Best of the Blog: July/August 2017 Edition

Margaux Schreurs | Jul 2, 2017 9:00 am | Add a comment | 1153 reads

Every issue we tally the hits from theBeijinger.com and bring you the most viewed blogs from our website. Read on to see which blogs were the most popular.

1. After Told Not to Touch Emergency Door, Passenger Deploys Emergency Chute at Beijing Airport
A Beijing Airport passenger accidentally deployed the emergency chute to her airliner by pulling the lever to its emergency exit right after she was told not to touch it.

A Xiamen Airlines flight had been preparing to leave Beijing Capital International Airport Monday morning. A Weibo user said airline staff had just completed the safety announcement in which passengers were explicitly told “not to touch the emergency doors unless it was an emergency” when a passenger simply opened the door.

2. Traffic-Violating Expats Used by Police to Teach Chinese “Awareness of the Law”
In China, many traffic regulations are broken by both expats and locals alike. And yet, even though Chinese media has shown a preference for focusing on the former, this is done in order to influence the latter.

With green cards being in such short supply, expats only make up a very small proportion of the Chinese public. So why is there such outrage when expats are caught disregarding Chinese law?

3. Cultural Diets: The Reason Why China Thinks Foreigners All Hate Cilantro
Food is, by far, the topic that expats in China are questioned about the most. But, strangely, it always seems to be about the same things. For example, locals will commonly ask expats about their chopstick skills, or grill them over their daily preference for hamburgers.

Another odd generalization gravitates around foreigners’ belief that eating cilantro is equivalent to eating soap.

4. Mandarin Month: How to make Friends With Your Taxi Driver (And Avoid Scams)
The most convenient way to get around Beijing is by taxi (出租车 chuzuche) thanks to the abundance of yellow cabs on the roads and taxi apps like Didi at your fingertips, which now has an English version. Yes, you might get caught in rush hour on the Third Ring Road if you are not careful, but at least you can serenade your taxi driver with Chinese pop songs instead of being squished on a stuffy and smelly subway carriage.

5. Going Solo: The Best Things to Do Alone in Beijing
Life in Beijing moves pretty fast and it can be hard to find a moment to yourself. Yet when we do finally get that time to ourselves we often end up wondering “what should I do now?” Whether you are looking to relax, treat yourself, or simply explore the city, there are plenty of great ways to enjoy Beijing by yourself.

We look at some of the city’s best things to do when you’re free to spend some you time, and looking to relax.

6. You Voted: Q Mex Crowned Beijing’s Best Burger After Six Weeks of Battle in the Beijinger’s 2017 Burger Cup
Q Mex took the crown following six weeks of intense burger battles as part of our 2017 Burger Cup. On their way to the top, Q Mex slipped past VSports, squished Katchup, took away Fatboy’s lunch money, then eliminated last year’s champ Slow boat before finally squeaking by dark horse Cannon’s Burger to take their much-deserved spot at the top.

7. Bottega Xinyuanli Soft Openings: A Huge Space to Fill With Hungry Patrons Hankering for Some of Beijing’s Best Pizza
Bottega is back! And we are really, really relieved, because we missed the pizza more than we’d like to admit ... during their two-week closure.

After boxing up their original Sanlitun location, and the team’s accompanying Aperol spritz bar Vesuvio, we will soon have two new locations and double the excuse for a reason to drop by one of the city’s most popular Italian restaurants. The smaller, Nali Patio spot is still in development at the time of print, but that barely matters given that it may have already been overshadowed by the new (and massive) branch next to Raffles Medical (previously International SOS) in Xinyuanli.

8. Creamy Crack Time: 6 of Beijing’s Delivered Bubble Milk Teas Rates Just in Time for Summer
Milk tea (naicha), and more specifically, milk tea with pearls/bubbles (zhenzhu naicha), may just be the reason I’ve stayed in Asia for this long (sorry, girlfriend; screw you, friends). Its combination of liquid silk and sweet beige spheres of chewy rabbit poop heaven add up to one of the best experiences you can have in Beijing, which is why we went ahead and reviewed six types in Beijing that you can get delivered to your door.

This article first appeared in the July/August issue of the Beijinger.