Craft Brews Galore and a Hula Hoop Party at Hulu Nov 16-18 for Maovember

Be it a hula hoop ring toss contest on one of the prettiest terraces in town, or buying up pints of craft beer to raise proceeds for charity, this weekend's Maovember events represent a wide and varying appeal.

The annual month-long series of parties, aimed at raising proceeds for worthy charities like Bread of Life and the Library Project, is set to keep the momentum going this weekend after a launch event at XL at the beginning of November and a schnapps tasting last weekend.

This weekend's fun kicks off at Taikooli casual fine dining hub Hulu on Friday, Nov 16 from 6pm-9pm. The trendy eatery's terrace – which boasts a beautiful, tough-to-beat Sanlitun backdrop – will be dedicated to Maovember pin wearers who can enjoy free-flow canapes and three drinks for a quite reasonable RMB 150. And anyone hoping to show off their hand-eye coordination (even while inebriated) can have a go at the venue-appropriate hula hoop/ring toss game. What's more: the Hulu team will donate one mao for every renminbi spent in the restaurant on Nov 16-18 to charity.

Then, on Saturday, Nov 17 from 2pm onward, there will be simultaneous fundraisers at a slew of craft breweries fittingly titled MaovemBEER. In a promo for the event one of the organizers Jim Boyce (of Beijing Boyce and The Grape Wall of China fame) says: "Whether its a dedicated tap for charity or a donation for each pint sold, each venue will have a beer deal and lots of fun." The list of confirmed brewers so far looks like this:

Beer nerds will note that this particular Maovember event wasn't part of last year's roster, though it had been one of the most popular happenings in the fundraiser campaign in years prior, so participants will no doubt be excited to see it return this go around.
 

More About Maovember

Co-founded in 2011 by Jim Boyce and a number of other socially conscious Beijing movers and shakers and F&B types, the November spanning campaign is meant to help raise funds for worthy causes in a fun fashion. 

This year's beneficiaries are Bread of Life, a bakery that hires and trains workers with bone disease in order to give them valuable skills and gainful employment, and the Library Project, which furnishes libraries for migrant schools throughout China.

Last year’s Maovember proceeds helped Bread of Life purchase a mixer, a refrigerator room motor and a delivery truck (read more about that here). The 2017 campaign also helped the Library Project provided reading materials, and, furniture and audio and video equipment for a library for migrant school children.

“We like to see something tangible with our efforts,” Boyce recently told us about donating to those charities. Transparency is a big part of that effort, with both organizations providing receipts and other documentation to ensure the funds get to who need them most.

Steve Wang, founder of WE Brewery in Tianjin, also likes the level of accountability as he partakes in both MaovemBEER and other aspects of the campaign. “There is a culture gap between local and foreigners. Locals think charity is purely about donating money, and they don't understand that while doing charity work, people can still have fun. That's why I think more and more locals got involved in Maovember nowadays.“

Check out the full schedule for Maovember events here.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
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Photos: Jim Boyce, Jing A, courtesy of Bread of Life