The weekend is here! Time for fun, relaxation, and recharging the ol’ batteries ahead of *gulp* Monday morning’s alarm clock. Luckily enough, there’s plenty of fun stuff to keep you occupied over the weekend that doesn’t necessarily involve getting blitzed. Our weekend roundup offers you some of the best.
Nov 27-29: Christmas Charity Market at Kempinski Hotel Beijing Lufthansa Center
For years, the German Embassy Christmas market has been known as the festive market to attend. Due to COVID-19, the embassy will not be hosting this year, but the Kempinski Hotel is stepping up to the plate and putting on a three-day extravaganza that will surely satisfy even die-hard fans. Friday marks the opening of the market, which will feature more than 50 vendors of food, drinks, gift ideas, and decor, and will go on throughout the weekend, culminating in a tree-lighting ceremony on Sun, Nov 29. RMB 100 (RMB 88 advance). 5-9pm. Kempinski Hotel Beijing
Nov 28: Kakikopi-Grace Wines Maovember Luncheon
Join a unique charity lunch on Saturday, Nov 28, as Sarawak-born Malaysian Jasmine Kho of restaurant Kakikopi pairs comfort foods from her homeland with wines brought by fellow Malaysian Lee Yeanyean, chief winemaker at Grace Vineyard in Shanxi. Lunch will start with Grace sparkling wine and a trio of appetizers, then go through three rounds of pairings — each including several dishes served family-style with a different Grace wine — before wrapping up with dessert. All proceeds will go to Maovember and its partner, The Library Project. RMB 388. 1-4pm. Kakikopi
Nov 28: Gear up for winter with yoga teacher Zhao Rongkun
Learn how to survive and thrive this winter with a yoga class taught by Lululemon ambassador Zhao Rongkun, focusing on seasonal ayurvedic principles. The weather around us affects our minds and bodies, and yoga training should reflect this. During the Vata season (winter) focus on stabilizing and rooting your body to strengthen your system in this unstable environment. You’ll also get 10 percent off your bill at Moka Bros Solana after the class, where you can enjoy hearty, healthy dishes. RMB 50. 5.30-6.30pm. Zen Yoga (40 Liangmaqiao Lu)
Nov 29: North Korean Art Exhibition and Sale
Koryo Studio will be holding a North Korean art exhibition at Culture Yard this Sun, Nov 29. Oil paintings, propaganda posters, and exclusive prints will be exhibited at discounted prices. They will be showing prints and works such as “Pyongyang Film Studio,” the bizarre but wonderful advertising posters painted by North Korean artists to represent the capitalist streets of Japan and South Korea, and “Tourist Map Pyongyang,” an intricate map of Pyongyang created by Gareth Fullers. Free. 3-9pm. Culture Yard
Nov 29: Poems and Stories from the Chinese Wild West
Mads Vesterager Nielsen recently returned to Beijing after a four-month motorbike trip across 17 Chinese provinces — from the Yellow Sea to Shaanxi to Qinghai, then south through Sichuan along the Yangtze River before following the Long March route back to Beijing — and he has stories. Lots of them. For two weeks, he was joined by local poet Anthony Tao, and together they traveled the historic Hexi Corridor from Xi’an to Dunhuang, meeting a panoply of people along the way whose stories, taken together, tell us something different about this country we know as China. In this unique collaboration, Mads will recount highlights from his trip while Anthony shares poems written from the road. You’ll hear about abandoned communes, churches in the wild, a town named Treasured Chicken (宝鸡), run-ins with cops and COVID, a scooter accident, Lanzhou nightclubs, the Mother River, Buddhist grottoes, and all the ways one can die on a Chinese highway. Ahead of the event, check out our interview with Nielsen when he was fresh off the road. RMB 40. 6.30-8.30pm. Camera Stylo
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Images: courtesy of the organizers, Volkan Olmez (via Unsplash)
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