New Rules to (Hopefully) Make the Subway More Civilized

A trip on the Beijing subway can be… interesting at times. However new regulations promise to make it a slightly more pleasant experience in the summer heat. Eating, lying down, and playing loud music without headphones have all, thankfully, been outlawed. Selling or marketing on the subway has also been forbidden, which should put a stop to all those people asking you to scan their QR codes. Offenders will lose social credit, and eventually this can lead to them being banned from using the network, unless they recover their status by volunteering for the subway. We applaud any move to make traveling around Beijing more civilized; it just remains to be seen whether the new rules are actually enforced…

New Toy Store Puts Magic Back in Shopping

Parents across Beijing will be getting ready for an assault on their wallets, now that iconic toy store FAO Schwarz has now opened its doors at the China World Center Mall in Guomao. The new store, even larger than the original in New York, aims to bring the magic back to toy shopping. “FAO Schwarz is focused on creating a theatrical experience, where there will be many demonstrators to interact with children and parents in store,” the company’s Chinese partner said. With 2,600 sqm of teddy bears, robots, dolls, cars, and Lego, there’s something for everyone… and for the child who truly has everything, there’s a USD 25,000 crystal-studded miniature Mercedes Benz.

A Season of Change… and a New Career for You?

Summer is always a season of change in Beijing, as it’s the time when many families leave and arrive. If you’re heading off to new adventures, then we wish you the very best of luck, and hope your time in this city has been a productive and fulfilling one. If you’ve just arrived – welcome! Whether you’re here for the long haul, or just for a couple of years, you’ll find this an exciting, unique, and sometimes challenging place to live. But we at beijingkids are always here to help, whether it’s finding the new fun places to play, or guiding you through the difficult days. You can find us at events or contact us on WeChat, and we’re always delighted to answer your questions or share your stories. With the brilliantly talented Niicole Bonnah stepping up to take over as Deputy Managing Editor, we need new writers too, so if you’ve got a flair for writing and a zest for Beijing, get in touch – you could become part of the team!

This article appeared in the beijingkids June 2019 Home & Relocation Guide issue.

Photos: Fang Yifei, Uni You, the Beijinger

Back in November last year we brought you news of the planned opening at Beijing’s China World Center Mall of FAO Schwarz, the iconic New York toy store. Now, only a few months late, the store is finally due to open… and it promises to be a toy shopping heaven.

FAO Schwarz aims to be an experience, not just a toy store

“FAO Schwarz is focused on creating a theatrical experience, where there will be many demonstrators to interact with children and parents in store,” said Sherman Hung, chief financial officer of The Kidsland Group, China’s largest toy retailer and the Chinese partner to FAO Schwarz. “This is part of our exploration into providing new experiences for customers.”

This approach to shopping as entertainment is how “bricks and mortar” retailers hope to compete with the lower prices and wider choice available online. With 2,600 sqm of retail space, the Beijing branch is 40 percent larger than its New York parent, and looks to be a dazzling experience for kids.

The famous “floor piano”

Among the treats on offer is Beijing’s very own version of the famous “floor piano”, as seen in the Tom Hanks movie Big. There are also areas dedicated to teddy bears, Lego, robots, and racing cars.

Some may wonder what a Swarovski Crystal display is doing in a kids’ toy store… or for that matter who’s going to buy the USD 25,000 crystal-studded child-sized Mercedes Benz. But it’s hard to deny that if we were kids, we would be nagging our parents to take us to FAO Schwarz.

The official opening of the store takes place on Saturday May 25, and the company has said there will be prizes and performances all day. Parents may just have found a new way to keep their kids entertained on those high AQI Saturdays. Scan the QR code below for more information:

Photos: courtesy of FAO Schwarz

What’s behind the government clampdown on city farms and gardens? That, the introduction of the newest member of our team, and more in this month’s What’s New.

Iconic Toy Store to Open in Beijing

Toy-lovers of all ages are rejoicing at the news that FAO Schwarz is opening a branch in China World Mall. The iconic New York store is best known from the movie Big, in which Tom Hanks famously dances on its floor piano, but the Fifth Avenue location closed down suddenly in 2015. Now it’s reopening, not only in the Big Apple, but also in Beijing and Shanghai. The store is expected to be in business by March 2019, so start practicing your “Chopsticks”!

Disaster for Dolce & Gabbana in China Racism Row

Chopsticks were the cause of a disastrous PR snafu for fashion company Dolce & Gabbana. An ill-judged advertisement depicting a Chinese model struggling to eat pizza with chopsticks caused some offense, but it was comments allegedly made by founder Stefano Gabbana (pictured left, together with D&G co-founder Domenico Dolce) on his Instagram account when asked about the advertisement that triggered a major backlash. A fashion event in Shanghai was canceled, and D&G products have been removed from stores across China. While they engage in a damage limitation exercise, a Beijing hotel manager has also been forced to apologize, after a post complaining that Chinese men missed the urinal was taken amiss. It’s worth remembering that anything posted on the web is public, and whatever frustrations we might occasionally feel about life in the capital, any venting is probably best done in private.

Beijing Authorities Close City Farms and Gardens

Following the “Great Brickening” which closed so many cafes and bars in the hutong area, the latest government clampdown has been on city farms and gardens. In October, Green Cow City Cafe was ordered to get rid of all its livestock. This was followed by the news that Thomas Holly, known as the Herb Whisperer, has lost his botanical garden due to compulsory purchase by the government. In the south of the city, the owner of The Roots western restaurant, Antoine Mansuy, was devastated to lose 80 percent of the herb garden he had lovingly grown on waste ground to supply fresh herbs for his kitchen. The reason given was that the owners of the mall needed to run pipes through the land. However, the closures come in the wake of a clampdown on polluting urban pig farms, and at a time when African swine fever has been discovered in Beijing pigs. If the disease spreads it could be devastating for China, which produces half of the world’s pork. However as so often, we might applaud the good intentions, while wondering if a more nuanced approach could have produced better results.

Welcome Nicole, and Happy Holidays to Our Readers!

We’re very pleased to welcome Nicole Bonnah to the beijingkids team, as our new Associate Content Planner. You may know her as the entrepreneur behind delicious Halo Hummus, and you can read about her perspective on life as a busy Beijing mom on our website. From Nicole and from all of us, whatever festival you may be celebrating this winter, we wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday season.

This article first appeared in the beijingkids December 2018 Charity and Goodwill issue.
Photos: Uni You, Kipp Whittaker, Wikimedia Commons, Flickr

Kids, and toy lovers of all ages are celebrating the news that iconic US toy store FAO Schwarz is coming to Beijing.

The store originally opened in Baltimore in 1862, but it’s most famous for its New York City location on Fifth Avenue. This is the home of a Walking Piano, on which Tom Hanks plays “Chopsticks” in the movie Big. The store also featured in films ranging from Woody Allen’s Mighty Aphrodite to The Smurfs. However rising rents and competition from online retailers led to the store suddenly closing in 2015.

Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia dance on the Walking Piano at FAO Schwarz, New York, in Big (1988)

Now it’s back, not only in New York but also in Shanghai and Beijing. The store is expected to open in China World Mall in March next year. This opening, following the arrival last year of London’s famous Hamley’s toy store in Wangfujing, suggests that there’s still an appetite for high-end toys that you can get your hands on and try out, despite the recent bankruptcy of Toys’R’Us.

Photos: Kipp Whittaker, voices.clickhole.com