As the construction crews rolled in, Morgan O’Hara began to worry that yet another alleyway mainstay would meet its end. This time it wasn’t so much a hutong venue at risk by Beijing’s seemingly endless street-level renovations, but instead an event. The annual Winter Fayre, to be precise, which has helped Beijingers ring in the holiday season with its mulled wine and numerous stalls where seasonal wares were slung.

Coordinated by The Hutong cultural exchange center, located deep in the twisty Jiudaowan Zhongxiang alleyway, this Christmas bazaar was on the verge of being canceled when laborers set to work in the neighborhood earlier this week, sweeping in and demolishing anything that didn’t adhere to original building blueprints, including portions of The Hutong’s terrace.

Construction threatened the event

Morgan O’Hara, managing partner at The Hutong, says “There’s been so much demolition going on around Beijing, so we were expecting something,” in reference to what’s been colloquially referred to as “the Great Brickening” of 2017, an ongoing effort by the authorities to brick up and tear down street-side businesses they deem to not be up to code.

And while O’Hara was bracing himself for bad news, he admits “when the inspectors come around out of the blue and give you a week’s notice, it’s a shock. It was stressful knowing that the Fayre and some upcoming events were in jeopardy, but more than anything, we’ve got so many great memories on our terrace, and were upset at the prospect of losing such an amazing space. We also felt terrible for our neighbors, some of whom had their homes destroyed.”

Without the terrace, O’Hara and his colleagues wouldn’t have a space to host the bazaar. He’s now was quick to praise staff members for bringing the Fayre back from the brink, saying: “We’ve got two amazing Hutongers, Phoebe Han and Daisy Zhan, who were able to go back and forth with the authorities and salvage a good bit of our terrace. The rule is that all the courtyards need to adhere to their original certificates. In our case, we needed to tear down our beautiful wooden exterior and some of the support poles and shading tarp… We’ve got to come up with a sturdy temporary solution to make sure it’s safe to be up on the terrace during the Fayre. We’re looking at options and will figure something out.”

Vendors at the 2016 Fayre

Although those details are still being finalized, O’Hara says the event is back on track and will be held at The Hutong on Dec 10. It’s a welcome bit of good news for a part of Beijing that has endured closure after closure throughout the year. Having the Fayre return this year will offer a bit of solace for both alleyway regulars and prior vendors at the bazaar, like Liuba Vladimirova who sold her Liuba Draws artworks at the Fayre in recent years, and says “It’s probably one of the oldest expat-oriented Christmas markets in Beijing … They choose Beijing-oriented, Beijing-designed goods from local artists and it’s a great event for the community to get together, they have great food vendors.” She also enjoyed how The Hutong staff treated her and the other vendors, saying they “provide cabbage pancakes and drinks for vendors, because they know it might get crazy and vendors don’t have a minute to run upstairs to grab a bite. So it shows that they care, I think for the visitors it’s the same experience.”

Giuseppe Epifanio, who sold his Italian Cartoccio street eats at the Fayre in the past, concurs with Vladimirova saying: “The Fayre represented, in the first place, an opportunity to welcome Christmas for us expats by gathering interesting F&B projects in one place and letting people enjoy it all at the same time. And from a business owner’s point of view, it has been a great chance to get to know other vendors and entrepreneurs.”

O’Hara echoed those sentiments by saying, “The Fayre is a special community event, and we feel fortunate we’ll be able to host it again this Christmas season. With so much change happening in the hutongs, it’s a reminder we can’t take things for granted, and so in some ways, it will feel a bit more poignant. Certainly, a gathering for us to cherish and enjoy!”

Photos: Courtesy of the Hutong

Despite being billed as an innovative mode of transit that will keep you safe from smog, Beijing’s new air purifier-equipped Gongjiaoyilu buses are actually a catastrophic bust.

