Sports Star Visits DCB
If you’re from China or North America, you probably won’t have heard of Mike Gatting, but to the world’s two billion cricket fans he’s remembered as a fiery competitor involved in many of the game’s most exciting and controversial moments. Gatting was at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) for the Mike Gatting Cricket Festival, an annual event encouraging Beijing’s kids to take up the game. You can read our exclusive interview with Gatting on the beijingkids website: www.beijing-kids.com

Leader of the Pack
Beijing’s very own Cub Scout Pack 3944 has a new leader. Byron Denney replaces Kenny Jackman, who has moved onto pastures new. The Pack is affiliated to Boy Scouts of America, and gives boys aged 7-10 the chance to take part in fun, character-building activities like hiking, camping, wildlife conservation, and community service. Membership is open to anyone holding a foreign (non-Chinese) passport and a valid visa. To find out more visit the Pack’s website: www.beijingcubscouts.com

Beijing Hockey Club Joins the Big League
Kunlun Redstar, Beijing’s pro team, has joined the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), second only in prestige to North America’s NHL. KHL’s 29 teams are mainly from Russia, but there are also teams from Finland, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Slovakia, and Croatia. The deal was signed in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which gives an indication of the importance attached to developing winter sports ahead of the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022. The season begins on August 22, and Kunlun Redstar will play their home games at the LeSports Center (formerly the Mastercard Center) in Wukesong.

Harrow Beijing Student’s Breakthrough
A Harrow International School Beijing student’s genetics research has been internationally recognized. Thatcher, a year 10 student, entered his project into the Google Science Fair global online science competition. Experts deemed it to be a Late-Breaking Clinical Trial, and worthy of showing at Rome’s European Society of Cardiology Annual Scientific Sessions in August. A stellar career surely awaits this young scientist.

Ever Get That Sinking Feeling?
You may not be imagining it. Beijing is subsiding at the rate of four inches a year, according to an international team of researchers. The reason is that we are pumping out too much groundwater, while building too many skyscrapers on top. If something isn’t done, the subsidence might affect the subway. And you thought the rush hour was bad now!

Congratulations Jess!
Our very own School Editor Jessica Suotmaa has given birth to a beautiful baby girl. Rina Jade Wang was born in Finland, weighing 3.73 kg. Mother and baby are both doing well, and the new arrival was welcomed with joy by dad Ray and big brother Jax.

Life’s a Beach at Chaoyang Park
The grandly named Chaoyang Park Ocean Beach Festival is underway once more, open until August 31. In simpler terms, this means the park’s artificial beach and outdoor swimming area are open for the summer. The beach was originally constructed for the Beach Volleyball competition at the 2008 Olympics, using sand shipped all the way from Hainan Island.

This article originally appeared on page 6 of the August 2016 Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, and courtesy of Jessica Suotmaa, Harrow Beijing, DCB, and Kunlun Redstar

If you’re stuck here for the summer and not in the mood to pack the kids up to head out of the house then here are some “let the kids have their own fun activities” sure to keep the  younger ones occupied for sometime. None of these activities require an electronic device just some old school fun.  thestir.cafemom.com has come up with 50 cool summer activities for bored kids that can be done without parents being involved. More after the jump.

Here are some of our picks for you to try out:

• Make a mini golf course with a ball and plastic cups dug into the ground.
• Draw a chalk target on the fence and hold a water balloon throwing contest.
• Build a backyard zip line for dolls or action figures.
• This is a timeless classic, two words: papier mâché.
• Make a crazy backyard or even in the house obstacle course for a family competition.
• Use pens to decorate an old white t-shirt. Loser of the family obstacle course competition has to wear it to outside the house.
• Parents hide all the stuffed animals outside, kids strategize and execute a rescue mission.
• Create a water pistol target range. Water, summer, and kids go hand in hand together.

Photo: messyhandslessonplans.com

Photo courtesy of Intel Free Press (Flickr)

While shopping at the grocery store in the basement of the Ito Yokado (Hua Tang) department store at the corner of Wangjing Lu and Jingmi Lu in Wangjing, we discovered that the Tous Les Jours bakery inside the grocery store has a DIY Mooncakes table. For RMB 24 for two mooncakes or RMB 38 for four, kids (or adults) can try their hand at making their own mooncakes. The entire process took about thirty minutes and half of that was baking time which we used to do our shopping. The DIY table is only scheduled for two more dates: 10 and 12 September from 11am-5pm. According to the staff, this is the only Tous Les Jours bakery location with the DIY mooncakes.

As for the results, my wife and daughter took the mooncakes to a Chinese friend’s house for a play date and neither the children nor the adults cared for the mooncakes, but Reina did enjoy making them. So take the kids to Tous Les Jours for the DIY experience and then go buy the Haagen-Dazs ice cream mooncakes for consumption. You’ll be glad you did on both counts.

We’ve adjusted just fine, for the most part. My husband might occasionally miss varied news options or sports-on-demand, and I might miss some favorite drama series. Instead, our few available channels now show the same programs over and over again, from old series to a crazy amount of reality programs. 

The latter has kind of become a guilty pleasure of mine, I admit, from “Junior MasterChef Australia” to “American Idol.” But the latest on the scene – and not a favorite, I should add – is “True Beauty.” Wow, how shallow. Actually, now it’s “True Beauty 2” – don’t know how I could’ve missed the first one. This show features men and women who believe they are competing to be Mr. or Ms. Face of Las Vegas — the most beautiful person on the outside to represent Sin City. They are vain and outrageous and just unbelievable to watch. Of course, the “surprise” factor is that hidden cameras are around, always watching their “inner beauty” moments. There are challenges, final straw moments and ultimately the reveal (to the loser of the week) about how they may not be as beautiful as they believe.

What’s hairy, red, and eats sea cucumber?

The answer: a 1.5 million dollar dog.

Little Splash, a 11-month Red Tibetan Mastiff, has made record by becoming the world’s most expensive pooch.

And who would pay such an extravagant sum for a dog? A northern Chinese coal baron, of course.

Although the price sounds crazy, the unnamed buyer was quoted saying that the puppy is a good investment. Breeding could turn a high profit, as Little Splash is ‘a perfect specimen’ according to Lu Liang, the dog’s breeder.

Little Splash could not be reached to comment, but we like to think that it would say that it ‘just wants to be loved’ and doesn’t like being seen as ‘a dollar doggy’.

Pampered from birth, the dog already weighs 180 pounds and is fed a steady diet of chicken and beef seasoned with sea cucumber and abalone.

Other most expensive dogs? Here’s an article.

What about cats?