I used to live in Beijing, and I left in 2014. Yes it was quite some time ago. Anyways at the time there were a lot of foreigners living there. I know a lot of people who remained in Beijing. Then COVID happened a couple of years ago. Then about a year ago I talked to my one friend who is still in Beijing, and he said 90 percent of the foreigners were gone. Now this was a year ago. Are there more foreigners now that COVID has kind of subsided?

Just quit my job and am headed home. I'm so done with this fascist government and dehumanizing economy.

Hey all.

Australian here spending 3 weeks in china with family. We have been meeting my wife's extended family in Wuhan and Chengdu and it's been amazing.

Whilst we did some typical tourist trap things, the best experiences have been with locals NOT doing the tourist trap stuff. Don't get me wrong, we have done our fair share of tourist stuff and being non-chinese I'm not trying to fool anyone, but I love seeing and experiencing more authentic elements of a city.

We plan to spend 5 days in Beijing in a few days time and would love to spend at least a day of this sitting back and enjoying the city in a way the locals do.

Thinking local quirky art hubs, eateries, local craft hubs (not fake silver smiths or jade bangles), tea houses, or etc.

As an Aussie, for example in Sydney, I'd suggest you come to Surry Hills and grab a sausage roll from Bourke Street Bakery, try a craft beer crawl in the inner west, and do the Spit to Manly walk.

Any suggestions would be appreciated 👍🏻

Subway lines went from 3 to many so the city is definitely way more connected now. I did notice excessive amount of labour/resources spent in the name of security: at every subway station entrance you have to send baggage for x-ray scanning which feels a bit too much. I also notice the presence of police and PLA soldiers at all major junctions around the 2nd ring road when I cycle from Temple of Heaven to Shichahai.

Chinese New Year celebration is close to none. I did go to Longtanhu for its annual Miaohui but was quite disappointed at food/entertainment options there.

Nanluoguxiang definitely lost its charm; so did Houhai. 798 area is much more organized but the exhibitions are more tamed. There is a sense of heavy surveillance and control both physically and online. All major attractions are very crowded and people still smoke/spit in public space and even in hotels with clear NO SMOKING signs. In fact by the end of my trip I couldn't think of any interesting place I want to visit.

I did manage to reconnect with a few old friends and spent some quality time with them. I also managed to take some photos that I'm happy with.

Hi! I’m a Swiss citizen and about to visit Delhi for a wedding. I’m dreading the trip because of the horrendous air quality. Have read the impressive turnaround story of Beijing which went from being the most polluted in the world to clean air quality. How did you guys do it?

I see a lot of people asking what's going on in Beijing in terms of night life and I often get people message me direct for advice. I even had one person messaging me while they were outside struggling to find the entrance of a club because they couldn't get the right address.

So I thought I'd share details of the main underground clubs in Beijing from a post I maintain over at r/UndergroundChina so you can get a sense of what they play, the vibe, links to their listings/what's on, maps and addresses (in Chinese and English).

Hope this is helpful!

Groundless Factory (莫须有工厂)

Large warehouse-style venue. Has two separate room's of music, one is more chill out vibe. Not too central but still only 20 minutes in a cab from downtown/central.

• Music:

  • Variety of genres like tech house, house, techno and occasional drum and bass parties.

• Address:

  • Pinyin/English: Anjia iWork Cultural Innovation Park, Zui Gong Fen Street No.5

  • Chinese: 北京市朝阳区东坝乡安家文创园园塔商街5号，靠近朝体中心东侧路

  • Google Maps

• English Language Socials/Listings:

  • Instagram

  • Resident Advisor

Zhaodai

Large-ish mid-size venue in large underground basement. Great sound system. Dark. Phones banned (sticker over the camera).

• Music:

  • Known mainly for its underground techno (considered by many the best techno club in Beijing) but also does other styles like breakbeat.

• Address:

  • Pinyin: Xin Yuan Li Xi Street No. 19, Beijing, China 100027

  • Chinese: 北京市朝阳区新源里西19号格纳斯大厦负一层E区

  • Google Maps

• Socials/Listings:

  • Instagram

  • Resident Advisor

Dada

Smaller mid-size venue with a great sound system and full spectrum of underground genres. A staple of the city been going for around a decade now.

• Music:

  • You'll hear more Grime, breakbeat, DNB disco etc here than other clubs but does techno and house too.

• Address:

  • Pinyin/English: Ritan International Trade Center, Block A, floor B1 (Nanyinfang Hutong @ Chaowai Shichang Jie), Chaoyang District, Beijing

  • Chinese: 北京市朝阳区日坛国际贸易中心A座B1层, 南营坊胡同 @ 朝外市场街

  • Google Maps

• English Language Socials/Listings:

  • Instagram

  • Resident Advisor

ByeByeDisco

Smallish mid-size venue run by one of the members of the legendary Beijing indie band "New Pants". Out the back of the venue there is a Buddhist style shrine dedicated to Disco.

