Lifestyle in Beijing by Juliana

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The Opposite House
The 99-room boutique hotel designed by Kengo Kuma is in a league of its own, complete with 22-metre stainless steel swimming pool and an intoxicating blend of five restaurants and bars—complete with al fresco dining/drinking options. The bright rooms are fitted with an oversized oak bathtub, bespoke Bayankala toiletries, a king-sized bed with 400-thread count Egyptian linen (for those counting). The experience begins with the Maserati Quattroporte airport pick up, upon arrival you’re greeted by first name, sat down in the living room and check in is done via a wireless tablet PC.
It gets better—mini bar is on the House and complimentary wifi, including online version of the Financial Times. For those into art, you will find a visual treat in the hotel’s permanent art collection and the quarterly rotating exhibits by contemporary Chinese artists represented by local galleries in the six-storey high atrium.
The stay at The Opposite House is a unique and personal experience without the usual stuffiness of luxury hotels. It’s just like staying at a friend’s home, with a warm welcome, convenience, absolutely no fuss and stunningly simple contemporary design.
In today’s world of clutter, less is certainly more and the large spacious rooms from 45 sqm and up, there’s no reason why you don’t feel at home, walking barefoot on that textured reclaimed wood flooring, with no dusty carpets or jarring chandeliers in the way.

Village Café, The Opposite House
The stunningly simple interiors are flooded with light—a signature style of Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma who designed the 99-room boutique hotel. It’s all in the little details here, invisible power sockets are found under the wooden floor, tables laid with Mesh table mats and Leo, the restaurant manager knows repeat guests by first name. Spend the afternoon here and order the sweet (scones and cakes) or savory (sandwiches) menu while you surf the Internet— wifi is on the House.

Bei, The Opposite House
From the Frank Gehry cloud lamps that hang over the sushi bar to the bespoke ceramic utensils by Spin, the details here are prelude to delicate cuisine. This Neri + Hu designed restaurant features contemporary Asian food, inspired by the cuisines of Northern Asia. The saltwater tofu is a mandatory a la carte order, while sushi and sashimi are brilliantly executed, served alongside freshly grated wasabi on a sharkskin board.
www.beirestaurant.com

Sureño
While this Mediterranean restaurant housed in the chic basement of The Opposite House is not just known for their pizzas, they do excellent thin crust wood fired oven pizzas topped with imported prosciutti and various Italian cheeses. The menu changes seasonally, but the classic pizza magherita will not disappoint. Venture out to the calzones, tapas and main courses from roasts to fish for a full dining experience. The tiramisu while one of the most expensive is town, is without doubt the best.
www.surenorestaurant.com

Qin Restaurant and Café
This lesser known restaurant is popular with the local Chinese and some of the city’s top chefs. Named after the traditional instrument, the restaurant is needless to say, furnished with the qin—great for a bit of cultural immersion. Serving up Jiangnan cuisine with flavours of Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou, this place allows your tongue a little culinary voyage over regional dishes.

Great Wall Hikes
The Beijing Hikers organisation head out to the wall regularly, scaling the wall with different intensity levels. In the warmer months, camping on the wall is commonplace. Going off the beaten path with these led hikes will leave you free from hoards of tourists, the noise and haggling street vendors. Bring a bottle of vino as a reward after a treacherous hike and enjoy it over a breathtaking view.
www.beijinghikers.com

798/caochangdi/Songzhuang
While some galleries out in caochangdi have sadly received their first demolition notice by the government, 798’s art district is thriving with its commercial ambitions. The latter’s Bauhaus setting meets contemporary art culture is none of the organic art scene many expect, but merely a money making façade to the real Chinese art scene. Travel out further to Songzhuang artist village, where most of today’s prolific artists reside. The Opposite House does personal guided tours to the artist studios.

Apothecary
This is a whiskey buff’s paradise, serving New Orleans style Gumby and the likes. Run by Bei’s chef de cuisine Max Levy and partner Leon Lee, the duo do everything from scratch—from smoked meats to stuffing sausages. Go for Oyster Wednesdays, down stellar cocktails or whiskey with those Tasmanian oysters or gorge on whey-poached fried chicken served with buttermilk biscuits on fried chicken Sundays.

