Metal – you either love it or hate it. And if you love it, chances are you might have dyed, waist-long hair, a full beard (even if you are female), a number of tattoos (perhaps in one or two places you don’t usually show in public), you probably like motorcycling (or are a radical environmentalist), you enjoy alcohol (because that is integral to enjoying this type of music) and you just might be really into fantasy role playing (your avatar most likely being the dwarf because his beard looks exactly like yours).

Are you this person? Then you might enjoy one of the following band recommendations – or all of them – as we take a look at five metal artists from Beijing. Maybe you’ll find your new favorite band too!

Nine Treasures (九宝 jiǔ bǎo)

Although the band Nine Treasures was founded in Beijing in 2010, all of the members are from Inner Mongolia. They spent their early years playing gigs in the metal clubs of Beijing, but today they have moved back to their home, Hohhot, because the city of Beijing, though full of possibilities, was simply too big, literally: They needed to drive two hours to get to the studio.

Nine Treasures plays Mongolian folk metal and combines traditional Central Asian instruments with the modern rock and metal sound.

Yaksa (夜叉 yè chā)

Yaksa was founded in Sichuan in 1995, and just two years later the band moved to Beijing. There, they quickly became an important part of the local rock and metal scene. Their style is often described as metalcore or nu metal (a style of metal that, among other things, features rap vocals), which at that time, brought something new to the table in Beijing.

Voodoo Kungfu (零壹 líng yī)

Voodoo Kungfu (also known as Zero One), formed in 2003 in Beijing, has always been a very mysterious band whose music features themes of religion and occultism. Vocalist Nan Li claims that he has “been to hell but survived to bring back the voice from hell” after being bitten by a cobra and falling into coma.

The band combines Western metal music with traditional folk instruments from all around China – Voodoo Kungfu’s music is inspired by Nan Li’s travels through Inner Mongolia, Yunnan and Tibet, and his experiences with the local cultures, music, and religion.

Tang Dynasty (唐朝 táng cháo)

Tang Dynasty is regarded as the first Chinese heavy metal band ever. After the band’s foundation in Beijing in 1989, a part of the band had to leave the country, but in the end that didn’t stop the band from becoming successful both inside and outside of China.

In its lyrics and music, the band incorporates traditional Chinese elements that are supposed to represent and reference the ancient period of the – what a surprise – Tang dynasty in China.

Their music is very accessible, almost like heavy metal for beginners, and leans in the direction of art rock and progressive rock.

Twisted Machine

Last but certainly not least, there is Twisted Machine, whose name is a homage to their idol – American band Rage Against the Machine. Founded in 1998 in Beijing, Twisted Machine started out playing hardcore and later switched to nu metal after changing their lead vocalist.

Their record Back to Underground (2003) is considered to be one of the most successful releases in Chinese Metal history, but they aren’t limited to playing in China. In 2016, for example, they brought their Lost in Beijing tour to the USA.

Of course, there are a lot more Beijing-based metal outfits worthy of mentioning: Bliss Illusion (post black metal), Ululate (black and death metal), Ego Fall (folk metal), and Suffocated (death metal), just to name a few.

13 Club – the number one metal club in Beijing – has been closed since the end of 2020. But MAO Livehouse is another rock venue in Beijing. Before the pandemic, a lot of foreign rock and metal bands, such as Opeth, Behemoth, and While She Sleeps, as well as local artists, have played there. But clubs like Yue Space, Omni Space, or School Live Bar are likely to host metal bands as well. Right now, Covid restrictions prevent most shows from happening in Beijing, but let’s hope that in the future we will be able to headbang together again.

Images: Unsplash

How should I spend my time after finishing high-school? Should I apply for college straight away? Or should I rather take a break from the education system to do something entirely different – a gap year?

A lot of students are asking themselves these questions, and you will be surprised how many don’t know – even if they are already going to graduate next year – what exactly they want to do after school. In order to offer you some help with your decision, here are the sometimes vague and sometimes more concrete plans of thirteen international students here in Beijing that might inspire you:

After graduating, I want to stay here in China for one year and learn Chinese. Then I will probably go to university.