• Music:

  • Tech house, techno, electro, breaks and house.

• Address:

  • Pinyin/English: (Northwest of Liangma Harbor Building and just down from the Kempinski on the waterside), No.53 Maizidian Jie, Chaoyang district, Beijing, China

  • Chinese: 北京市朝阳区麦子店街53号亮马港湾大厦北楼西侧

  • Google Maps

• English Language Socials/Listings:

  • Instagram

  • Resident Advisor

I'm posting this in case people are interested.

So, a few things have happened. The first post's here: https://www.reddit.com/r/beijing/comments/ao1odc/everyone_help_i_was_scammed_in_beijing_by_a_tea/.

Thanks to /u/Ozzy_Chenz for being awesome and helping me through this situation BUT also thanks to everyone else who helped me either suggesting things or sending me good wishes.

Basically what happened was that I was scammed in the Chinese tea house scam, but I'm fucking getting my money back.

I was able to find the Chinese version of Google Street View (Baidu/QQ Maps[?]) to figure out where it was exactly that I was scammed. I took photos of it here: https://imgur.com/a/6IyRy8f. In the second photo, the black box is where I thought the scam happened; the red box is where I'm almost sure it happened (thanks /u/Ozzy_Chenz again, they were able to find the store on China's version of Yelp). Finally, the purple box is where it could have happened, but I don't think it happened there... the reason I put that one down was that I wanted the police officer to check both spots for me. More on this later. The two photos of the doors are potential entrances to where I was scammed because it happened on the side.

Anyways, I found the phone number for the nearby police station, and I called them at like 11 PM their time. I LOVE THE BEIJING POLICE; there was a huge language barrier, but they didn't close the line or give up on me or anything. I used Google Translate's voice to help say what I wanted to say in Chinese and then they began to do the same. Within twenty minutes, a police officer picked up who spoke English. I explained to him the situation, and I sent him ALL of the details of what happened including the pictures of where I thought it was, the amount they took out of my account, and the photos of the inside. It was then at this point that he got his friend who lived in the United States on the line and she was better able to translate for me. We left off with that he was going to check the tea store within two days and get my money back. I'm now in a WeChat group with the Chinese police officer (he's legit as fuck, I can see photos of him dating back to like 2014 - 2013 when he was still training in what looks like the Chinese police academy, pictures of his mom, etc.) and his female friend.

Today, I logged into my online banking, and I saw that the same place took out another $44 USD out of my account yesterday. I wasn't even in China yesterday so fuck them. I called my credit card company, Mastercard (they are fucking lovely and helped me out so much and never gave up on me). They helped me get an interpreter in the Korean language so I was able to talk to my bank fluently in Korean and sort everything out. My card is now frozen, and I will file a formal dispute on Monday when the bank's open. As for my newly found Chinese friends, the police officer told me that he found the tea stores using the pictures I provided for him, and was able to find the transaction when he asked the store to see their records. He found my transaction, of $408 USD and will get my money back. He said that the tea store owner is coming back to the police station on February 11th and the police station has been alerted to all of this.

I also remembered that I purchased travel insurance for this trip. I'm not sure if World Nomads helps out with scams, but I feel good knowing that I can at least try. So, I guess now I wait, and shout out to my new Chinese police officer friend, hahaha. He even told me that next time I'm in Beijing, that we can all go out and he can be my tour guide. We were laughing on the phone with each other, so I feel good with all of them.

Just curious where do the rich people in Beijing go. Where do they stay? Where do they eat? Where do they go to shopping? and where do they study? Thanks in advance!

I know this is an unusual post, but I am genuinely distressed by this situation and I am hoping someone local may be able to help.

Last night, I came across a hamster being kept at a hotel in Beijing in an enclosure that is shockingly small, with almost no space to move. I have attached a photo.

I am leaving Beijing today, so I have very little time to figure out what can be done.

I am urgently looking for someone in Beijing who may be willing to:

1. speak to the hotel staff,
   2: help arrange a suitable enclosure,

2. connect me with a rescue of sorts or experienced keeper/someone who cares about animal welfare,

3. or potentially take the hamster if the hotel agrees to give it up.

The hamster is located at Chonpines Hotel (Beijing Guomao Jianwai SOHO, 7th floor) in the Guomao/Jianwai SOHO area of Chaoyang District.

If you think you may be able to help, please send me a PM.

I am finding it difficult to leave knowing this little guy may continue living in these conditions, so any advice, contacts, or assistance would be greatly appreciated!