I rode one of the shiny new bright red buses (which are electric-powered in addition to sporting air purifiers, as part of Beijing’s push against pollution) from Guomao to Tiananmen on Oct 26, when the AQI was well over 250 outside. The hype surrounding these pollution-filtering buses in state media, along with the reassuring hiss of the sealing doors, and the shocking quiet (when compared to other noisy, drafty bus rides I’ve taken in Beijing), all led me to think that the air quality inside would be fairly good. A ride on a bus outfitted with purifiers is also all the more appealing after recent news that Beijing’s air quality has worsenedin the past year, despite intensive efforts by the authorities to curb pollution. The Gongjiaoyilu fleet consists of 10 air purifier-equipped buses that run the length of Chang’an Avenue, according to Xinhua.

The bus appeared to have very carefully designed air circulation at first glance, including this fan on its emergency exit

However, when I switched on a Laser Egg air quality reader to find out just how effective the bus’ tech was, I was surprised to see that the index never fell below 200 throughout the ride. The pollutant level shot up to 250 or more when the doors opened to allow new passengers onboard, which should be expected, but when the doors hissed shut in what sounded like a protective seal, the reading only went down to around 225, and rarely dipping below that. It certainly never fell under the “moderate” AQI 50 level that the World Health Organization recommends, making the bus promotion behind the bus line misleading at best, seeing as passengers should still wear their pollution masks to keep their lungs safe while onboard, which contradicts positive media coverage and the cutesy, clean air cartoon signs emblazoned on the buses’ walls.

More vents for ciculation appeared to be peppered along the walls, which also featured cutesy images of passengers in a green city boarding the bus

That said, it’s farfetched to expect much else from a bus that opens its doors regularly to take on passengers during a run, and even more of a pipe dream for administrators to imply a vehicle could pull such a feat off. Liam Bates, founder of the Kaiterra startup (formerly Origins) that designed and sells the Laser Egg AQI monitor, says, “Electric buses are great – though you should look into how the electricity is generated – and purifying vehicles are great too.” However, he’s quick to point out: “It’s really hard to purify a space like that. You’d need a ton of power, and a very very strong purifier. Like 20 large Blueairs!”

Despite the hype and the high tech appearance of the bus, always stayed well above 200 throughout our ride from Guomao to Tiananmen

Liam’s skepticism was echoed by Charlie Thomson, the owner at the Environment Assured home AQI assessment service, who says: “Whether in a building or in a vehicle, simply having air filtration equipment in place does not guarantee clean air. Both the equipment use patterns and the operating conditions will greatly affect the results of the system. In a bus, the constant opening and closing of doors makes it extremely difficult to control the air quality.” He adds that there are some potential solutions to the issue, such as positive pressure filtration, along with built-in monitoring of PM2.5s to show how efficient the system is working.

But such sophisticated features don’t appear to be in place on the Gongjiaoyilu bus. Johannes Lauesen, the CEO at Climatech (a developer and producer of air purifiers and positive pressure purifiers) says, “At first glance, I do not see that they have enough capacity for a city bus. A school bus, for example, could have a reasonably weak, 1-2000M3/h or so, cleaner to keep it clean. But a city bus would need to be able to replace all the air in the bus every 10 minutes to keep up.”

Lauesen goes on to explain some of the key issues inherent in keeping pollutants from riding along with you on a public bus: “The issue is that people and doors act as ‘pumps’ moving most of the air in and out of the bus at every stop. Another issue is if the clean air is not distributed properly, then it will only be a few bubbles that will be very clean. Just imagine how much air comes in the leaky doors while driving … Seeing the images of the ‘cleaner,’ it looks like a 500-1000 M3/h cleaner and that is far less than what is needed in such a dynamic environment.”

At Tiananmen I disembarked, to a smoggy outdoor setting that wasn’t much worse than the bus that had been billed to protect the other passengers and I. It quickly sped off and dissapeared into the haze

Although there’s the slight possibility the purifiers weren’t fully operational that day, or that they are still working out some bugs. But that’s still problematic because it indicates the purifiers are more window dressing than anything (why tout that feature in state media and then not have it ready when people hop aboard?). And it doesn’t address the problems of breaking the seal, and needing massive, and therefore probably quite large, purifiers to keep the interior smog-free.

