All By My-se-he-helf: What to Do If You're Staying in Beijing Over Spring Festival

If you're staying in Beijing over Spring Festival, for work or vacation, there are a bunch of things to prepare for before everyone goes home or into hibernation. Below are some tips to make sure your week is the best it possibly can be:

Get Water in the House 
Get enough filtered water in the house before it’s too late and your water delivery people stop working. They will probably stop for at least the February 5-13 period, so be prepared. If you're not sure about the dates, check with them before they close up shop.

Shops and Restaurants Will Close for At Least Some of the Holiday
Not all shops and restaurants will close, but many will close for at least some of Chun Jie. We’ve gathered all the information we can find to keep you up to date on opening times for your favorite restaurants around town.

Make Trips to Tourist Sites
Domestic tourists tend to go home rather than travel during this week, so visiting the tourist sites (if you still haven’t yet) is a good idea and should relieve of the usual flag-toting crowds.

Films and TV Shows to Watch
A personal suggestion would be to watch Making a Murderer, if you haven't already! At only 10 episodes it's an easy one to binge on throughout the holiday and if you're really at a loose end you can watch the whole thing in a day.

There’s also all those Oscar-nominated films that may or may not be online: The Revenant, The Big Short, Bridge of Spies, Brooklyn, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Martian, Room, and Spotlight. The complete list will definitely fill up your entire holiday.

Alternatively, if you're looking for something a little closer to home, then check out Richard Peña's, of the New York Film Festival, guide to 19 of the best Chinese films to be released over the last 80 years. The majority have streaming links so you don't even have to search.

Books to Read
With the Bookworm Literary Festival coming up soon this is a good time to stay up-to-date on the latest China releases. Buy Me the Sky by Xinran is one of these, as well as Mark O’Neill’s the Miraculous History of China’s Two Palace Museums and David Bandurski’s Dragons in Diamond Village.

Be Careful of Fireworks and Protect Your Pets
Having spent Chinese New Year in the hutongs, I know the dangerous fireworks that lurk around every corner. Make sure that you’re careful turning corners at night, especially on the actual New Year’s Eve (February 7).

Your pets might be particularly afraid of the fireworks, so read up on how to protect them from World War III outside, especially if this is your pet's first Spring Festival.

Spring Cleaning
What better time to start spring cleaning than during Spring Festival? Check to see which winter clothes you haven’t even worn yet, and make space for the summer wardrobe which will soon be coming back in (wishful thinking, perhaps).

Temple Fair
Oh the good old temple fairs: they’re back! Whether to go is entirely up to you, as some of these get pretty crowded, but they’re a good opportunity to catch some of that good old Chinese culture if you haven’t been here long enough to stop caring. See here for our six top picks.

More stories by this author here.
Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
Instagram: s.xuagram

Photo: en.people.cn