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PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAYFebruary 1 2013-February 7 2013

NO. 608 CN11-0120

HTTP://WWW.BEIJINGTODAY.COM.CN

Books, buys for your break

Page 7Page 6

Russia, Austria share their music

IMF forecasts slower global growth in 2013

Page 2

War on waste

CHIEF EDITOR:YU SHANSHANNEWS EDITOR:

HUANG DAOHENDESIGNER:YANG GEN

■ Under the auspices of the office of Beijing Municipal Government ■ Run by Beijing Youth Daily ■ President: Zhang Yanping ■ Editor in Chief: Yu Haibo ■ Director: Li Xiaobing ■ Price: 2 yuan per issue■ 26 yuan for 3 months ■ Address: No. 23, Building A, Baijiazhuang Dongli, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China ■ Zip Code: 100026 ■ Telephone/Fax:(010)65902525 ■ E-mail: bjtoday@ynet.com ■ Advertisement:(010)65902534 ■ Hotline for subscription: (010)67756666(Chinese), (010)65902626(English) ■ Overseas Code Number: D1545 ■ 邮发代号1-364 ■ Overseas Distribution Agent: China International Book Trading Corporation

In the first few weeks of his leadership, Xi Jinping has shunned luxury sedans and lavish banquets to show himself as an opponent of waste.

And there is no time for waste like Spring Festival.In the next few weeks, millions of families across China will

dine out to enjoy the “face-gaining” experience of ordering food and leaving more than half of it to the garbage bin.

Read more on Pages 3-5

Page 2

A young director’s Dreamland

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By Liu XiaochenBar-goers had a raucous time on January 26 at the rst

annual Belgian beer festival in Brussels Restaurant and Bar in South Sanlitun, hosted by Duvel Moortgat, a Belgian beer company, with support from the Belgian embassy.

Four kinds of Belgian beer were introduced at the festi-val: N’ice, Houblon, Carolus and Maredsous.

“Because Belgium is becoming more and more popular in Beijing, the business at Brussels is very good,” said Hannah Lincoln, who works with Duvel. “The Embassy of Belgium also supported us and their staff also came to join in the festival that day.”

There was an interactive activity for participants, who were asked to post a picture of themselves with their favorite Belgian beer on their microblog. The winner won a free drink.

By Bao ChengrongThe International Mon-

etary Fund (IMF) reduced its global growth forecast in 2013 and 2014 to 3.5 and 4.1 percent, according to an updated World Economic Outlook released on January 23. The report shows the global economy will pick up, but that the growth rate in most countries will be lower than the initial forecast pub-lished last October.

The economic growth forecast of China this year and the following year remains 8.2 and 8.5 percent.

IMF pointed out that to ensure the rapid economic growth, China has to further promote its constructive mar-keting reform and realize the economic rebalancing adjust-ment through expanding more directions for private consumption.

A Nielsen survey released this week echoed IMF’s fore-cast. It said the consumer condence in the world’s second largest economy rebounded in the fourth quarter last year as economic growth picked up.

Consumer condence has

been given a boost, Yan Xuan, greater China chief for Nielsen, said at a press conference.

Yan said it is a positive sign pointing to a healthy economy this year.

In 2012, consumers were most concerned about income and health, followed by education, social welfare and food prices.

The expected value of US economic growth will decrease from 2.1 to 2 per-cent this year while growing from 2.9 to 3.0 percent next year. A loose monetary policy

environment and the real-estate market’s recovery will help improve the asset-lia-bility ratios of American families and promote con-sumption growth.

IMF expects Japan’s econ-omy to grow 1.2 percent this year, but reduced its forecast for 2014 from 1.1 to 0.7 per-cent. IMF pointed out that loose scal policy should stimulate the economy in a short term. But without a reliable mid-term scal recti-cation plan, Japan still faces a high risk for decit.

Europe will continue in

its economic recession. IMF’s forecast there changed from 0.2 percent growth to 0.2 percent recession. Germany’s economic growth rate will slow down while high debtor nations such as Spain will fall more quickly.

Olivier Blanchard, chief economist of IMF, said during the early period of the European debt crisis, coun-tries cut their budget too fast, sacricing room for eco-nomic growth. IMF estimates that for each euro reduced from the budget, 1.5 euro of economic growth is lost.

China thrives amid slowing world economy

Russia and Austria join hands to spread music

By Liu XiaochenThe Russian Cultural Center in Beijing and

Austrian Cultural Forum held a small concert at the Russian Cultural Center on Tuesday night.