All that said, what would be a better alternative to a transit system that overpromises with purifiers that fall short? When asked if stocking buses with pollution face masks instead of puny purifiers and doors that let the smog seep in, Lauesen admitted he’s “not sure. To be honest, I really like the idea of clean air in the bus and on all public forms of transportation. Masks just aren’t the same.”

That point makes the new buses all the more disappointing to Lauesen, because the promise of truly PM2.5-free public transit is so very enticing. “Basically they should have done some testing and maybe even used something like the air curtains in shopping malls at the doors. In my eyes, masks are for general outdoor activity, and having the chance to take them off on the bus, on the metro, and in a cab would be great.”

Photos: Xinhua, Kyle Mullin

Yan Chang parked by yet another cluster of abandoned shared bikes, then set to work piling them one by one on the back of his scooter. His employer, ofo, had tasked him with arranging any of their cycles that had been strewn about in the Hujialou area into a neat row near the subway station. Necessary as the job has become, to ensure pedestrians and cars aren’t completely impeded in this era of rampant shared bike usage, Yan couldn’t deny that the work was arduous. When asked, he gestured at one bike that had been left smack in the middle of a sidewalk, and said careless riders like that were giving him too much “mafan.”

Yet employees like Yan, and especially baoan security guards saddled with even stricter rules about keeping their buildings’ parking lots clean, may very well rejoice at recent news from Singapore’s Today newspaperabout new technology and laws designed to keep riders from parking in such a haphazard fashion through penalties and other means. In lieu of these government-imposed measures, ofo users in Singapore “who park indiscriminately will get an app notification and the operator said it would provide details on penalties closer to the end of the year. It replaced its mandatory bike deposit and introduced a credit system that rewards good behavior and penalizes bad behavior, and is likely to develop the programme further,” according to Today. The article went on to say that some other companies already use technology called geo-fencing to “manage indiscriminate parking, and users are alerted through beeping noises and app notifications if they do not park in designated spaces” that consist of painted squares on the sidewalk, often near subway stations, popular attractions, and other major hubs.

While news about such measures, and photos of freshly painted designated parking spaces in a few scant parts of Beijing, surfaced this past spring, and before Beijing authorities drafted regulations for consultation on April 21, such efforts have since amounted to very little, especially compared to what is taking place in Singapore. Indeed, shared bikes are still littered in randomly obtrusive clusters across the capital. Seeing firmer measures put forth and backed by the municipal government in Singapore may seem promising to detractors of the shared bike craze. But some of the staunchest regular users of ofo, Mobike, and other such cycles question how companies might even remain popular if riders aren’t free to park where they please.

Sadly, the only shared cyclist using the designated spaces was me, and only for the purposes of writing blog, when the spaces were freshly painted this past spring

Vincent Tang Yue, global PR manager at ofo, says the company is well aware of such gripes on both sides of Beijing’s Great Shared Bike Debate. He says, “Currently, we prefer a credit system that rewards good behavior and penalizes bad behavior in overseas markets and will develop the program further. The details are yet to be finalized and might vary from country to country.”

Despite such hurdles, Yue is optimistic about ofo’s prospects in Beijing, even though the Chinese capital has yet to show Singapore’s gumption in addressing the parking issue. He says: “The bike-sharing practice and industry is growing very fast and has greatly benefited urban transportation and the environment. ofo has always wanted to contribute to every city we enter, and the best solution might be different from city to city.”

One of SIngapore’s designated shared bike spaces, which will be enforced via GPS, app penalties, and other measures enacted by local officials

If such stricter measures were to be enacted in Beijing, ofo’s chief competitor, Mobike, would be quick to follow suit. At least that’s what the company’s head of global partnerships, Florian Bohnert, says of the features like geo-fencing, credit systems, notifications, and designated parking areas that Mobike has developed and used to a greater degree in other locales. He adds: “Mobike invented geo-fencing for dockless shared bikes when it launched in April 2016 in China. Therefore, we’re very happy to work hand-in-hand with local governments to further develop the service within a framework of safety and reliability.”

