Beijing consists of 16 districts containing over 21 million people. In this series, we will be focusing on seven neighborhoods in four separate districts, which have become the most popular among Beijing’s expat community. While these aren’t the only areas that are home to waiguoren, these are the most accessible and offer, in our opinion, the best Beijing experience depending on your tastes and preferences.

Hello Mart

Surrounded by embassies, Chaoyang Park is the largest, most western-style park in the city and is very popular with middle-class Chinese families and the expat community. Lined with shops, restaurants, and residential compounds, this area is easy for daily living. Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park is pretty much modeled after the mixed indoor/outdoor malls of the west, while nearby Liangmaqiao is a busy commercial area with many expat conveniences and high-end hotels where you can enjoy some amazing fine dining options. This neighborhood is a great option if you require a space that isn’t flooded with cars and electric scooters to get a run in every once in a while.

Pros

+ Proximity to Chaoyang Park (which hosts free yoga sessions, Heyrobics, HeyRunning, pick-up soccer and basketball games, and more)

+ Western supermarkets and restaurants

+ Several embassies and schools

Cons

– Some compounds are farther from subway access

– Living inside the expat bubble

– Higher cost of living when compared to some other inner city areas

Residential Compounds

Several residential compounds are available in Chaoyang. Palm Springs has north-facing units overlooking Chaoyang Park, a Roman-style garden, large clubhouse with an indoor swimming pool, children’s playground, sauna, and gym—it’s no wonder it’s popular with families. Park Avenue has a shopping complex with imported groceries, cafes, and sporting good stores in addition to its children’s playground, swimming pool, and gym. Jingda International Apartment is near the Chaoyang Park, Palm Springs Living Square, and Solana Park. No. 9 International Apartment has many international shopping malls and restaurants. Greenlake Place is another option, and has many stores, restaurants, and even a Jenny Lou’s in the compound.

Schools

Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB), Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS), House of Knowledge (HoK), German Embassy School, and Ivy Academy are all top notch and convenient options if you are residing in this area of the city.

Solana Lifestyle & Shopping Park

Shopping

Solana Lifestyle and Shopping Park is a large, popular open-air mall next to Chaoyang Park. It’s one of the most known shopping centers for families, and features International name brands like Zara, Uniqlo, Muji, H&M, American Eagle, Gap, and more.  Also, if you are ever craving something that’s not all that different from the farmer’s markets back home, check out Farm2Neighbors at Beijing Grand Summit each weekend for a selection of some of the city’s best vendors of organic produce and specialty goods. Recent addition, Hello Mart is a sprawling 7,000sqm market, food court, and “mall without walls” that looks to cater to the growing affluence of Liangmaqiao.

Pachapapi

Dining

If you are looking for international restaurants in the neighborhood make sure to head to Beijing Grand Summit where you’ll find Baker and Spice, Obentos (Japanese, healthy), Cue for contemporary Southeast Asian cuisine, and much more. You can also head to Solana which houses Beijing favorites like Moka Bros, Tribe, and Tube Station Pizza. Just a short walk from Solana to get to Maizidian where you’ll find some of the best Japanese food in Beijing at restaurants like Yume Wo Katare, known for serving up hearty bowls of ramen.  Recently Liangmaqiao has also generated a bit of attention among foodies with the addition of Xinyuanli, which houses restaurants like Bottega, Q Mex Taqueria, and the Peruvian newcomer, Pachapapi.

Yoga in Chaoyang Park

Where to Play

There’s lots to do in Chaoyang.  As the largest patch of green space in Beijing, Chaoyang Park is the obvious choice. Entrance is inexpensive and there’s a lot of room to move around. Young visitors can fly kites, rent a pedal boat for the lake, go on fairground rides, or even participate in group yoga and exercise classes on the weekends if weather and AQI permit. When your kids are exhausted from the park, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park is located a stone’s throw away. This family favorite has been open since 2008, with its fountains and whimsical decorations. Indoors, there’s an entire children’s wing with play facilities and family-oriented shops. For book lovers, Mike’s Children’s English Book Library near Solana has the original imported British and American selections for children, including children’s books, graphic novels, picture books, teen fiction, and more. At Yoga Summit, you can book family yoga classes to get a little respite from the hectic surroundings of life in the capital.

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

Our first impressions of Hello Mart in Liangmaqiao is that it’s the apex of massive forces currently reworking Beijing’s consumer landscape. The new sprawling 7,000sqm food court/craft beer bar/grocery store/crafts emporium/English school/ice cream dispensary/art store appears to be a prototype for the type of “mall without walls” shopping experience that (if the government has its way) will pockmark the city as a replacement of the shops, restaurants, and mom and pop grocery stores being forced to close in the name of “beautification” and population control.

