't look at art (or generally engage in non-eating activities (nested parentheses are fun #meta (http://xkcd.com/33/))) when hungry).
It was a fun experience - and some of the pieces on display were interesting - but overall, I must confess that I wasn't wowed. Most of the work there felt a bit too common, too derivative, to use what is probably the bitchiest criticism in the world (in seriousness, if giving feedback to someone in person, I think that saying their work is derivative is horrible - it's not helpful in any way, and it's hard to argue against).
Of course, I plan to visit again, as we only managed to visit a small number of galleries, given how many there are there. But what I enjoyed more than the art district was...
- ... the furniture market. I must confess that when it comes to art and a lot of forms of design I am biased, I think Western know-how is superior. For example, we visited an exhibition at the V&A in London which showcased Indian jewellery. I felt that the India-inspired jewels created by western manufacturers like Cartier were superior to the Indian ones themselves. Which is why I (embarrassingly?) was genuinely surprised at how beautiful Chinese furniture is, when I saw a few pieces still at the V&A.
So, having heard that there is an area with lots of furniture shops here, I pestered Jessi to go. And so we did. And it was awesome. The area we visited has nothing but furniture shops, and you can find all sorts of Chinese designs - classical (reproductions though, not antiques) and modern. And both styles are beautiful. You can see desks that are imposing, heavy and solid, or thin, long and light, and yet both elegant. Bookcases made of wood and iron, either in a minimalist style, or with intricate shelf designs. Partition screens, painted or carved, beds, couches, coffee tables (it's funny - we spent four years in the same flat in Geneva without a coffee table because we never found one we thought was perfect, but here we hardly saw any we didn't like) - all wonderful, except for their chairs. These are just large and made of wood - they don't look very elegant nor comfortable. But everything else was great. Also, the variety of styles means you could decorate any sort of house with items bought here - a summer house in a Greek island or a Swiss chalet. Definitely recommend it.
- Tailoring: in Beijing you can get tailored shirts for the same price you get off the rack ones in the UK (~20 GBP). The service is also very fast - about 1 week. Jessi and I have both ordered shirts, but we haven't tried them yet... stay tuned. If they are good, when I get a job, I've warned Jessi that I will buy a quantity of suits that is somewhere between "a lot of suits" and "all the suits". Especially as my salary to suit-cost ratio (my personal Big Mac Index) will be about 25-30 VS 4 in London.
- Alcohol: wine and whisky are about the same price here as in London, but I've been warned that there are a lot of fakes around, so one needs to be careful. In restaurants, people drink mostly beer or tea - Jessi and I aren't keen beer drinkers, but we've tried some very good ones here. Micro-brewing seems to be a trend in the East just as much as it is in Europe. Still, I think having tea with our dinner is probably a welcome break for our livers... at least until we move into our flat and start buying wine again - which reminds me, forgot to list this above: also found lovely bar furniture - which I've always wanted. Definitely recommend the furniture market.
Also - there is a great tiny bar where there are no menus (hardly any tables for that matter - maybe 2 or 3). Instead, you tell the barman what you feel like drinking, and he will make you something. Your instructions can be dull, like ours were (something sweet, whisky based for me, something refreshing, gin based for Jessi) or more creative (something "autumny" - as requested by a friend of a friend, who apparently sent the drink back for further modification for not being autumny enough). From what I understood, the limit to the instructions you can give the barman is set by your imagination - you could order a mood, or a drink based on a poem etc. Will confirm this next time and let you know.
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