Beauty you can create is so shallow, it's skin-deep
2010-12-07 08:09:39
'Do I look more beautiful?" One of my female students asked me as she excessively batted her eyelashes.
Liang Sicheng's vision for historic city can be revived
2010-12-06 07:44:28
Liang Sicheng is one of China's greatest 20th century architects. The Beijing native was the son of Liang Qichao, an influential intellectual and key figure in the 100-Day Reform movement. However, Liang chose to study architecture, becoming the first Chinese person to do so overseas when he went to the University of Pennsylvania in the 1920s.
Tea is so much more than just a hot drink
2010-12-06 07:44:28
Tea bag art - creative recycling at its best - has become increasingly fashionable.
Beijing's parks are its best-kept secret
2010-11-29 08:17:41
When people living outside of Beijing think about the capital, two different sets of images come readily to mind. One consists of historic palaces, temples and buildings - notably the Forbidden City and old hutong alleys. The other images are of the sleek, modern office and apartment towers symbolizing the new Beijing.
Show about foreign taxi driver sure to be winner
2010-11-22 07:50:50
Sometimes, what seem to be the strangest ideas turn out to be the most brilliant. Dutchman Perry Knoppert has clearly hit on one such idea. His plan, as reported last week, is to get behind the wheel of a Beijing taxi for two hours a day for the next two months, despite his self-professed halting Chinese language skills and limited knowledge of the city. Then he will film his interactions with passengers using six cameras and then use the results to make an online show.
Beat the cold with hot pot
2010-11-16 07:58:15
Beijing is still sunny but undeniably growing colder by the day. Central heating is on and, although it's not snowing yet, winter is not far away.
Stay, but only if you want to
2010-11-15 07:55:50
It's hard to say whether it's because of the season or because of my greediness that I've been missing my parents' cooking this month, and the feeling is getting stronger.
Get an insight into life with the flick of a switch
2010-11-09 08:02:15
It was one o'clock in the morning. I was bored but didn't want to go to bed. I grabbed the remote and, as the TV flickered to life, my eyes were greeted by one of the strangest commercials I have ever seen.
Oldest residents well worth saving
2010-11-02 07:51:50
Beijing, as just about everybody knows, is full of ancient things. Palaces and royal mansions have graced the capital for centuries, as have some of the city's winding hutong lanes, courtyard houses and time-honored shops.
Buying into the male style of going shopping
2010-11-01 07:32:35
Once, at a classmate's get-together, a male school friend asked me and another girl to go to a new mall nearby with him to fetch some clothes. We shook our heads almost at the same time - sorry, brother.
Thanks to those who keep our green wheels turning
2010-09-30 08:04:00
Pssssssss! The hiss of a deflating bike tire often also deflates the heart of urban bike commuters. Although many people ride their bikes to work and school all over the world, few of them carry the pumps, patches, spare inner tubes, extra tires and tire levers needed to fix a simple flat tire.
Cooking in my home is now a vital ingredient
2010-09-29 08:05:52
Like most people who work in a big city, my typical crazed daily itinerary really leaves little time for the kitchen.