All materials © 1999     
  Beijing Scene

Beijing Scene, Volume 6, Issue 1, October 15 - 21

FEATURE STORY: Beijing Scene and the Scene in Beijing
It's been five years since Beijing Scene began inflicting its irreverent cultural commentary on the capital's captive international community. In an unrepentant act of navel-gazing, we take a look back at the launch of Beijing Scene and the capital's passing scenery in the leadup to the new millennium.

Zhao Le : October 15 - 21, 1999
BEIJING'S BEST DAILY EVENTS GUIDE!
Submit your events on-line, it's free.
The Picks , Art Scene, Cinema Scene, Exhibition Scene,
Stage Scene, Kids Scene, Sports Scenel

T H I S W E E K !

AWAKENING SPACE 10 BAND ROCK CONCERT including Beijing goths Fall Insex, hardcore band Ye Cha, and other blues, alternative

and punk bands. Yihe Sports Stadium, Friday 10/15 (8 pm) 6831-7372/6846-7098, rmb15, students rmb10

FUJIAN GONGFU TEA Traditional tea ceremony performed by Qiao Ying to the tune of traditional Chinese music.
CD Cafe, Friday 10/15 (2-7 pm) rmb120

CUI JIAN Everyone's favorite Chinese rapper belts out a few for Generation X. Laiyinhe Shengchang Jiuba (formerly Keep in Touch 2), Saturday 10/16 (9 pm) rmb100

QING DYNASTY FURNITURE LECTURE by experts Tian Jiaqing and

professor Curtis Evarts Capital Club Athletic Center, Sunday 10/17 (3 pm) rmb150 includes refreshment, reservations 6940-1266

PROBE MEDIA ART FORUM Exhibit of new media art from Australia opens with forum led by art critic Huang Du and artist Feng Mengbo.

Australian Embassy Gallery, 21 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, 6532-2331 ext. 225 for invitations Sunday 10/17 (11 am-5 pm) free

Scene Classifieds: Jobs, jobs, jobs...
Seeking real estate consultants, legal and business secretaries, chocolate industry professionals, marketing specialists, English teachers, Australian Embassy business manager, writers and editors, import/export positions...

Employment Offered, Employment Sought, For Sale/Wanted,
Housing Available/Sought, Services, Personals, Announcements

COMRADE LANGUAGE: One Party, Two Systems
Why should the United States, the economic superpower, make so much fuss about Taiwan, an island with a land mass of only 14,000 square miles and a population of 21 million with scant natural resources? Perhaps the ROC's foreign exchange reserves of more than US$100 billion, and the island's production of the vast majority of the world's computer microprocessors has something to do with it.

BEST BITES: Blue Lotus Cafe  
Contemporary coffeehouse in the heart of old Peking Old Zhang: "The Blue Lotus? That's the name of an opium den in Shanghai!" Tintin: An opium den? Right! I'll be there tonight!

ASK AYI: Mah-jongg Ayi

Hey Ayi, The old lady in the apartment next door thinks I'm crazy if I come home later than midnight, but she thinks nothing of staying up all night kvetching at the top of her lungs and playing mah-jongg (majiang). What's with this game? Why are Chinese people so passionate about it? And where did old Jewish ladies in the United States learn to play it. Signed, A. Tyler

CULTURE SCENE: Thin Man 
Grunge rock anti-heroes' debut album is selling out at record stores nationwide.

IN SHORT ... Translations From the Chinese Press
Up In Smoke, 20 Million Online By 2003, And the Survey Says..., Ill-Gotten Gains, Internet Rate Drops, Confounding Counterfeiters

FYI: Small Sanlitun
As Beijing continues to reconstruct, Sanlitun-like nightspot-strips sprout like mushrooms in the most unexpected places. The latest cluster is on Ritan North Road (the east-west road running along the north side of Ritan Park). The strip includes: Sanlitun standby Jenny Lou's Grocery, with its familiar selection of fresh produce, snack food and imported

alcohol. Bellas Cafe, providing Jianwai denizens an alternative to Starbucks for morning coffee and croissants. Milo's Grill (the erstwhile Bellas II), a Yugoslavian/Italian restaurant boasting a brick grill for barbequeing. Pageant Bar, an improbable Tibetan antique store, bar, and restaurant all-in-one. And yet-to-open Spanish restaurant Douyoushi, modelling itself after Sanlitun's Ashanti. The strip also features a fresh flower shop, Chinese "antique" jewelry store, and rattan furniture outlet to consummate the Sanlitun milieu.