5 Things to Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear, and See, Jun 12-14

Beijing can be overstimulating place to live, to say the least. Let’s be real: sometimes even our sixth sense (the one that tells you when that stick of chuan'r will make you sick for the next two days) gets a decent workout. With such a wide variety of events, restaurants, and gigs to attend, we suggest bathing each of your five senses in one, if not all, of the nourishing goings-on below. 

Taste

Black Sesame Kitchen Reopens
After several weeks shuttered due to the coronavirus, Beijing favorite Black Sesame Kitchen has finally reopened. To entice people back they're giving away free vouchers which can be redeemed for either one dinner, cooking class, or catering event. The supply of vouchers isn’t limited but must be used before Jun 30 and are limited to one voucher per booking, with a four diner minimum. Still, that seems like a pretty sweet deal for one of the city's best restaurants. Black Sesame Kitchen

Smell

Jun 13: Love Your Local: Peddlers Gin Co. Custom Label Launch
As "China’s first craft gin maker," Peddlers Gin Co. knows a thing or two about community spirit (and spirits). As part of their Love Your Local series, Peddler’s asked three design studios in China – including Beijing’s own Plastered 8 – to design a label for a series of limited edition bottles. To celebrate the bottles’ release, Peddlers Gin Co. will throw a launch event at Plastered 8’s Nanluogo Xiang shop, followed by an afterparty at Sanlitun’s Black Moth cocktail bar. With 11 botanicals, including Buddha’s hand, lotus flower, and Sichuan peppercorns going into every bottle, this event is sure to be an olfactory adventure through the Middle Kingdom. Launch event: Free, 2-5pm, Plastered 8. Afterparty: Free, 8pm-late, The Black Moth.

Touch

Jun 13: Sip and Paint at Cheers
With unlimited pours of vino, it’s hard to say what will be flowing more: the wine or your creative juices, at Cheers' first Sip and Paint event of the year this Saturday. One thing is for sure though, Van Gogh would be envious of the pairing. All materials are included in the price and you’ll even get to take home your own masterpiece. RMB 298. 2-5pm. Cheers at Chaoyang Park.

Hear

Jun 13: Mental Picnics at Aotu Space
The audiophiles behind the short-lived but successful pre-COVID-19 Aotu Space series, Obsessions, return to the decks with their latest venture: a little afternoon picnic for the ears. They'll plunge the depths of their summer catalogs, leaving you to bliss out in the sunshine while sipping on frosty beers and cocktails on the sprawling Aotu terrace. Lush. Free. 3-10pm. Aotu Space

See

Jun 13-Sep 13: Collective Care: A House With Many Guests at M Woods
Collective Care: A House With Many Guests is the first exhibition of the year at M Woods’ gallery in 798 Art District. As the name implies, the non-profit will be hosting eight local collections alongside their permanent works in an effort to collate wildly different voices and approaches to artistic creation. The gallery’s halls and walls will feature art objects spanning Chinese antiques to modern installations, as well as non-art objects from the last three decades. Building on Swiss curator Harald Szeemann’s assertion that a museum is a "house for art," M Woods plays gracious host to both collectors and the artists that they love. RMB 80, RMB 50 (students). 11am-8pm. M Woods 798

READ: Explore Beijing's Hutongs While Giving Back to China's Children

Images courtesy of the organizers, puffpassandpaint.com