All fruit and veg comes individually wrapped – it’s the future!

Speaking as someone who lives in this area, Hello Mart could potentially be very convenient given the dearth of small grocers nearby. Granted, Sanyuanli Market – considered one of the best places to buy niche Western food items in Beijing – is a couple of blocks away and there is a smattering of smaller grocery stores on Maizidian to the south, but the prices you’ll pay at Hello Mart, no matter how fresh the produce, are not going to draw anyone in for a weekly shop. Then there’s the packaging, which is like BHG on steroids – almost everything is individually wrapped (sorry, zero-wasters) – which in a bizarro-land way kind of makes sense, considering how long it’s likely to sit on the shelves.

The dry foods area has both home staples and more niche imported items

There are, however, some upsides to having a pricey dry foods section; namely, that it’s stocked with some hard-to-find products that warrant the hundreds of kuai you’re desperate to blow. If it’s Italian cooking oils, foie gras imported from France, or a 1977 bottle of Maotai you’re after (c’mon, it’s only RMB 100,000!) then you know where you to go. As for everything else, you’re probably able to find it in your closest Jenny Lou’s.

READ: Expat Supermarket Institution Jenny Lou’s Celebrates 25 Years in the Biz

Speaking of which, that foreigner favorite has teamed up with Hello Mart to provide reasonably priced and expansive wine and cheese sections. This may in fact be the most practical part of the store, and a godsend should you be on the hunt for last-minute dinner party provisions.

Fancy a RMB 5,555 bottle of “Snake Venom” AKA the world’s strongest beer? You’ll find it here

Then there’s the neat beer fridge area that wraps around into a Ram Beer-operated 30-plus-tap bar. Again, don’t expect this place to usurp your local bottle bar given the prices (RMB 40-60 for 330ml or plus RMB 20 for 500ml), and the mall atmosphere, but it’s well-equipped and stacks a decent range of limited edition brews in the fridge if you’re looking for a treat.

A simple gaifan or noodle dish will set you back RMB 30-40 (worth it for the tray alone)

Finally, there’s the food court. No doubt that the selection of noodles, Chinese snacks-on-sticks, seafood, and overpriced attempts at Western food will be popular among locals and nearby embassy and hotel staff (it was very busy when we first dropped by for a mid-week lunch) but the options will get old quite quickly. Vegetables are scarce save for one six-option salad station, and the huge seafood tanks are more akin to what you might find at a high-end Chinese restaurant rather than the back of a food court (as such, it boasts “the longest LED screen in Beijing”).

The attached Land of Grain bakery stocks European-style breads with higher-than-average prices

Couple these aspects with the adjoining Land of Grain bakery, an overpriced café, lots of forlorn-looking arts and craft dealers dotted throughout, a space dedicated to modern art, a small playschool, and themed private dining rooms for hire at RMB 500 a pop, and you get a space that sells a lot but doesn’t really know what it wants to be.

Stalls offer any number of services, from tailoring to those blown-sugar animals you used to see on the street

To put it bluntly: If this is what government-mandated shopping utopia looks like in Beijing, we’ll a) need a bigger paycheck and b) be ready to kiss goodbye to the vestiges of charm that the city has to offer. But hey, if those things don’t concern you, Hello Mart is convenient as all hell.

READ: Groupe Flo Caters to the Masses With New Upscale Food Court in Sanyuanqiao

Hello Mart
Daily 9am-10pm. 48 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District (5382 2114)
城市市集：朝阳区亮马桥路48号

Photos courtesy of Hello Mart, Anna Pellegrin Hartley, Tautvile Daugelaite

A small explosion has rocked a public area near the US Embassy in Liangmaqiao, leaving the perpetrator injured.

Beijing Police, on their official 平安北京 account on Weibo, said the suspect, a 26-year-old male surnamed “Jiang” from Inner Mongolia, injured his hand after setting off a “firecracker device” at the intersection of Tianze Road and Anjialou Road at around 1pm local time. Police cordoned off the blast site and blocked traffic past the embassy and nearby roads, but the area was opened shortly afterward.

State media CGTN reported the explosion happened near the visa office of the embassy, which was evacuated shortly afterward the incident. However, an embassy spokesperson told CNN that the perpetrator “detonated a bomb,” and that “there were no injuries and damage to embassy property.”

There were earlier reports of a woman who had been taken away by police after “spraying gasoline on herself” in a suspected “self-immolation” attempt outside the embassy around 11am local time. A reporter for Global Times said a “scent of explosives lingered on for half an hour.”

