Sneak Peek 2010, Part IV
Here’s the fourth installment of our Beijing 2010 preview: what’s opening, who’s coming, when it’s happening, where to play and what lies ahead.
AT THE MALL
• The Village North will feature more high-end brands than any Beijinger could ask for (e.g. Miu Miu and Balmain), and a few decent restaurants as well. Look out for openings as early as this month.
• Shopping mall Tun San Li will have the silliest name in town; at least they back it up with the most comedic advertising campaign: “Feeling of drunk, then business meeting.”
• Gong San Plaza will emerge from five years of construction to prove it’s more than a big hole in the ground.
• Sanlitun Soho will light up the area with shops, restaurants, residences and most significantly, acres of office space.
• Launch of Soho Chaoyangmen and Soho Zhongguancun.
• The biggest outlets in northern China will open in Changyang, Fangshan District, as part of the “CSD” (Central Shopping District).
• Joy City will open a new mall in Chaoyang District, probably during the May 1 holiday.
FINE PRINT:
BOOKWORM LITERARY FESTIVAL 2010
The hootenanny returns for a fifth outing with writers from 20 different countries spanning genres from graphic narrative to slam and dub poetry. This time, visiting guests include Benjamin Zephaniah, Junot Diaz, Peter Hessler, Leslie Chang, Hitomi Kanehara, Amitav Ghosh, and David Grossman.
The bigger news is that this will be China’s first-ever carbon-neutral festival. Not only will the carbon footprint of air travel be offset, but all of the festival materials will be sustainable.
THE RUMOR MILL ... FOOD, FINE AND FAST
• Nobu, the upscale Japanese chain part-owned by Robert De Niro, is set to open in the first quarter of the year in what was formerly Pinot Brasserie in the JW Marriott.
• Fatburger, the Los Angeles chain, finally lands in the capital. It’s set to make that wait for Burger King seem like time wasted.
BIG BEATS: PODCASTS
Only a few Beijing-based DJs have so far made the transition to producing their own material. But not all of these nocturnal creatures are hiding behind their decks in darkened clubs. Podcasts are blowing up in Beijing electronic music; expect them to grow in number and quality in 2010. These are a few to listen out for.
Produced by the Funk*Fever team, this podcast’s mission is to “help spread funky stuff across China, the Web waves and beyond, from analog to digital and back.”
Beijing’s most energetic promoter of all things hip-hop, Will “Xiao Bizzle” Bernholtz, bills his blog-podcast as “an ongoing commentary and blog about the hip-hop scene in Beijing and China.”
The Syndicate irreverently talk up their podcast as “beats, bass and inane banter, sometimes in two languages.” Updates were irregular in 2009; let’s hope they’re more consistent this year.
From electro to funk and dub, James Brown to Jorge Ben, DJ Slide brings Beijingers top-notch music from nations near and far.
“Yellow Fever” is a monthly dose of “rad Chinese music you probably won’t hear anywhere else and so much verbal diarrhea that you’re gonna want to chug a bottle of Imodium each time you listen” from the reticent boys at Tag Team Records.
UP IN THE AIR
• Canada has been rubber-stamped as an “approved destination” for Chinese citizens. Tour groups galore will be departing to North America. It’s also likely that Air Canada’s direct flights to Vancouver and Toronto (currently only operating a few days a week outside of the peak summer season) may go daily, year-round.
• American Airlines will begin a daily flight between Chicago and Beijing on April 26.
Click here for previous installments:
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/01/11/Sneak-Peek-2010-Part-I
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/01/12/Sneak-Peek-2010-Part-II
http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/01/13/Sneak-Peek-2010-Part-III
