Pinnacle Plaza has been around for several years now, and while it has great potential it hasn’t always lived up to its premise. Situated in a heavily populated expat area, with villa compounds, international schools, and an international hospital clinic, it should be prime real estate for good retail businesses. Perhaps high rent and complicated leases go some way to explaining the high frequency of closures. On the positive side, shop space doesn’t stay unoccupied for long. The pace of change at Pinnacle just feels a little relentless at times, and the same can be said of neighboring Euro Plaza.

Rumors have always persisted that the whole place would eventually be demolished. Whether to make way for a new shopping mall, although that looks less likely with the newly opened Shine Hills, or yet more housing. The monstrous development that sits opposite the Exhibition Center and Euro Plaza seems to have stalled, leaving an empty shell of concrete for now.

So let’s make the most of Pinnacle whilst it’s still there. The mainstays, that do well and always have a constant stream of shoppers or diners, include Jenny Wang, Schindler’s Meat, Hungry Horse, Burger King, and of course Starbucks. Kid’s Plus is always good for toys, stationery, and dress-up costumes.

There’s no doubting there are some great restaurants here. Blue Elephant serves up authentic Thai cuisine in a really nice setting. Loft Eatalicious and Galati Italian Restaurant offer inspired Italian menus at good prices. Haru offers fine Japanese cuisine, with a sushi bar and a number of teppanyaki private rooms. Laker’s is popular for kids wanting big pizzas, and a play on the restaurant’s slides, and for a quick lunch, you can’t go wrong with Avocado Tree. If you’ve just returned from your summer holidays, or are new to the Shunyi area, here’s a quick round-up of those stores that are no more and what’s new.

What’s Out
MOMO Grocery Store
Tapas Plus
SHUSH Kid’s Store
Galati Luxury Italian Food
Johnson’s Computer has shut up shop, but will continue without their store. You can contact them on WeChat JohnsonComputer or call 5165 9282

What’s Moved
WINS Arts & Framing Gallery has moved to another Pinnacle location, just opposite Avocado Tree

What’s New
Chicken Suutak’s Korean Fast Food
MINT Vietnamese Restaurant
Oyster Bar
Chinese Tea House
Linda’s Beijing Restaurant   

Pinnacle Plaza 顺义南
99 Yuxiang Lu, Tianzhu, Shunyi District 顺义区天竺开发区裕翔路99号

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: Sally Wilson

I took a trip to Euro Plaza this week, for the first time in a while. It was 11.45am and I was ready for an early lunch. What I was really craving was sushi. I’ve heard a lot of great stuff about Kyo-Sakura Japanese restaurant, so I decided to give it a try. Sandwiched between Costa Coffee and Starbucks, it’s in a prominent position on the ground floor of the shopping mall. You have a choice of dining inside the bright and very comfortable restaurant, or out on the terrace. I opted for inside, to escape the lingering summer heat, and chose a table beside the open plan kitchen.

There’s a choice of two menus, the lunch sets and the main menu. Lunch sets include tempura, sashimi, sushi, pork cutlet, and chicken teriyaki. Sets include soup, rice, salad, and pickled vegetables and are good value at RMB 88-108. There’s a children’s set too for RMB 58, plus a range of grilled dishes, sashimi, tempura, sushi, and plenty of sea urchin. Tempura is a weakness of mine, so without hesitation I ordered the shrimp tempura. At RMB 40 for two pieces I had high expectations. Those expectations were not only met, they were exceeded. The tempura pieces were huge, with a crisp and incredibly light batter enveloping two perfectly cooked shrimp. I was in tempura heaven, only wishing I’d ordered more.

Sushi rolls include California, tempura shrimp, eel, and a duck liver parfait (RMB 68-88). The salmon and mango roll incorporated soft avocado, crab, and shredded radish, rolled and topped with smoked salmon, mango, and roe. The salmon was delicately flavored, and the thin slice of mango gave the roll a wonderfully fresh and light taste. Looking at other dishes the chefs were putting out, presentation is very impressive, with a real attention to detail.

Wait staff were polite and very efficient. The restaurant has its own bathroom, so you don’t have to use the ones in the mall, great if you’re dining with kids. Only a few tables were occupied when I arrived, by the time I left there was a queue of hungry diners waiting to be seated.