It was unclear if the two incidents were linked and there is no information yet regarding the Jiang’s motivation although local police said they have already launched an investigation. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press conference that the explosion was an “isolated case” that had been dealt with by the police in a “timely and prompt manner”.

Initial reports and videos at the scene quickly circulated on Weibo but were censored within several hours after the incident.

The US Embassy is situated in the high-security Liangmaqiao diplomatic area, which also houses several embassies from India, Brunei Darussalam, France, Israel, among others.

Such targeted attacks are extremely rare in Beijing. Early in 2013, a bomber in a wheelchair injured a bystander in Beijing Capital International Airport’s Terminal 3 after he was restricted from handing out protest fliers. Later that year, 4×4 plowed into bystanders in Tiananmen and burst into flames, killing five people including the three attackers and injuring 39 others.

With additional reporting from Tom Arnstein of the Beijinger
Photos: diplomacy.state.gov

Surrounded by embassies, Chaoyang Park is the largest, most Western-style park in the city and is very popular with middle-class Chinese families and the expat community. Lined with shops, restaurants, and residential compounds, this area is easy for daily living. Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park is pretty much modeled after the mixed indoor/outdoor malls of the west, while nearby Liangmaqiao is a busy commercial area with many expat conveniences and high-end hotels where you can enjoy some amazing fine dining options. This neighborhood is a great option if you require a space that isn’t flooded with cars and electric scooters to get a run in every once in a while.

Residential Compounds

Several residential compounds are available in Chaoyang. Palm Springs has north-facing units overlooking Chaoyang Park, a Roman-style garden, large clubhouse with an indoor swimming pool, children’s playground, sauna, and gym—it’s no wonder it’s popular with families. Park Avenue has a shopping complex with imported groceries, cafes, and sporting good stores in addition to its children’s playground, swimming pool, and gym. Greenlake Place is another option, and has many stores, restaurants, and even a Jenny Lou’s in the compound.

Schools

Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB), Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS), House of Knowledge Schools and Kindergartens (HoK), and Ivy Academy are all top notch and convenient options if you are residing in this area of the city.

Shopping

Solana Lifestyle and Shopping Park (featured photo) is a large, popular open-air mall next to Chaoyang Park. It’s one of the most known shopping centers for families, and features International name brands like Zara, Uniqlo, Muji, H&M, American Eagle, Gap, and more. Also, if you are craving something that’s not all that different from the farmer’s markets back home, check out Farm2Neighbors at Beijing Grand Summit each weekend for a selection of some of the city’s best vendors of organic produce and specialty goods.

Dining

If you are looking for international restaurants in the neighborhood make sure to head to Beijing Grand Summit where you’ll find Baker and Spice, Obentos (Japanese, healthy), and much more, or head to Solana which houses Beijing favorites like Moka Bros, Tribe, and Tube Station Pizza. Just a short jaunt away from Solana to Maizidian and you’ll find some of the best Japanese food in Beijing at restaurants like Yume Wo Katare, serving up hearty bowls of ramen, or Vin Vie, where you’ll find inventive izakaya with a western touch.

Where to Play

As the largest patch of green space in Beijing, Chaoyang Park is the obvious choice. Entrance is inexpensive and there’s a lot of room to move around. Young visitors can fly kites, rent a pedal boat for the lake, go on fairground rides, or even participate in group yoga and exercise classes on the weekends if weather and AQI permit. When your kids are exhausted from the park, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park is located a stone’s throw away. This family favorite has been open since 2008, with its fountains and whimsical decorations. Indoors, there’s an entire children’s wing with play facilities and family-oriented shops.

Photos: Kipp Whittaker
This article appeared on p18-29 of beijingkids July 2018 Home & Relocation Guide issue

We often think of Beijing as a massive, cosmopolitan metropolis awkwardly positioned on top of an ancient city, but surprisingly the majority of Beijing is rural. Taking up over 16,000 sqkm of land, Beijing is so massive it actually should be viewed as a county rather than a city. This can make it a daunting task for finding the most appropriate neighborhood for you and your family to settle down.

Beijing itself is broken up into districts, with the center districts considered to be the main part of the “city” of Beijing. Districts themselves can be massive, with populations equaling the size of whole European cities, and they house diverse, ever-changing, neighborhoods within.

Like in all major cities when settling on an area to live in, your neighborhood very much reflects your personality and the unique social, professional, or cultural needs of you and your family.

Areas like Sanlitun, the Central Business District (CBD), and Liangmaqiao are expensive and filled with shopping malls and a more developed western food scene that attracts a wealthier Chinese and expat clientele.

