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Dulwich College Beijing Hosts ISCMS Festival
The International Schools Choral Music Society (ISCMS) was founded in 2008 by Shane O’Shea, then head of music at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB). The first gala concert was held at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, where students and teachers performed Faure’s Requiem.

Now, DCB is once again getting ready to host over 300 students from international schools around Asia and the Middle East. They will visit Beijing for a week of workshops and master classes with six international music practitioners.

The festival will culminate in a gala concert featuring double Grammy Award winner Christopher Tin, who will conduct his new piece, Temen Oblak, with the student choir and Beijing Youth Orchestra. The concert will take place at the Forbidden City Concert Hall on Saturday, February 22 at 7.30 pm. For previous coverage of ISCMS on beijingkids, click here, here, and here.

For more information about the festival, visit the ISCMS website. Tickets can be ordered via yoopay. For further inquiries, contact Joanne Ross at joanne.ross@dulwich-beijing.cn.

United Family Healthcare Shunyi Expansion
The United Family Shunyi Clinic has been expanding its services for years, but the latest renovation creates even more space for new facilities and services.To celebrate the expansion, the clinic is planning to hold special community events every season. Mark your calendars for:

• Free eye checkups: The United Family Shunyi Clinic will offer free eye screenings from January 20-22.To make an appointment, call 8046 1102.
• Pediatric dental talk: Pediatric Dentist Dr. Irene Lau will give a talk on Wednesday, January 22 at 10am on the factors that influence oral health and introduce simple tips for your little ones. There will be a Q&A. To RSVP, contact jenifer.sullivan@ufh.com.cn.

By the end of the month, the clinic also expects to have ENT and gynecology services. There will also eventually be a fully operational laboratory and radiology department; for now, there are limited schedules for both services. In March, the clinic will offer free hearing tests and dermatology consultations.

Mom-Approved: Dr. Christian Lemm
While we’re on the subject, I want to put in a personal recommendation for United Family Shunyi’s new family medicine doctor, Dr. Christian Lemm. Dr. Lemm is from Germany and speaks English, German and conversational Italian.

The fact that he moved to Beijing with his family in the middle of winter and worked the clinic the day after Christmas is enough to get a thumbs-up from me. But more than that, we liked his bedside manner and his very thorough approach to treating the respiratory conditions that brought us running to the clinic. Before prescribing any medication, Dr. Lemm took the time to explain the condition and how medicine would help to treat the symptoms.

He was also the first doctor I encountered who could give us a clear picture of my son’s asthma problem. He explained the effects of different medications so well that my son was able to repeat the entire explanation – complete with diagrams – at home to his father and older brother. This is a great skill.

DCB Opens Ice Rink to the Public
Also at Dulwich College Beijing, the ice rink is now open to the public at the following times:

• Monday, 3.45-6pm
• Tuesday, 5.15-7pm
• Wednesday, 5.45-7pm
• Thursday, 3.45-6.30pm
• Friday, 3.45-5.15pm
• Saturday, 10am-noon

A section will be cordoned off for public skating since part of the rink will be used for classes. The price of admission is RMB 50 and includes unlimited skating for the duration of the public skating time slot; ice skates and helmets are included. Dulwich has a limited supply of elbow and knee pads for rent, so the school encourages families to bring their own. Payment can be made at the Dulwich Sports Dome Reception. For inquiries, call 6454 9127.   

Photo by Benson Kua via Flickr

We’d like to hear from you! What are your Shunyi favorites? Any recommendations or bits of news you’d like to see here on Shunyi Happenings, please feel free to send it on to us via email to: danamercado@beijing-kids.com.

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Summertime in Shunyi is all about construction. With the exodus of foreign families to home or cooler climes, business slows down significantly in this expat enclave. And proprietors know this is the best time to update their shops – all the better to woo returnees in the fall.

Closed for Renovations
The biggest temporary closure is probably the Jenny Lou’s store at Beijing Riviera. I imagine residents in that area are now doing quick stops at Didi Mart or at the small local shops inside their compound clubhouses. A note on the door informs customers that the new, improved store will be ready for business on August 20.

What’s Happening at the Plaza
Europlaza has a few changes too. Han Fu Gong Korean barbecue is completing construction at the ground floor with outside access from the patio next to the German restaurant. In the basement, the baby store at the far end ,across from Fornet, has closed down. The local pharmacy has shut its doors too, replaced by a newer, bigger and brighter one a few doors away. Right outside the two closed shops is a temporary bazaar-style clearance bin of children’s goods.

Temporarily Unavailable
Pinnacle Plaza is undergoing the most work, with the following establishments seeing furious activity:

•   The as-of-yet unnamed structure at the leftmost end of the plaza is shaping up with a coat of white paint on the building exterior. The suspense is too much to handle!
• Another structure, much smaller, and progressing at a considerably slower speed, is being built across from the outdoor flower stall, Everyday Flowers.
• Tot to Teens children’s clothing and toy shop is undergoing renovations. In the meantime, you can head to Kids Plus for toys and games. Several shops in Europlaza also have a variety of children’s clothes.
• Mexican Kitchen is being refurbished, but a sign on the door says that their menu is available at their sister restaurant, Little Italy, just at the next block around the corner from Starbucks. If you can’t wait to have that burrito or taco, another alternative is Avocado Tree, also within Pinnacle Plaza.
• Domino’s Pizza is also temporarily unavailable. You can continue to get pizza from Papa John’s at Europlaza, Annie’s at Beijing Riviera, or our new discovery, Pie Squared at Cathay View Plaza commercial center. Now three months old, Pie Squared makes deep-dish Detroit-style pizzas and uses a really delicious sauce.

Car Care and More
Another discovery at Pinnacle Plaza is a shop that offers a complete range of services for cars. There are lots of venues that can help keep your car clean, but what about the paperwork and the nitty gritty that we can’t or don’t want to deal with ourselves?

Enter San Te General Services. They can help with obtaining or renewing a Chinese driver’s license, completing a new car registration, transferring car ownership (including embassy vehicles), buying and selling used cars, arranging annual inspections, and paying the car tax. They also offer car rentals – perfect for when friends or family come to visit. For more info, check out their website at www.stautoclub.com.cn, or call 8046 2075 or 139 1021 1215.

Photo by Dana Cosio-Mercado

Dana is the beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent. Originally from the Philippines, she moved to Beijing in 2011 (via Europe) with her husband, two sons and Rusty the dog. She enjoys writing, photography, theater, visual arts, and trying new food. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city and driving along the mountain roads of Huairou, Miyun and Pinggu.

Breaking news: Beijing No. 55 is no longer accepting new students for its primary school department. According to Admissions Director Ma Xiaogang, the primary school – which opened only in September 2012 – is being moved to newer facilities while the old building is renovated, a process that could take up to two years.

The official line is that the school will also stop enrolling primary school students for two years, but Ma suggested checking back in a year’s time to verify the status on admissions.

The school’s current primary students will continue taking classes at the same campus. No. 55’s middle school and high school students will be unaffected by the move.

The news comes as a hard blow for parents searching for an affordable education choice for their children. Other Chinese elementary schools that may be worth checking out include Fangcaodi International School (Ritan Park), the Chaoyang branch of the elementary school attached to Renmin University (Shaoyaoju), Fuxue Elementary (one branch in Yaojiayuan and one branch in Beixinqiao, call 6404 5995 for more info), or Huijia‘s upcoming Liangmaqiao branch.

Photo by Sijia Chen