Mesh
This understated cool, contemporary lounge is where the city’s well-heeled professionals come to wind down and chat over innovative cocktails and some of the city’s best selection of wines. Mesh also features a large selection of champagnes by the glass—a rare practice in the Capital. The crowd here is largely beautiful, savvy and interesting.

D-lounge
This new-ish lounge is a hit with the locals and foreigners alike. Drinks and service are not their forte, but this former cotton factory gives off the cosmopolitan vibe of an underground watering hole. They’ve done a good job of having the place decked up in genuine fake designer furniture. Australian Chinese Warren Pang is the man that runs the show here, and the crowd is a good mix of über hip Chinese and foreigners.

Xian Lao Man
This hole in the wall eatery is reliable, clean with friendly staff. The whole Beijing experience begins when you set foot—garlic floating in jars, no frills, sit-down-to eat-then leave ambience—if any to speak of. The standard order of choice is “Three pork specialty”, while the pork and mushrooms, chives and egg dumplings are also worth a go. Keep the greed quotient in check as the low prices and plentiful options tend to encourage gluttony and wastage.

Xiaolumian
Run by the same owners of The Schoolhouse Mutianyu, Xiaolumian is a good stopover for generous portions of fresh handmade noodles with organic vegetables on your way to/from the Mutianyu side of the Great Wall. Flavors here tend to lean towards the foreign palate, still the typical lao Beijing “zha jiang mian” is worth at go. Portions are large, so be sure to dine with friends.

Qin Tang Fu
The most reliable of Beijing noodle shops where every visit is consistently good. Service is always spotty, but the noodles never disappoint. Start with the cold buckweed noodles (the Chinese rendition of soba) with chillies and lots of vinegar before choosing from the beef, lamb or spinach noodles. The restaurant is best known for their “rou jia mou” pork stuffed between bread and the “yang rou pao mo”, a very heavy dish of unleavened bread bits in the lamb broth bath.

Peking Roast Duck Tips

Duck De Chine
No visit is complete without a mandatory visit to a Peking duck restaurant in Beijing. Duck has always been a feature in the history of both Chinese and French cuisines and this upscale dining spot in 1949—The Hidden City serves up a delicious crispy roast fowl with a sauce that is sweet and sharp, and comes with condiments to customise your own.

Made in China
Open kitchen cooking brings a crisp, modern sensibility to Chinese dining at this classy restaurant. Popular with the deep-pocketed crowd, the Peking duck here is perfectly executed. With a culinary direction led by Executive chef Martin Ouyang, the other highly recommended dishes include the tender beggar’s chicken and Northern specialties.

Huang Ting
Old world charm meets delicate Cantonese cuisine, yet their best kept secret at this Cantonese restaurant housed in the Peninsular Hotel is the Peking Duck. Get a tea recommendation to go with the dimsum spread and allow greed to take over to freely order from the interesting selection on the menu, starting with the perfectly executed duck to Sichuan chili prawns.

Xiao Wang’s Home Restaurant Ritan
This popular chain is a favourite haunt of the expats. The menu offers everything from Peking duck smoked with apple wood—enjoy and taste the subtle fruity essence, sweet and sour dishes to stir-fry chicken wings. Don’t leave without ordering the braised pork belly, fried tofu with spicy sweet sauce drizzled over it and crispy thin slices of potato—a Chinese rendition of rosti.

French

Le Pre Lenôtre
One of the most underrated French restaurants in the city. The ambience may be cold and formal, but this fine dining French restaurant housed in the Sofitel is a reliable source of classic French food with a modern twist. Look out for the Michelin starred promotions that seem to be a regular feature throughout the year—stellar chefs from France are invited to cook for a week at the restaurant.