The trendy areas of the city, where many young expats tend to reside would be the hutongs. These neighborhoods are located primarily in Dongzhimen or Gulou and often attract those looking for a more authentic Beijing experience, due to their picturesque though sometimes gritty setting. But this can be an inconvenient option for some families as markets with international goods aren’t very close, the plumbing is old, and these old houses can get cold during the winter.

For expat families who’d prefer to settle down in neighborhoods near reputable schools, Shunyi is likely your best option, but it is a far drive out of the dynamic city center. Far-flung neighborhoods have much cheaper rent, but can often lack nightlife, a diverse dining scene, or many other creature comforts that we crave to maintain our social lives.

In our Beijing Neighborhood Guide you’ll discover all of the pros and cons of each area, which we hope will help guide you in your search for the perfect place to live, learn, eat, and play for as long as you decide to call this incredible city home.

Photos: Kipp Whittaker
This article appeared on p18-29 of beijingkids July 2018 Home & Relocation Guide issue

For this edition of Playing Inside, we visited Crescendo Studio. We thought it would be a little difficult finding a venue that not only provides high-quality musical instruction, but also does so in a very conducive and trilingual (English, French, and Chinese) learning environment. But that’s exactly what we found at Crescendo!

We went there primarily to check out a family-friendly concert that they had organized by the American folk duo, Kirk Kenney and Parker Trevathan. An hour watching these two guys picking and grinning their way through a range of classic kid songs put us in a great mood, and also gave us a pretty clear idea of what this music school is all about: making music learning fun! This is an aspect of music training that is sadly neglected for many youths picking up an instrument for the first time.

Crescendo was founded by husband and wife team, Nico Toresse and Zoe Wang because they noticed that there weren’t many music schools in town that were focusing as much on enjoying musical education as they were on the technical skills needed to excel. After all, China is known for producing young musicians that can belt out note for note of complex compositions written by legendary composers. Before they opened up their brand new shiny music school in Liangmaqiao last October, they were traveling all over the city giving lessons for guitar, accordion, and music theory. Now they’ve rounded out their course offerings with classes in musical exploration, percussion, piano, dance, and much more.

When asked at what age is the most appropriate time for a student to begin learning an instrument, Nico quickly responded that he didn’t see the point of putting a four-year-old in front of a piano. That’s why, starting with four-year-olds, Crescendo has implemented their own unique musical exploration class that helps students gain a solid foundation in music. In this course, students begin by using their voices as their first instrument. Following this, students are encouraged to take music theory classes where they will start writing and reading music. While students have the option of learning an instrument at any time, we agree with their view that developing an interest and love for music should be what comes first.

We were also happy to learn that during classes, teachers don’t shy away from also using videos to also teach other forms of musical knowledge. The historical context of a song or style of music is another aspect that is ignored in musical training, and we believe it allows for a more thorough approach to learning. This made us extremely jealous, compared to our own music lessons as kids, when we only had a boom box with scratched CDs that we could inconveniently learn from.

As we were leaving Crescendo Studio, we witnessed the excitement of one of their students receiving his first guitar. He was getting some brief instructions from Nico on how to take care of this magical instrument, and you could see the glow in his eyes as he was putting it away in his gig bag to take home. We could tell this would be a day that this young guitarist would likely never forget.

Currently, Crescendo is developing a comprehensive list of classes for summer. This is great for those of you out there that want some intensive music training to fill up the copious amount of free time that is about to land on your child’s lap in just a couple weeks. For more details regarding pricing, and group or one-on-one classes, follow the Crescendo Studio account on WeChat (WeChat ID: Crescendo-Studio).

Photos: Kipp Whittaker, Crescendo Studio
This article appeared on p32-33 of beijingkids June 2018 issue

I am always amazed by how extensive Beijing’s subway network is. As of this moment, we have 19 lines, 345 stations (70 are above ground) and 574km of track in operation, and in the coming years we will see more lines opening.

Despite being notoriously crowded (and sometimes smelly), we can’t deny that Beijing’s subway is the most convenient form of transportation in the city. Not only do I use it almost every day to travel but also to learn Chinese and part of the city’s culture.

Let me go back to my inspiration for this article: Tian’anmen (天安门). It surely is my anchor point in learning Chinese because I relate one of its characters, 安 ān, to my Chinese name. I also get amused by the rich history behind the popular attraction in the city center.

