THETHE YEARYEAR ININ REVIEWREVIEW Follow us on WeChat Now Advertising Hotline 400 820 8428 城市漫步北京 英文版 12 月份 国内统一刊号: CN 11-5232/GO China Intercontinental Press ISSN 1672-8025 DECEMBER 2015 主管单位 ：中华人民共和国国务院新闻办公室 Supervised by the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China 主办单位 ：五洲传播出版社 地址 ：北京市海淀区北三环中路31 号生产力大楼 B 座 602 邮编 100088 B-602 Shengchanli Building, No. 31 Beisanhuan Zhonglu, Haidian District, Beijing 100088, PRC http://www.cicc.org.cn 社长 President of China Intercontinental Press 李红杰 Li Hongjie 期刊部负责人 Supervisor of Magazine Department 邓锦辉 Deng Jinhui 编辑 Editor 刘扬 Liu Yang 发行 / 市场 Distribution / Marketing 黄静，李若琳 Huang Jing, Li Ruolin Editor-in-Chief Oscar Holland Food & Drink Editor Noelle Mateer Staff Reporter Dominique Wong National Life & Style Editor Marianna Cerini National Arts Editor Andrew Chin Designers Xiaoran Li, Iris Wang Staff Photographer Holly Li Contributors Mia Li, Wang Xuejun, Trevor Marshallsea, Zoey Zha, Jens Bakker Urbanatomy Media Shanghai (Head office) 上海和舟广告有限公司 上海市蒙自路 169 号智造局 2 号楼 305-306 室 邮政编码 : 200023 Room 305-306, Building 2, No.169 Mengzi Lu, Shanghai 200023 电话 : 021-8023 2199 传真 : 021-8023 2190 (From February 13) Beijing 广告代理 : 上海和舟广告有限公司 北京市东城区东直门外大街 48 号东方银座 C 座 9G 邮政编码 : 100027 48 Dongzhimenwai Dajie Oriental Kenzo (Ginza Mall) Building C Room 9G, Dongcheng District, Beijing 100027 电话 : 010-8447 7002 传真 : 010-8447 6455 Guangzhou 上海和舟广告有限公司广州分公司 广州市越秀区麓苑路 42 号大院 2 号楼 610 房 邮政编码 : 510095 Room 610, No. 2 Building, Area 42, Lu Yuan Lu, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, PRC 510095 电话 : 020-8358 6125, 传真 : 020-8357 3859-800 Shenzhen 广告代理 : 上海和舟广告有限公司广州分公司 深圳市福田区彩田路星河世界大厦 C1-1303 C1-1303, Galaxy Century Building, Cai Tian Road, Futian District, Shenzhen 电话 : 0755-8623 3220, 传真 : 0755-8623 3219 Operations Manager Ning Zhu Sales Manager Louise Chen Sales Emma Cao, Clara Li, Daisy Lu, Jessica Zhou Marketing Manager Justin Culkin Marketing Assistant Vivid Zhu Distribution Manager Yang Juan Web & IT Ken Zhou CEO Leo Zhou Sales Project Director Henry Zeng Editorial Director Ned Kelly Financial Manager Laura Lu HR/Admin Director Penny Li Digital Projects Manager Vickie Guo Digital Bridget O'Donnell, Amul Qiu, Timi Shi General enquiries (010) 8447 7002 Editorial (010) 8447 7069 [email protected] Events (010) 8447 7069 [email protected] Distribution/Subscription (010) 8447 7002 [email protected] Marketing (010) 8447 7603 [email protected] Advertising (010) 8447 7073 [email protected] 广告经营许可证 : 京海工商广字第 8069 号 法律顾问 : 大成律师事务所 魏君贤律师 Legal Advisor: Wei Junxian, Dacheng Law Firm 国际标准刊号 ISSN 1672-8025 国内统一刊号 CN 11-5232/GO 定价 : 25.00 元 邮发代号 : 2-930 部分非卖品 , 仅限赠阅 2 | DECEMBER 2015 | WWW.THATSMAGS.COM EDITOR’S DEALS NOTE We're giving away tickets to some of DECEMBER the very best Beijing REGULAR READERS MAY REMEMBER MY FUTILE SEARCH FOR A KAZAKH IN THE BUILD- parties, openings, up to the 2022 Winter Olympics hosting decision (‘A Hazy Shade of Winter,’ That’s Beijing, September 2015). For those who don’t: it was a chaotic affair of closed restaurants, frustrated phone calls and, ultimately, disappointment for Almaty’s bid to host the Games. shows and talks all But as well as engaging in some mild sarcasm, I also implied that media relations at the Kazakhstan Embassy weren’t up to scratch. So perhaps it was no surprise when a call came month, alongside invited in for a ‘talk’ with some of his attachés. free meals, drinks, through.It sounded A copy a bit of sinister.the magazine But despite had made my initial its way trepidation, up to the Ambassador’s it turns out that office they and were I was just keen to reach out and let us know about their work. Ever happy to be corrected, I can inform you that there are, in fact, a fair few Kazakhstan nationals here in Beijing (with students discounts and numbering in the thousands). The embassy also engages in a lot of work promoting Kazakh culture in China, as well as advancing bilateral cooperation between these neighboring giants giveaways. All you (not a phrase I ever thought I’d use in an Editor’s Note). This month, the embassy’s Kazakhstan Friends Club celebrated the launch of a new book, have to do is scan China and Kazakhstan's Story (pictured below). Although my Chinese is slightly better than my Kazakh, neither is good enough for me to say much about the book’s contents. But you the QR code below, should check it out. I shall now try to forge a tenuous segue between this merry tale and the contents of this month’s magazine. Here we go: follow us on WeChat The Winter Olympics decision was one of the big stories of 2015. There were many others, and we bring you our round-up of the year from page 