(Alicia Schwarz, 17)

My plan is to visit an acting school in New York for one year. Or maybe, I will go to Spain and learn Spanish.

(Ayisha Wangsun, 17)

I plan on studying Arts or Design directly after my graduation. Therefore, I will probably go to Germany or somewhere else in Europe.

(Chantal Adam, 17)

My parents want me to travel around here in China for one year, so that I can improve my Chinese skills. But after that, I have no idea what I want to do yet.

(Justus Boewer, 17)

For half a year, I will participate in a cultural exchange and help building a village in Africa. After that, for the second half of the year, I want to work as a lifeguard in Germany. If everything works out like that, I will be a happy man.

(Lorenz Hoffmann, 17)

I already know what I will do after graduating: I will study Chinese at a Beijing University.

(Luna Jursch, 19)

I will probably travel around in Europe or the USA. While I am doing that, I will have enough time to think about where and what I want to study afterwards.

(Maxi Ulrich, 16)

I’m not exactly sure what to do directly after graduating, but I want to study Physics.

(Paul Hilgers, 16)

After the Covid pandemic, I really want to travel around. If possible, I would like to combine that with studying Chinese. I see university quite relaxed, because I already roughly know which subjects I want to study and finding that out is the hardest part, in my opinion.

(Ben Aurel Gstattenbauer, 17)

I have already applied for three university’s courses in International Business, but only because my older brother did the same. Work and Travel is also an opportunity that I have considered if I don’t get accepted by these universities.

(Lena Jahn, 16)

After graduation, I will travel around Europe or the United States. I am planning to study Politics in Paris at SciencesPo subsequently and hoping to get a degree in International Governance and Politics, because later, I want to attain a job in the German Federal Foreign Office.

(Gianluca Kropf, 17)

I will go to college straight away after school or do something called “prépa” in France. The “prépa” – two years before college – enables you to get access to very good universities in France.

(Emma Sortais, 15) 

I plan on taking a gap year before going to college. I will play volleyball for the entire gap year.

(Dino Liu, 16)

Out of the twenty-five people asked about their plans after finishing high-school for this article, fourteen are already relatively sure about what to do after graduating, while eleven of them still don’t have a concrete plan and only tend in a certain direction or are torn over two or more options.

But only nine of the twenty-five students want to go to college directly after graduation. The other sixteen all prefer a gap year instead – some of them simply want to travel around, others want to learn languages or engage in social projects.

So, as you see, there are tons of possibilities to spend your time after finishing high-school. The difficulty is, of course, to choose the right option that suits you best. But oftentimes, the decision comes naturally: Since twelve or thirteen years of schooling are quite a lot, many students are ready to take a break before diving into the world of education again, but if school is something you enjoy, then continuing to study at the university directly after school might be the right thing for you.

Images: Unsplash

Chinese people eat more frequently than Germans – on average seven times a day. That is what the German institution GIM (Gesellschaft für Innovative Marktforschung) found out in 2016 after they had asked 3,500 Chinese and German volunteers about their eating habits. According to the GIM, Chinese people are also more likely to try out new food than Germans.

But what about the dishes themselves? Let’s take a look at some of the most well-known accomplishments of German and Chinese cuisines, compare them, and find out how different they really are…

Baozi (包子) vs. Dampfnudeln

Germany and China might be thousands of miles apart, but at some point in history two people, separated by culture and country, must have had the same idea, because baozi (包子) and Dampfnudeln (lit. “steam noodles”) show a lot of similarities. Both are a kind of bread roll made of yeast dough that has to be steamed.

There are some differences, too, however: Dampfnudeln are usually much larger than baozi and, typically, you serve Dampfnudeln sweet. You fill them with jam and dip them in vanilla sauce. Baozi, on the other hand, are usually filled with vegetables and meat.

There are a lot of different kinds of baozi in China – for example mantou (馒头), a specialty of the Northern Chinese cuisine – but in Germany, there are only two variations of the Dampfnudel: The Bavarian version (sweet) and the Palatine one (salty). They both compete to be acknowledged as the original form of the Dampfnudel, but that will probably never be determined.