Such eager compliance with any forthcoming parking crackdowns may very well be appreciated by detractors, avid Mobike rider Billy Chan says he has concerns about how rocky that transition might be. He says: “I don’t know how well users will accept any form of forced docking system (virtual or not), now that they’ve been trained on being able to pick up and drop off their bikes from anywhere and anytime.”

Designated parking spots were made for Mobike users in Shijingshan this past spring, but little incentive was given for riders to use them

But even if Beijing officials turn out not to be as assertive as their Singaporean counterparts in this regard, it might not matter. That’s because the proverbial “Wild West” of free-range shared bike parking is already being somewhat tamed in the Chinese capital, according to John Artman, editor-in-chief at business and IT news outlet TechNode. He says: “‘Being able to drop them off anywhere’ is quickly fading already as property management companies and city management become more strict about where they allow bike traffic and bike parking,”

However, if more rigid, Singaporean-style regulations are enacted, Artman said: “I can definitely see a popular backlash occurring online as people take to Weibo and WeChat to complain about initial bugs and problems, but I think these complaints will fade as the systems get better and people learn to park responsibly.”

Can Beijing shared bike users become more contentious?

Joffe agrees, and believes that shared bike riders shouldn’t be dismissed as ill-equipped to follow stricter parking rules. On the contrary, he believes “many users were initially shocked by the fact they could just drop their bike anywhere. It just didn’t feel normal. Now it will make more sense.” What’s more, he sees benefits in this early, lax stage of shared bike usage, because it offered enough convenience to get users hooked. “Going through that initial ‘free for all’ phase had the benefit of educating users with the first step: payment and operation. The next step of parking is easy to learn, in comparison.”

Joffe not only welcomes such stricter parking regulations in Beijing, he thinks they will likely come to pass. He says: “It is not surprising that regulations would come into effect in Singapore to make shared bikes a sustainable transportation option. If the first phase of deployment was a “land grab” in terms of users, now real land will be necessary to ensure proper usage.”

Photos: Arvi Lefevre, Kyle Mullin, Today, the Beijinger

Let the floodgates fly open and the fromage flow freely!

Yes, China’s recent, highly contentious ban on several soft cheeses and blue cheeses has been lifted. Cheese Republic, a popular importer and seller of the flavorful golden dairy product on the mainland, announced on its WeChat account on Friday, Oct 20 that it was given the clear to sell soft and blue cheese once again, before thanking “the Chinese authorities and especially to the CIQ [the Inspection and Quarantine Bureau]of Shanghai! I would also like to congratulate the French Embassy in China, as well as Great Britain’s for their success!”

The post went on to say that all such cheeses should be fully available on the Mainland in five to six weeks, before adding that they already have some in stock, such as like Saint Nectaire and Roquefort.

We first heard about the ban back in September, when official documents were leaked and widely reported on in the media. A foreign chef in Beijing went on to gripe about the ban with us, saying “China has no guidelines for those cheeses and their bacteria, so they have decided to just eliminate the cheeses until guidelines are established, and that can be god knows when.”

Now that the ban has been lifted, much of Beijing’s restaurant industry, along with foodies, are already in a celebratory mood. Antoine Mansuy, owner of popular Yizhuang restaurant The Roots, told tbj, “Damn right that’s good to hear.”

When asked, Mansuy said with a laugh: “I’m French!” before elaborating more seriously: “And we had to drop some menu items because of uncertainties. Plus, really, cheese is healthy. Banning it on grounds of bacterial content is just stupid. It’s all good bacteria, it’s why Europeans grow so tall and handsome!”

So those of you with dwindling stockpiles and fiendish craving can now rest easy and relish in the pungent aroma and cushy textures of your favorite, no longer contraband cheeses.

Photos: starmarket