Violinist Lidia Baich and pianist Matthias Fletzberger performed.

Baich was born in 1981 to an Austrian-Rus-sian family of musicians. Following her victory at the Grand Prix d’Eurovision in 1998, the young music star gave many performances with renowned international orchestras in concert halls around the world. Besides frequent con-cert tours abroad, she has performed at the Sal-zburg Festival.

Baich plays on a violin made by Joseph Guarnerius de Gesu in 1727, provided by the Austrian National Bank.

Pianist Fletzberger was born in 1965 in Vienna. In 1977 he won rst prize at a national music competition called “Youth Plays Music,” and was accepted into the special course with all tuition waived. During his studies he won sev-eral competitions, gave international piano con-certs and performed on radio and TV.

He participated in theater and conducted at the Vienna Festival twice. Since the autumn of 2008, he has been performing as a soloist and with Baich.

“This is our rst time cooperating with the Austrian cultural institution,” said Ji Fengliang, item director of the Russian Cultural Center. “We hope to hold more cultural activities in Bei-jing in the future.”

First Belgian beer festival launches in Beijing

One participant enjoys his Maredsous.Photos provided by Duvel Beijing

Violinist Lidia Baich and Pianist Matthias Fletzberger

Photo provided by Russian Cultural Centre in Beijing

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Clean your plate!Individuals, restaurants and char-

ity organizations have been leading the charge against food waste since the start of the year.

Xu Xiake, vice director of China Resources News, pitched the “Clean your plate!” campaign on his Sina Weibo, calling on people to take their leftovers home after banquets, similar measure to curve waste.

Chen Guangbiao, a private entre-preneur known for his charitable involvement, brought 40 of his employees to a restaurant in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province to nish the dishes abandoned by others.

Proponents also promote the use of recycled plastic bags, cutlery boxes and passing on the disposable chopsticks.

The Jiangsu Province Dining Pro-fession Association issued a notice to all restaurants in the province urging them to push their customers to form good dining habits.

Chinese people are notorious for attempting to aunt wealth – even if they don’t have it. Many scrape day to day for the chance to show off their ability to waste incredible amounts of food in front of others at lavish banquets.

Estimates vary, but most experts agree that 8 million tons of protein go to waste every year – enough to feed 200 million people.

A report on CCTV showed one dish worth almost 700 yuan left untouched after a business dinner at a Beijing res-taurant. A chef at the restaurant said that most of the time, half the food his customers order ends up in the trash.Half servings

Restaurants are also encouraging

War on food wasteBy Zhao Hongyi

Since his inauguration, Presi-dent Xi Jinping has called on Chinese

Communist Party members to tone down their extravagant conferences and dinners.Xi said at a recent conference that flowers don’t

belong at conferences, “four dishes and a soup” is a business dinner and that luxury sedans are not nec-essary for official visits.

Hoping to lead by example, Xi used ordinary vehicles during his visit to Guangdong Province in December and refused to be involved in luxury

dinners with the local government officials.As is usual in China, the announcement has turned into a handful of politi-

cal slogans aimed to reduce food waste.

their patrons to order half-size dishes to avoid contributing to waste.

In Urumuqi, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, many restau-rants are promoting the movement. At one hotpot shop, receptionists are encouraging customers to order half-size dishes or mixed plates, and to send back any dishes that they have not used.

“Actually, we’ve seen even more customers at our restaurant since implementing this,” said Xia Juntai, its reception manager.

In Beijing, as many as 700 restau-rants are now offering half-size dishes.

“The campaign has increased our

customer turnover by 40 percent,” said Li Yanli, reception manager at Mei-zhou Dongpo Restaurant in Houhai.

Many restaurants are also advis-ing their diners to choose individual tables instead of the large, round table banquets.

“Dinners can always turn down their orders if they feel full,” Li said.

“Half portions and individual serv-ing can cut down on half the waste,” said Tang Qingshun, chairman of the Beijing Catering Trade Association.

“We hope more restaurants can participate. We would like to see 80 percent of the restaurants in Beijing doing this by the end of the year.”

Restaurants are calling on their customers to order smaller portions or save their leftovers. CFP Photo

Responses from individuals

But some people say pushing this campaign off onto the public is just a way to help bad ofcials con-tinue with their own bad habits.