38. Elsewhere, Marianna Cerini sits in and keep an eye out front of a bowl of water as she wonders whether China’s fervor for mindfulness is more about money than meditation (page 10); Dominique Wong spends an unhealthy amount of time in for your chance to late-night bars exploring one of the world’s great musical phenomena – Filipino cover bands (page 30); and Noelle Mateer talks to the restaurateurs who are taking design seriously, before bringing you her characteristically innuendo-laden take on the latest openings (from win. You'll get some page 50). other great stuff on your phone too. Келесі жылы сізді қараңыз (see you next year), A covert selfie from inside the Kazakhstan Embassy (left), and the Kazakhstan Friends Club's new Oscar Holland book, China and Kazakhstan's Story Editor-in-Chief (below). FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Thats_Beijing twitter.com/ThatsBeijing facebook.com/ThatsBeijing WWW.THATSMAGS.COM | DECEMBER 2015 | 3 QUOTE OF THE MONTH “Weibo is dead. Now it’s just a place for celebrities to show off how happy they are” Liz Carter, author and journalist, in our review of 2015, page 60 6 CITY 8 THE NAME GAME Chinese artist reveals he’s actually a Frenchman 9 CONFUCIAN COUNSEL Marital woes – should I stay or should I go? 15 WORD ON THE STREET The dark side of online shopping 8 addiction 16 LIFE & STYLE 22 THAT’S PRESENTS... The ultimate gift guide for the festive season 20 PORTRAIT OF CHINA Up close and personal with a Shanxi cook 24 SCENE AND HEARD Cult yoga brand Lululemon sets up 20 shop 26 ARTS 28 SHOOT TO SCORE We meet Wuhan indie rockers Chinese Football 34 ICE, ICE, BABY Icelandic group múm are feeling chill 35 YEAR OF THE GOOSE A novel from the winner of our flash fiction competition 28 50 EAT & DRINK 55 MIFAN/MAFAN Is the rice worth the hassle at these new openings? 56 SNACK ATTACK Laobeijing treats get the photo treatment 58 SHEER LUNAR-CY New restaurant Moon Lamb 58 Restaurant 4 | DECEMBER 2015 | WWW.THATSMAGS.COM THE WRAP 10 HELP YOURSELF What’s behind the meditation craze sweeping China? 52 WINE & DINE… & DESIGN Good design takes dining to a whole new level 30 BEHIND THE COVERS We explore life in one of Beijing’s Filipino cover bands WWW.THATSMAGS.COM | DECEMBER 2015 | 5 THE BUZZ A LUNGFUL Over 1,500 people form a giant pattern of a pair of lungs in Beijing Garden Expo Park, smashing the Guinness World Record for the largest human image of an organ. Ironically, the AQI level that day was ‘extremely hazardous’ :/ UNDERGROUND CRIMINALS RANDOM NUMBER There are murderers, drug dealers, rapists, and then there are… illegal basement builders. Beijing authorities recently discovered the …is the amount of time it took, in hours, to replace an entire overpass city’s largest illegal basement to date in Dongcheng’s Shaluo Hutong. at Sanyuanqiao. Last month the Sanyuanqiao cloverleaf junction The owner, Li, was just hoping to park some cars in it. Over 100 of closed for just one weekend as planners reinforced the structure them, that is – Li runs a car-rental company, and was planning on without paralyzing traffic flow (well not too much of it, anyway). using his illegal basement as a garage. But rather than going down Workers used global- and laser-positioning systems – and robots the legal construction route, he hired part-time workers to build from – to get the new structure in place by midday Sunday. Despite not midnight until the early morning, and had them use shovels rather completing the work in a single day as initially planned (the 30-year- than power tools, so as to make less noise. The result is a garage old bridge’s central beams were a little worse for wear, requiring that’s 700sqm and three floors deep. And no, you can’t park your bike extra dismantling work), it was still an impressive feat. Time-lapses there, sorry. of the construction can be found online. 6 | DECEMBER 2015 | WWW.THATSMAGS.COM [email protected] SOMETHING FISHY ASK A LAOBEIJING Beijing Aquarium welcomed a new addition We met Zang, 52, outside Ginza Mall in Dongzhimen last month, in the form of a giant wild Chinese sturgeon. Measuring over three meters long, the sturgeon was found injured What were the most at the Yangtze River Basin after being memorable events mistakenly caught by a fisherman. It has of 2015 for you and since undergone treatment at the aquarium, for China? where it will remain for further care. The species is the largest of its kind found in the past 20 years, and its status as ‘critically endangered’ affords it strict protection under Chinese law. Bonus fact: the sturgeon in question is an egg-bearing female, a big win for species preservation.