5 Things to Taste, Smell, Touch, Hear and See This Weekend

Beijing can be overstimulating, to say the least. Let’s be real, sometimes even our sixth sense gets a decent workout, the one where you know that stick of chuan'r will get you sick for the next two days (but you gobble it up anyway). With such a wide variety of events, restaurants, and gigs to attend, we suggest bathing each of your five senses into one, if not all, of the nourishing goings-on below.

Taste

The Watermelon Museum at Panggezhuangqiao
It's the season of Watermelons (and it has been for a while)! However, since we are soon to step into the autumn weather and wave goodbye to the variety of fruits on the streets (soon to be replaced by oranges), eat your watermelons while you can. One of the heaviest watermelon growing districts in the world also has their own watermelon museum. You might have heard it being mentioned with other slightly unusual museums of Beijing, such as the infamous Tap Water Museum. Exciting. On top of getting to buy the fruit in the hotspot of the local watermelon world, you also get sample some in the gardens of the museum. It's a little while away from central Beijing, but the subway can take you almost all the way. Take Line 4 to the southern terminus at TianGong 天宫, then head south on bus numbers 28, 30 or 55 to Panggezhuangqiao 庞各庄桥. The Watermelon Museum (西瓜博物馆) is on the northeast corner of the Panggezhuangqiao intersection. 

Smell

Check in with your fitness level at The Great Wall Fresh
Can you find The Great Wall in this picture? It's definitely less visible than your usual Badaling lot, but that also means that it's more fun. Sharing the path with spiders, millipedes, and occasional giant wasps is more exciting than jostling through selfie-snapping tourist hordes. Breathe in the fresh, cooling air and the scent of wild flowers surrounding the wall. The hikes around Chenjiapo village might test your lung capacity and the strength of your calves after long hours on the wall (they are longer if you somehow get lost), but you can then head down to a homestay where the Chen family will serve you some great, homemade food. 

Touch

Feel Poetish at The Hutong
When was the last time you had a pen in your hand for longer than a moment of jotting down a wi-fi password? Beijing's Literary magazine "Spittoon" is calling writers and artists to submit their work for their autumn issue, so attending Poetish at The Hutong can serve as a trial run for your writing skills. The organizers' motherly line, "Everyone is an artist," may not be completely true, but it should make it easier to give that blank piece of paper a try. The Hutong has prepared writing prompts and games to get the creativity flowing and serve as ice breakers. Saturday. 5pm. RMB 40.

Hear 

Beijing Improv at the Bookworm, Saturday, 7:30pm
Finding community performing arts in Beijing (especially theatre) is not always easy. We do get the occasional touring theatre groups from Europe, but our most loved ones are still the local Beijingers. Beijing Improv is China's oldest and largest improvised theatre organizations and they will be putting up a long-form performance at the Bookworm. Curl up on one of the sofas (you'll have to show up early to snag one of those) with a glass of wine and train your abdomen the fun way. Beijing Improv is a non-profit organization, so all proceeds go to a charity that cares for migrant workers. 

See

Watch a Modern Blockbuster in China's Oldest Cinema
Beijing is not shying away from the proud titles of its "oldest" structures, of which the city has plenty. The old street of Dashilan, just south of Qianmen subway stop, is worth a stroll for anyone looking for the good stuff. While the street itself is often too busy, too plastic and too touristic, the smaller hutongs surrounding it give out a completely different vibe than their northern cousins. While you're at it, peek into the oldest cinema in China, at Daguanlou (大观楼). The first floor of the building serves as a gallery and a timeline of the history of Chinese cinema. Brick walls and black-and-white tiled flooring gives out pleasantly retro vibes while the unmistakable popcorn smell will bring on the sense of cinema adventure. While, unfortunately, they only screen new released, and the oldest thing you'll see here is a collection of impressive chairs, you can enjoy the ambiance while you queue up for your tickets and then climb up to the second floor, where the old Beijing vibes fade away to make space for action and thrills. 

Images: Visit Beijing, Daily Mail, courtesy of the organizers 

More by the author here.