Kyo-Sakura
1/F Euro Plaza, 99 Yuxiang Rd, Shunyi District (8046 1397/1398, 138 1187 2809)

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: Sally Wilson

This weekend there are a couple of INDOOR activities to enjoy in Shunyi. Until the air clears, take advantage of sports and events that are being held inside so that you can curb boredom and breathe normally! What’s coming up:

On Saturday, January 19 from 10am-3pm, Roundabout will host another fantastic book fair at the Shunyi campus of BSB. At the same time, there will be a special half-price sale on all sports related items and animal items at the Roundabout store. Sales from both will go to help children with desperate medical needs, and it couldn’t be done without your help! Thank you in advance for your support!

Also on the 19th from 2-6pm at Green T. House Living-Shunyi, come out for the first of a fantastic Music Fest! Enjoy classical, vocal, acoustic, unplugged and bands – all as a fundraiser for New Life Centre. Student performances from WAB, ISB, Harrow, CIS, BCIS and Daystar will entertain all. Tickets are RMB 100 and can be purchased at the door or through the schools. For a map to Green T. House Living, click here.

Some changes in Euro Plaza: Simmons mattresses are coming soon, so you can get off the thin Ikea beds and get some good sleep. They will be located on 4th floor. Torana Clean Air Store is also relocated – from the main floor to the basement level (LB09). If you need to contact them and find that service has not yet reconnected, e-mail chris@toranahouse.com or call their Central Park location (6597 9986).

Small World Kid’s Land has been making some changes to better serve our community. Now called Viva Xiao (a merger with the popular Viva Now in the city that closed), the studio will still host great birthday parties and make a family photo sitting extra special for you. They are working hard to provide a good service to our neighborhood, and they welcome suggestions! Call 8046 1603 or (English) 136 9109 1046.

Rumor has it that Radiance will, indeed, reopen in our Shunyi area after Chinese New Year. While specifics are vague, it appears they will be opening in the Roma Lake area. Stay tuned for details!
 

Euro Plaza has always had great potential, but seems lacking in the ability to channel it. Situated in a heavily populated expat area with compounds and international schools galore, as well as being right across the street from the humongous Expo Center, Euro should be prime real estate for businesses with good marketing and retail insight.

So why isn’t it great?

McDonalds is the only space that seems to have consistent traffic. Yes, there are Comptoirs de France and BHG (among a few others) that have regular customers, but by and large most stores struggle and close shortly after opening.

What’s Out:
Rainbow Home (3rd floor)
A huge space selling some home improvement and décor items, this location already closed once, remodeled, and gave it a second shot. Without Blue Frog across the hall, foot traffic is light; although I did rake in some bargains when I stumbled across the going out of business sale.
Yobio yogurt (1st floor)
Villa Lifestyles

What’s Moving:
Jessie Tailor (from the basement to Pinnacle Plaza, next to Jenny Wang)
IQAir (to the basement level floor)
Likely a move to a floor where there is more consistent customer traffic. BHG helps this along greatly.

What’s New:
KFC (2nd floor)
Not a terribly convenient floor for a fast food business, but it provides another option to McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. It’s predictable, if not convenient.

Many clothing stores and freestanding stalls still occupy space at Euro Plaza, but they just don’t have it quite right for the market. Be it the rent prices, contracts or perhaps too many “unknowns” for potential lessees, there are MANY businesses we’d love to see in our neighborhood. Something to fulfill kid needs (clothing for ages 6-16, crafts/activity centers), expat services (office supplies/copy centers, Watsons) or families (movie theater, ice skating rink, bowling alley) would be an excellent start.

What Euro Plaza needs is a good expat marketing and sales person to work alongside their Chinese counterpart – the result likely being a good example of how working together for a positive outcome could actually work.
 

All I want for Christmas is … an improved Euro Plaza

Welcome to the third edition of beijingkids’ weekly Shunyi Happenings newsletter, where our Shunyi Correspondent Charlotte Moreau brings you all the news and events from beyond the 5th Ring.