Maison Boulud
This fine dining establishment is the winner of all the local expat rag awards, and rightfully so. Service here is spotless and the tempo of each course is in perfect timing. Occasionally chef Brian makes an appearance, otherwise it’s just course after course of flawlessly executed dishes comprising a mixture of local and imported produce— a perfect marriage of ingredients and culinary direction from Daniel Boulud in New York.

Japanese

Naoki
Housed in refurbished Imperial courtyards at Aman Resort, which unfortunately looks neither old nor new with too much new wood, Naoki is the Beijing fort of upscale eponymous Japanese restaurant of the celebrity Kyoto born chef. Known for seamlessly marry French techniques with traditional Japanese style, Naoki Okumura delivers kaiseiki ryori, many delicate courses of haute Japanese cuisine whose roots lie in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

Kaden Minokichi
Housed in Pangu, Beijing’s 7-star Hotel, this Japanese restaurant has a history spanning two centuries serving up traditional Kyoto cuisine and is the first restaurant outside of Japan. Like the hotel, the traditional Japanese dining experience here comes with a high price tag where menus begin at RMB3, 000—perfectly suits the Chinese in high places dining in Japan without the commute—everything here is imported from Japan from the tableware, chefs, ingredients to the wait staff. Now, that’s a nice inversion of carbon footprint, or not?

Haru
The teppanyaki favourite in suburban Shunyi has now opened a new branch in Sanlitun Village North. The salads are fresh and zesty salad and the menu runs the gamut of Japanese as well as Californian-styled rolls. Teppanyaki is the highlight here: cod, jumbo prawns, foie gras and beef are mandatory orders to go with your carafes of sake. The restaurant only has private rooms for every dining party, with chef and wait staff.

Tori Tei
This tiny hole in the wall buried deep inside Xinyuanli’s street lined with restaurants sells Japanese-style meat on a stick at local prices, fantastically done, allowing you to sample to your heart’s content. Wash down the grease with some Asahi beer by the bottle biting into tender juicy portions of grilled chicken thigh, vegetables and orders of pork belly. Grilled chicken thighs are an absolute must.

Fennel
A fine dining restaurant housed in the Yi House art hotel right out in 798 art district, Fennel is a gem in the industrial Bauhaus landscape. The kitchen is helmed by Christian Hoffman the former executive chef of Raffles Hotel, featuring a menu with lots of seafood from Dalian to France imports. The bouillabaisse is heavenly with a faint hint of fennel in the rich seafood soup. Portions are 3-4 to share and perfect to order on that Sunday brunch. Oyster lovers, go with a dozen or two.

Private Kitchen No. 44
Tucked deep in the hutongs, this Guizhou restaurant is pretty much a home turned restaurant, doing excellent home-styled dishes, but what they do best is a great pot of spicy sour fish soup, served alongside home made rice wine. The fresh catfish is stewed with a tomato broth filled with coriander, chilies, Sichuan peppers, ginger and spices perfect with a side of steaming white rice. Order a side of black pepper prawns and a few stir frys to complete a simple home-style dinner.

Shopping

Pan Jia Yuan
For those with lots of patience, skills for haggling and a brilliant eye, this antique market is the place to be. Scout around for wonderful pieces, few original many equally beautiful replicas, contemporary paintings, jade bangles and carpets. The market carries the whole works here. Not far from here is glasses city (眼镜城市）, where you can make spectacles with vintage frames for a song in 20 minutes straight.

Xidan Joy City
A popular and overtly crowded shopping area on the west side of town, full of trendy teens and young professionals shopping at the market next door before moving on to combine it with high street brand pieces at Joy City. Mid range local brands stand alongside sport shops carrying imported brands like adidas, converse and the likes. There’s a lot of mix and match going on here.

Sanlitun Village
This open-plan shopping mall by Swire Properties is home to international brands from Adidas flagship store to Steve Madden, Reiss and Ben Sherman as well as local high street brands. Modeled after London’s Covent Garden and strategically located at Beijing’s Sanlitun bar street, local designer boutiques are just stone’s throws away in Nali Patio. Village Sanlitun North on the other end is home to Armani, Comme des garcons by I.T, Agnès b, Rolex and top end local designer labels.