“These movements should focus on the business banquets and ofcial dinners,” said Wang Chon-ghui, a Beijinger. “They are more wasteful than any other group.”

“Worse yet, they are doing this using public funds.”

“The ofcials and the wealthy people are denitely the root of the problem,” said Zhi Dao, a netizen. “The food at the ban-quets of the Jiangsu Beijing Ofce averages 3,000, and they often order thousands of yuan worth of Maotai liquor.”

“The central government has been stimulating internal con-sumption,” said Banuo, a netizen from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. “These movements seem to con-tradict its longstanding policy.”

But some people are more opti-mistic, saying the campaigns could curtail some of the more wasteful aspects of Chinese hospitality.

“These campaigns call on us to change traditional habits,” said Bian Jiang, assistant chairman of the China Cuisine Association. “We hope people will be principled and able to do this on their own.”

Voices

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Still wasting food?The central government has been

encouraging business leaders and ofcials to shy away from ve-star banquets since the start of the year.

But crafty ofcials have already found a loophole: liaison restaurants.

A recently leaked banquet menu showed that the restaurant afliated with the Sich-uan Province liaison ofce in Beijing charges as much as 18,000 yuan per table.

The banquet prices at most restaurants afliated with liaison ofces hover around 5,000 yuan per table, not including alcohol and cigarettes. At the restaurant afliated with the Fujian Provincial liaison ofce, the least expensive group banquet is 2,000 yuan.

Maotai is still the best-selling spirit at ofcial banquets. Most bottles cost 3,380 yuan, but Maotai aged for 15 years costs no less than 18,000 yuan, according to the res-taurant for Hainan Province.

The Jiu San Society estimates that of-cials across the nation spend more than 300 billion yuan in public funds on their ban-quets each year.

These expensive banquets waste enor-mous amounts of food, as ofcials are loath to take anything home in a doggy bag.

More than half the dishes end up in the garbage.

China Agricultural University estimated that more than 8 million tons of proteins go to waste each year – enough to meet the nutritional needs of more than 200 million people each year.

Ofcial banquets paid for by the public account for 93 percent of that waste.Clamping down

The central government has nally taken notice.

In late 2010, the liaison ofces of govern-ment departments and development zones were ordered to close within six months.

The Government Ofces Administration of the State Council was assigned to per-

form spot checks on the local authorities, resulting in the closure of 625 ofces in November 2010.

However, many evaded the watchdogs by re-branding themselves as restaurants or hotels.

An employee surnamed Zhou at a Bei-jing ofce of Jiangsu Province was quoted by Xinhua as saying that liaison ofces exist to serve local ofcials and establish an infor-mation bridge between the central and the local governments.

“We have 13 ofces in the city after last year’s closures,” he said, adding that most of the ones that closed were involved in trade and investment.

Liaison ofces for local government and state-owned enterprises have two func-tions: to attract foreign investment and contracts and arrange lavish receptions for local ofcials.

“The reason many provinces set up liai-son ofces in Beijing at the end of the 1980s was because of the nancial system,” said Li Chengyan, professor of Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Peking University.

The rst liaison ofce was set up in 1949 by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Between 1958 and 1959, 28 more opened in the capital.

These were swept away during the Cul-tural Revolution, but came back with a ven-geance in the late 1980s.

Li said the tax-sharing system imple-mented at that time gave the central govern-ment a lot of power to manage and examine transfers of money to the provinces. The liaison ofces served as a permanent loca-tion from which local ofcials could lobby the central government.

It didn’t take long before they became entangled in horrible corruption.

Today, many are “organizations” that use public funds to provide services to visit-ing ofcials.

British music broker Simon Nauber once said sharing booze is the fastest path to friendship in China.

“Wine and table socializa-tion” are just how people com-municate.

That’s why the business of the day at Chinese banquets is expanding one’s contacts for future business: food is gener-ally an afterthought.

Columnist Zhou Xiaoqun said anyone who wants to do business in China has to learn the untold rules of table culture – particularly when they need to deal with ofcials. The way to leave your leaders with a good impression is to get exception-ally drunk, and then still help the leaders drink if their alcohol tolerance is on the low side.

Strong drinks are also closely associated with identity. Alcohol ranked “Very Superior Old Pale”

is for section directors, “Extra” is for commissioners and “XO” is for mayors.

Wang Xudong, a commenta-tor for the China Youth Daily, said having a banquet to enjoy the food isn’t a bad thing – the trouble is when it gets mixed up with ofcial culture, where bot-tles of liquor are often bribes.