This week it seems the entire expat enclave of Shunyi has cleared out for the holidays — most schools are closed for Christmas week and the pickins are slim for things to do. All is not lost and there are fun things throughout the city that can be found in the beijingkids events section here … in the meantime, we bring you Charlotte’s wish list for the mall that anchors the epicenter of expat Shunyi, Europlaza.

Have a Shunyi tip for Charlotte for a future newsletter? Click here to send her the details.

All I want for Christmas is … an improved Euro Plaza

There are a few new stores in there now, but walking the floors of Euro Plaza still leaves much to be desired. It’s a shame, really.  The “mall” was built to support the huge International Exhibition Center across the street, and it has the makings for great success being in the middle of at least eight area expat villas. But since it opened three years ago, it has left mostly an unquenched desire by shoppers for more.

More what? Just ask a few people around here and they (okay, we…) could easily give a wish list to the powers that be of who we’d like to see move in at Euro Plaza.

1. Watsons. That’s an easy one. While it’s not technically a drug store as we might know them, it is a great place to get personal essentials, make up and a few other items. I think the closest one is in the Wangjing area; if you’re without a car, it’s just a pain to get there.

2. Kids clothing stores. There is a real need for kids’ clothes that are not baby/toddler sizes, yet are not for young adults. The demand is for kids from six or seven to pre-teen and early teen years. We do have Tots-to-Teens, but there is limited selection there. And many kids around here do not want clothing with Hello Kitty or the Pleasant Goat all over. At the moment, our options for quality kids clothing are a) travel a bit away to get it, b) spend way too much money on it, c) have it tailor made, or d) order online. Having something here in Euro Plaza would be a gem.

3. Movie theater. Wow, would this be HUGE! With so many families around seeking entertainment for all ages, it’d be a huge hit to have a theater here – with English speaking films, that is. I’ll add here that any family-friendly entertainment would be beneficial – bowling lanes, indoor putt-putt miniature golf, game arcade, etc.

4. Office supply/copy center. A la Kinko’s (in America) and other well-known centers, these stores offer copy services (collating, binding, laminating), sell supplies (stationery, packaging materials), and often provide mailing services. Actually, I could make this point an added-extra – would it be worth it to have a China Post in Euro?

5. Appliance/small electronics store. Think Gome or Suning. When you need blenders, vacuums, humidifiers and so much more, this would be the place to go.

6. Gap plus other clothing options. We’d love to see more clothing stores that fit expat sizes closer to home. To fill the need of point #2 as well as adults, this is currently a huge void. I understand the two Beijing locations of Gap have all that’s delightfully expected available in their stores. Other hot spots you see foreigners patronize include Uniqlo, Decathlon, Zara and H&M. Any or all of those would be great here.

7. Baking supplies/cakery. Exquisite Bakery used to be the place to go for baking needs.  Since the Chinese don’t typically bake (nor do many have ovens, for that matter), it’s not always easy to find the ingredients you need. With Exquisite gone, it’s even harder.  While their cakes were pricey and there are other bakeries around to cover for oft-requested birthday cakes, this addition would likely be very well received.

8. Market stall gifts. We can always travel to markets for the regular purchases of silk items, t-shirts, jewelry and gifts. But it would be sweet to have one storefront with those same offerings and same prices so close and convenient.

9. China Mobile store. Searching area hutongs for SIM cards and trying to find the exact store location where you can get a fa piao for pre-paid cards is a science. With new families moving in the area often and needing immediate connection, a China Mobile store could sell phones, SIM cards, pre-paid cards (or programs) and more!

10. Shoes, shoes, shoes.  For men, women and children.  Decent quality, decent prices, and decent selection.  And in our sizes.  What a chore it is to find that nearby now!

What they don’t need at Euro Plaza is any more over-priced, undesirable stores with products that nobody is buying.  Examine the neighborhood, see who lives here, and fill the needs of those people.  Not all expats are wealthy and not all have over-the-top packages to live here.  But we do all want variety, choices, and accessible products and services for our families.

Will any of our wishes be granted?  Maybe this posting will reach the right people and some wishes will come true!  For those of you that I haven’t represented here, please let us know what you think by posting a message below or on our Forum.