Just because it’s a week-long holiday is no excuse to slack off and let it all go! This is especially true if you’re intending to eat and drink more than usual – then all the more reason to work out every harder to maintain balance. These locally-sourced fitness programs will help you get your body moving and keep on going!

FitFam

FitFam is a free fitness community offering live and virtual workouts for all levels, with zero equipment. Their Mini-Program on WeChat is straightforward and allows you to see the available workouts closest to you. FitFam started out in Shanghai with 6 friends who just wanted to stay active during the long, cold winter, and has grown into a inclusive community across 3 countries (China – Beijing and Shanghai, France – Grenoble, Malaysia – Kuala Lumpur) with the goal of providing free access to a base level of fitness so everyone can have the confidence to lead a healthy and fit life! They offer a wide range of classes from yoga to running to circuit training and more. All their workouts are run by volunteers who champion the values of the community and motivate others to keep on moving!

Search FitFam on WeChat to register on their Mini-Program

WeTrain

WeTrain is similar to FitFam in that it offers free workouts to anyone willing to sign up for a sweat sesh via their WeChat link. It gets straight to the point – offering a calendar of available workouts day by day where you can sign up with the click of a button. A glance at their calendar over Golden Week shows that classes such as Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Frisbee on Sunday (Oct 2), as well as WeClimb on Tuesday, Oct 4 are still listed, though booking for these classes start only 24 hours in advance.

Scan the QR code to check out their classes now:

And if these free workouts aren’t pushing you far enough, Beijing’s prominent fitfluencer Diva is hosting a “7 in a row” workout challenge for the October holiday where you get to try a variety of workouts every morning at 9am for 45 minutes. Get a weekly pass for RMB 350 or sign up a la carte per class at RMB 75.

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Images: Pexels

Back to school thoughts may be looming on the horizon but there are still a couple weekends left to enjoy the summer vacation. Here’s our pick of family-friendly events that will be fun for all this Saturday and Sunday (Aug 13-14).

Lost Puppies Adoption Day 

The slogan is “Eat, Drink, Adopt” and that’s what you can aim to do at the Lost Puppies’ Adoption Day, Charity Raffle and Vegan Market this Saturday from 12pm to 8pm at the pup-friendly Chez Soi in the Sanlitun neighborhood. Entry is free and raffle tickets are RMB 50 per piece, or RMB 200 for 5. It’s all for a good cause for our furry friends so dig into your wallets!

When: Aug 13, 12pm-8pm
Where: Chez Soi
Price: Free!
Register: Scan the QR code in the poster.

Kids Club Hike: Stone Flowers Cave Visit 

This was a last-minute addition to the Beijing Hikers’ calendar due to some flooding in an area of another hike that then had to be canceled, so, lucky us! In this level 2 hike suitable for kids aged 5-12, visit Fangshan District for a short hike up to a lookout, enjoy a big lunch at a country restaurant, and a 1.5-hour tour underground at Stone Flowers Cave. Down in the caves where there’s colourful lighting and good walking paths, we’ll see a whole lot of speleothems: stalactites, stalagmites, columns, flowstone, “stone flowers,” “crystal flowers,” shields, rimstone pools, and cave popcorn.

When: Aug 13, all day
Price: RMB 450/RMB 405 for members/RMB 220 for under-18s/free for 3-to-4-year-old kids
Register: Scan the QR code below to register on their website.

SCOBY-DOO: Kombucha Brewing Workshop With Isilay

Okay, maybe this event itself isn’t strictly for families, but the gut-boosting kombucha that you’ll learn to brew in the class will certainly be a benefit to the whole family so it counts!

Known as the “superfood of beverages,” kombucha provides a number of health benefits that are attributed to the drink’s fermentation process and its fundamental ingredient: “cha” or “tea.” This probiotic drink is made by fermenting tea and sugar with kombucha culture (SCOBY), which turns the sweet tea into a beverage full of vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and health-promoting organic acids. (Eric Childs, “Kombucha!”)

In this workshop at The Hutong you will:

• Taste two types of homemade kombuchas
• Find out about the science and history behind kombucha making
• Carry out the first and second fermentations and take home your first kombucha brew and SCOBY
• Learn how to take care of your SCOBY and discover tips for successful brewing

When: Aug 13, 2.30pm-4.30pm
Where: The Hutong
Price: RMB 350/RMB 300 for members
Register: Scan the QR code in the poster.

Sustainable Living Festival 

Join an EcoFlow Yoga class conducted by Taozi Tree Yoga yogi Yinai as she guides you on a reflection of what you want out of life. You may discover you actually need very little, making it easier for you to adopt earth-friendly sustainable life habits. After the yoga class, there will be a “free market” for secondhand goods where you can bring any sports equipment or workout clothes that you no longer need and swap them with others’. After all, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. You are welcome to join just the yoga class, or the swap, or both!

When: Aug 14, 12.15pm-2.15pm
Where: Taozi Tree Yoga Studio
Price: Free!
Register: Scan the QR code in the poster.

The Playful World of Eric Carle

And if you have not paid a visit to the playful world of Eric Carle exhibition yet, there’s still time for that! But before going, check out editor Mina Yan’s take on it in this article.

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Images: Courtesy of the vendors

Parents rejoice! The Beijing International Music Festival (BMF) is in town and offering a full day’s worth of free kid-centric performances this Saturday, Oct 23, at the Red House in Sanlitun’s Taikooli, as well as the Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park (perhaps better known as the Forbidden City Park Concert Hall).

Over at the Red House, The Adventure of Mimilu, the Wandering Cat tells the tale of a blossoming friendship between a piano teacher’s cat who loves music and a lonely piano student. This multimedia performance mixes iconic music such as Mozart’s Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with images and videos to fully engage all of the senses. Acclaimed pianist Song Siheng uses the performance to tell a heartwarming story of love and companionship. It also provides the perfect opportunity for children who are new to music culture to enter the wonderful world of music through both sight and sound. The Adventure of Mimilu, the Wandering Cat. The Red House, Taikooli. 11am and 2pm. Free.

The performances continue later that afternoon at the Zhongshan Park Concert Hall, where the young award-winning conductor Jin Yukuang will team up with the neoclassical chamber orchestra for Charles-Camille Saint-Saën’s masterpiece Animal Carnival. This piece was specially chosen to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the French composer’s passing. Saint-Saëns was known for using beautiful and agile musical language to paint a vivid picture of the animals named in this piece, from turtles to elephants and most famously, swans. A Carnival of Animals, Poems, and Music. Zhongshang Park Concert Hall. 3pm and 6pm. Free.

This year marks the 24th edition of the Beijing Music Festival, which presents free, high-quality educational events every year to cultivate the next generation’s love of art and music. There are no tickets, so just show up to the venue beforehand and secure a spot to enjoy the performance. It is also worth mentioning that the four young performers in the two concerts were selected through open auditions and interviews for the Beijing International Music Festival. The youngest is barely 1.2m and in elementary school.

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Images: Unsplash, courtesy of Beijing Music Festival