Wang said the fastest way to stem corruption would be to remove alcohol and cigarettes from the table at ofcial banquets.

While strong liquor also has a place in Japanese and Korean banquets, they are rarely used as tools. Staff and managers con-tribute their own money to pay for banquets.

South Koreans used to run up extraordinarily high liquor tabs. In the last decade, most have switched to lunch ban-quets, where the cost of alcohol will be signicantly reduced.

Official dinnerLavish banquets key to corruption

By Bao ChengrongAn estimated 50 million tons of Chinese grain go to waste each year – enough to feed 200 million people.The majority of this waste comes from one source: official banquets paid for with public funds.That may explain why the central government is hell-bent on slashing the number of local government

liaison offices in Beijing.

Background

Ofcial table culture

Liaison offices provide lavish recep-tions to local officials. IC Photos

Dishes ordered at official banquets are usually abandoned untouched.

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Since December 2012, many res-taurants have been posting notices that call on patrons to make reserva-tions when planning their year-end banquets.

Most restaurants have been booked full since the middle of the month, with only a few dining halls still available.

“The dining rooms for the dinner on New Year’s Eve have been fully booked for the last month. We only have a few tables left in the hall,” said an employee at Quanjude Res-taurant.

The competing Donglaishun has vacancies, but only because it does not allow advance booking.

Farm stays in the outlying suburbs are also accepting dinner reserva-tions for the eve of Spring Festival.

For most people booking their New Year’s banquets, cost is not an issue. Among the various grades of hotels and restaurants, the price for a New Year’s Eve dinner ranges from 500 to 8,000 yuan with 13 to 29 dishes.

The average bookings cost 2,000 yuan.

This year’s dinner price is rela-tively stable when compared to last year’s. Most large restaurants have not raised their prices. One manager said that most of the people booking tables are frequent customers.

One 36-year-old Beijing resident surnamed Chen is eating out for New Year’s for her rst time.

“Every Spring Festival, I have to prepare food for a dozen relatives. It is nerve-racking and tiring,” she said. “Restaurants can prepare many dishes much faster. I think it is same

whether we eat at home or in a restau-rant – as long as we get together.”

Xiao Ma, a 25 year-old resident who has eaten out on New Year’s Eve as long as he can remember, said his family stopped going to restaurants in 2010.

“When I was a child, booking seats was very easy. Some restau-rants didn’t even require reserva-tions,” Xiao said.

“Every year, my family went to have supper on New Year’s Eve with my grandpa and other relatives. We usually ate at Tianwaitian Duck Res-taurant, Ping’anli. Now we cook at home and go out to eat on the fth day of the new year, when it’s easier to get a seat.”

“My family is pretty big, and we try to get together at least once a year. Eating out avoids the need for cleanup, but home cooking tastes better,” Xiao said. “I prefer to eat at home.”

Fan, 24, agreed.“It’s hard to get a table. And

besides, my dad is a good cook,” he said.

“Actually, the traditional part is just getting the whole family together. Mothers and aunts prepare the meal and eat together. When people eat out, a lot of food goes to waste,” said Tomas Li, a 28-year-old ofce worker.

“On New Year’s Eve, my parents and I make dumpling wrappers at 8 pm, fold them at 11 pm and eat at midnight while watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV,” said Allice Meng, 25.

“I think that’s all it takes to make it a special night.”

Folk banquetsBy Liu Xiaochen

Even though many Chinese parents punish their children for wasting food, table waste accounts for 70 percent of the nation’s trash.

As Spring Festival draws near and the thoughts of the nation turn to year-end parties and enter-taining guests, finding ways to curb waste has been a major headache for the central government.

Dining tradition comes with heavy cost

For the past 2,000 years, China has been an agrarian culture. Unsur-prisingly, the culture places great emphasis on cooking and dining culture.

This extends to a series of strict rules for treating others, eating at home and conversation etiquette.

Banquets are one of the most common activities used to commu-nicate or commemorate a big day, and the most important day is Spring Festival.

When Spring Festival approaches, people across the nation migrate home to share a meal with their fami-lies on the last day of the lunar year.

And the last meal – the dinner on New Year’s Eve – is the most impor-tant family banquet.

Families strive to make the meal sumptuous. In the past, people would slaughter their livestock and celebrate with a great feast. Today, city dwell-ers have adapted this into luxurious banquets.