Yashow Market
Depending on how hard and well you bargain, you can get away with a wonderful loot of things, designer knockoffs of decent quality and downright simple wear and dispose sort of one off pieces for that fancy dress party. Everyone from all walks of life shop here, the tourists, locals and expats. Goods run the gamut fro pirated DVDS, shoes, bags, clothes, electronics, household items and fabric. Wendy Tailor on the 3rd floor does a decent job copying shirts and jackets.

Shin Kong Place
This Taiwanese export is home to over 900 International brands. After the post Olympic boom, this mall is still the preferred choice for the well-heeled Chinese to do their spot of shopping at branded designer stores. The basement level has the buzzing vibe of the Taiwanese culinary culture, with eateries, coffee places and juice bars.

Spa

Green T House Living
The recipient of the “Spa Design of The Year” and “Day Spa of The Year” at the 2009 AsiaSpa Awards, Green T House Living combines stunningly chic décor with a decadent spa experience—think ten hands massage. The contemporary Chinese menu inspired by green tea which blurr the line between food and art and is a lot of hot air, best to skip the food, but spend the precious five hours at the bath house instead.

I-Spa
Co-founded by a very soft-spoken Ms. Sirirat Fungkhajon, the spa combines the wonderful traditions of a Thai spa with Chinese hospitality. Treatment runs the gamut from scrubs, aromatherapy massages, facials and baths. The surroundings are lush, serene with a warm touch of Southeast Asia. Therapists speak basic English, but nothing much to communicate as it all lies in body language at the spa.

Mandara Spa
The experience begins at the door. Decked out in natural elements of stone, wood and ceramic pieces, it sets the mood of the treatment that follows. Those with soft spots for indulgent facials will enjoy “The Pearl of the Orient” facial for 90minutes with historical references to Empress Dowager Cixi’s beauty regime. A comprehensive list of massages will whisk you out of the city madness.

Dragonfly Retreat
Excellent service and great attention to details have seen the beauty parlour expand to Shanghai, Norway, Dubai and most recently Hong Kong. Apart from full body massages of various types, the therapists also offer facial by Sothy’s, OPI manicures and pedicures as well as waxing for hair removal which is reliable and as painless as it can possibly get.

Romance with a view

Capital M
Michelle Garnault’s third restaurant, following the success of M on the bund and M at the fringe, Capital M has arrived in the capital city after 7 years in the making. This International dining spot offers stunning views of Tian’anmen Square, with outdoor terraces that look directly onto Tian’anmen. The food doesn’t disappoint, neither will it particularly leave an impression.

The Courtyard
This trendy restaurant offers magnificent views of the Forbidden City from its second floor and serves as the perfect setting for impressing visitors or a ‘date’. As one of Beijing’s oldest upscale fusion restaurants, it has undergone changes through the years but still retains its charm serving up well-executed contemporary cuisine in the old Beijing setting, with the legendary view of Forbidden City.

www.julianaloh.com

Juliana is a not-so-sterile Singaporean with a BA in Theatre and European Studies working in Beijing for over three years now. After five and a half years as a copywriter in Singapore, Italy and Beijing working on Sony Ericsson, SONY, ESPN, Nokia, BMW and MINI, she left advertising for good and spent a brief eight months as Food and Art Editor of one of the city’s expat rags. She currently does communications and a range of creative projects for a luxury boutique property in Beijing.
Prior to moving to Beijing, she was living in Italy, working at Fabrica, Benetton’s Research and Communication Centre, contributing to COLORS magazine and working on personal projects. She was part of the team that conceptualised and launched Benetton Talk (www.benettontalk.com ) the social blog for Benetton in 2005.
When she’s not doing yoga headstands or taking up personal ads in the classifieds, she’s out in the suburbs investigating organic farming and methods of its sustainable development.
Juliana speaks good English, Cantonese, Mandarin, decent French and gets by in Italian.

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