Zha Jiang Mian (炸酱面) vs. Käsespätzle  

Käsespätzle (“cheese noodles” – once you know how to pronounce that correctly, you will have one more thing to show off about) and zha jiang mian are both dishes with a very long history. It is fair to say that in Swabia in Southern Germany, Käsespätzle are a part of the cultural identity – there is even a quite considerable amount of poetry based on Käsespätzle in Swabian literature. Zha jiang mian is a very traditional dish, too, especially in Beijing. According to legend, it was brought to the capital by an empress of the Qing dynasty who discovered zha jiang mian while travelling through China. She then found it so tasty that she brought the cook with her to Beijing.

Spätzle are a special sort of noodles made with egg. They are called Spätzle because each noodle is supposed to look a little bit like a sparrow (German: Spatz). There are tons of possibilities for how to serve Spätzle, but in Käsespätzle, they are always combined with melted cheese and roasted onions. Zha jiang mian, on the other hand, consists of thick noodles not mixed with cheese, but with a paste made of beans (for example soybeans) containing diced meat. Oftentimes it is served with raw vegetables.

Tu Dou Si (土豆絲) vs. Kartoffelpuffer

It is incredible how much mind power humankind has invested in inventing ways to serve potatoes. There are mashed, roasted, baked, and boiled potatoes. There is gratin, there is potato salad, and there are French fries.

And there are shredded potatoes.

Shredded potatoes are the key ingredients in both tu dou si and Kartoffelpuffer (a kind of potato pancake), also known as Rösti. But both dishes can contain other vegetables, too – usually carrots that are also shredded or sliced.

If you want to make tu dou si, you will have to fry the potato and the carrot slices. Adding pepper or dried chili will provide some spiciness. In order to prepare Kartoffelpuffer, the potatoes must be mixed with butter and eggs so that the ingredients merge into one mass, which then has to be roasted until it has formed a kind of crispy pancake.

So, what did we learn today? We learned that poetry about noodles exists (here is the link to a poem on Spätzle written in Swabian dialect, which is frankly quite hard to understand, even for Germans: Jeanette Hölzl’s homepage: ein schwäbisches Spätzle-Gedicht (holzl.de)) and we should also have learned that no matter in which culture we live, in the end, we all think very similarly: We will all invent something like baozi at some point in history, and we are all very imaginative when it comes to different ways to serve potatoes.

And I have learned a lot, too, researching for this article, thanks to Ayisha Wangsun, a girl who is a good cook and helped me quite a bit on this piece of work.

Images: Pexels, Dianping

Still wondering which school to send your child to? There is an overwhelming number of international schools in Beijing, and it might be difficult to pick out the right one for your child. In order to help you out with your decision, here is a portrait of the German Embassy School of Beijing (DSP) – a school not many people know about, but one that you should definitely!

It is important to know that in order to be part of the DSP, it is vital to speak German. Additionally, the program “Deutsch als Zweitsprache” (“German as a second language”) supports students who are not native German speakers.

“It is only possible to attend the DSP if you speak German, but if you do, the DSP is a great opportunity. The Abitur is very advantageous”, Ben Aurel says. The German International Abitur, the diploma you will receive after graduating at the DSP, qualifies you for university in Germany and the great advantage of German universities is – besides from the high-quality standards of education in Germany – that you don’t have to pay for them. But with the German International Abitur, you can also apply for academic studies outside of Germany since it is an acknowledged diploma worldwide.

In comparison with the IB, the International Baccalaureate, the German International Abitur offers a more general scope of knowledge since you don’t have to pick out certain subjects from one academic field, as you have to do with the IB. On the other hand, the IB requires more independent effort from the student.

A lot of times, the choice which school a child wants to attend is determined by where it wants to study afterwards. Kiyan Stähli for example, a former DSP student who then transferred to Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), says he left the DSP because he wants to apply for college in an English-speaking country, so for him it makes sense to graduate at an English-speaking school.

So, in the end, you should decide individually, considering the abilities and the future plans of your child, which school they should attend, and which diploma they will ultimately receive. For Kiyan, it made sense to choose the IB, but for your child, the Abitur might just be the right thing.

Images 3 & 4: unsplash.com, Ben Aurel Gstattenbauer