They say the key to understanding a culture is through knowing local stories. And though taking the subway seems to be a daily activity for many, I thought station names would offer a bit of trivia that has the possibility of extending our knowledge of Beijing. So I started my quest to unravel the meaning of some subway station names after reading a BBC blog on London Underground station names (Piccadilly Circus… or Cockfosters, anyone?). Well, our sister site The Beijinger has already begun explaining what could be the one of the interesting zhan in Beijing: Jīntáixìzhào (金台夕照) on Line 10, near CCTV Headquarters on Guanghua Road, which means “the Golden Terrace in the Glow of the Setting Sun…

And to start this series, we go to the station where horses used to bathe… sort of: Liangmaqiao (亮马桥).

Liangmaqiao is on the eastern side of the Third Ring Road and the 15th anti-clockwise station from terminal Bagou (巴沟). The eastern area of Liangmaqiao houses several diplomatic compounds, and on its west and south is the sprawling central business district.

The station’s literal meaning is Liangma Bridge because it’s just close to Liangma River (河 hé, river). Of course, that river name might not be interesting in itself but according to the Qianlong website, the river used to be a bathing place for horses during the Ming dynasty. The river, situated outside Dongzhimen or one of the gates on the eastern side of Beijing’s old imperial city, was named after the wet horses that would bath there (马 mǎ; for 亮 liàng or bright/shine, one can assume that the horses become bright or shiny after getting a bath).

In the Qing dynasty, a white stone bridge (called Liangmaqiao) was erected over the river, and a village northwest of it was named after the river as well. Qianlong said it had become customary for merchants to have their horses bathe in the river as an auspicious sign.

So there you have it! If you know or want to share any story about subway stations or subway travel in general, let us know by emailing webeditor@beijing-kids.com or by leaving your comments below.

Next on Subway Sunday: Why is a “death gate” near a church?

Photos: Qianlong.com

More stories by this author here.
Email: andypenafuerte@beijing-kids.com
Instagram: @coolkidandy

Good news for seasonal ice skaters: the Kempinski Hotel Beijing has just launched a cozy new rink filled with winter warmers courtesy of their F&B experts.

The Liangmaqiao hotel’s Ice World rink, open until March 1, is an ideal place to lace up and enjoy a casual skate with friends and family. It can also be rented for tailor-made events such as office team building, birthday parties and more.

Aside from the ice, the venue also serves warm treats like mulled wine, hot chocolate, and gingerbread cookies from its outdoor wooden stalls.

Imagine how cozy you’ll feel taking a spin on the ice while refreshing yourself and warming up with treats like homemade Christmas stollen with butter, roasted almonds and goulash soup and warm Fruit Punch, Hot Chocolate, mulled wine, and coffee.

Two hours of ice time can be purchased for RMB 50 per person, while packages for private events cost RMB 148 and feature theme gourmet meals from the hotel’s kitchen.

For more info on public skating call 6465 3388 ext. 4182 or email restaurant.beijing@kempinski.com. For group/event booking call 6465 3388 ext. 4161 or email meetings.beijing@kempinski.com.

We found out about this just a tad too late for inclusion into our December feature on winter activities, which appears below (check out a sneak preview of our December issue on issuu.com here), but here’s some other spots to enjoy indoor and outdoor ice skating:

Dulwich College Beijing (outdoor, climate controlled)
Legend Garden Campus, 89 Capital Airport Road, Shunyi District (8450 7676, information@dulwich-beijing.cn)  北京市顺义区首都机场路89号丽京花园7区

Center Ice Asia (indoor)
Daily noon-8pm. Hokay Ice Sports Center, Quanfa Garden North Gate, Chaoyang District (8575 9826 (Chinese), info@centericeasia.com) www.centericeasia.com  浩泰冰上运动中心朝阳区朝阳路兴隆公园内

Le Cool Ice Rink (indoor, year round)
Mon-Sat 10am-10pm, Sun 10am-7pm. B2/F, China World Shopping Mall, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6505 5776, lecool@cwtc.com) www.lecoolicerink.com 朝阳区建国门外大街1号国贸商城B2楼

All Star Ice Rink (indoor, year round)
Daily 10am-10pm. 1/F, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District. (5905 6328) 全明星滑冰俱乐部,朝阳区朝阳公园路6号蓝色港湾国际商区首层

Qianhai (Houhai) Early morning to dusk (outdoor, weather permitting) Qianhai, north side of Beihai Park, Xihai Beiyan, Xicheng District. (6612 5717) 后海地区, 西城区西海北沿(北海公园以北)  

Zizhuyuan Park (outdoor, weather permitting)
Daily 8am-6pm. 45 Baishiqiao Lu, Haidian District. (8841 2830) 紫竹院公园, 海淀区白石桥路45号 

Photos: Courtesy of Kempinski Hotel Beijing