Weddings and birthdays are some of the other occasions where a ban-quet is common.

The wedding banquet celebrates

the beginning of a happy marriage. Today, most are organized by wed-ding planners and held in expensive, star-rated hotels.

Birthday banquets symbolize lon-gevity and feature dishes chosen to honor someone for reaching a new milestone in his or her life.

Business and ofcial banquets are also very common, and can be extremely excessive depending on how much of the public’s money is being used to support them.

But at all of these, there is a bad Chinese habit of trying to show off to guests by ordering far more food than anyone can eat. For many, a banquet that ends without piles of food left on the table is seen as shameful.

China Agricultural University has said China’s wasteful habits are brew-ing a crisis.

After scanning 2,700 restaurants in large, medium and small cities, the university announced the nation was wasting 8 million tons of fat and pro-tein each year – enough to feed 200 million people.

And that was its conservative esti-mate.

Why China loves its banquets

Background

CFP Photos

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Comedies are always popular in theaters. Audi-ences welcome funny perfor-mances and subjects that are close to daily life.

But Passenger in Dream-land is a different kind of comedy, poised to captivate Beijing audiences by arousing memories with its down-to-earth and soft narration, strik-ing a balance between the sweet and bitter.

Currently playing at Nine Theater, some of the scenes are feature predictable punch lines, but viewers are expected to fall in love with its earnestness.

Authentically BeijingIt’s rare for a dramatist to

break the traditional theater mode of storytelling: featur-ing zany plots and romantic storylines.

While director Huang Ying’s Passenger in Dreamland has elements of those, it stands out for its focus on bona de modern life in Beijing.

Huang’s new work was rst staged last year, and is now being revived as part of “Bei-jing Story” in Nine Theater’s Black Box Theater Festival.

The work intertwines sev-eral stories that depict special moments in the lives of Bei-jing’s residents.

The play features scenes of ordinary people affectionately greeting one another and tear-fully seeing each other off at train stations. It demonstrates that love and nostalgia are indeed always around us.

“This is a play close to your life,” said Jin Meng, who watched the performance last week. “It touches upon prob-lems we face and reminds me of anecdotes I’ve encountered. It’s quite touching.”

“My inspiration for the story came from living in Beijing,” said scriptwriter Zhou Jiansen. “We incorporated a lot of visual humor in the hope that the audience will think about what they are seeing. When in the theater, we just want them to feel the warmth and treasure trivial moments.”

Projected animated scenes

Multimedia is another

By Chen NanUtilizing projections and animation, Passenger in Dreamland is a multimedia stage drama

about friendship, dating, break-up and nostalgia. Focusing on urban life, it explores the cost behind China’s dream of modernization. While

some Chinese mourn the loss of the past, others strive to move on and treasure every moment in life.

Love and nostalgia mix in acclaimed young director’s new comedy

highlight of the drama. During the performance, several paintings and other images are projected as the background.

Lighting and integrated set design are painstakingly coor-dinated as well.

“But top-notch tools, techniques and stunts can’t beat the interaction between people,” Huang said. He also said that what really matters is the actor’s ability to connect with the audience on an emo-tional level.

Having a character dragged into a romantic encounter seems like a requisite for

dramas these days, but Huang lends originality even to this hackneyed setup.

For instance, he shoots the dating couple’ expressions and projects them onto a big screen, so that audience can notice their delicate and subtle look changes, which is quite similar to presentation of movies.

An Ying, the producer, said multimedia is becoming a trend in modern plays.

“Stages are similar to a fromed photo, and few effects can be shown in it,” she said. “With multimedia, the stage

spans a decade, it wasn’t until 2011 that Huang catapulted to the top ranks, with Cook-ing a Dream.

The play, based on a novel from the Tang Dynasty, A Story of a Dream, has a his-tory of more than 1,200 years. “I hope to convey a story with the most oriental thought with the most Chinese technique,” the director said.

Staged at Le Festival d’Avignon, it ran for 24 per-formances, and won audience approval as the best Chinese production.

“The rehearsals helped me reect on how I felt when I rst took up theater,” Huang said. “It also claried how I can pro-duce dramas and what kind of dramas are most needed in China.”

Beijing born and raised, Huang is enthusiastic about telling Chinese stories. He wasn’t always interested in theater, however.

He majored in biochemis-try and molecular biology in school. When he was fresh-man, he attended a perfor-mance at Beijing People Art Theater called Antiques.

“I found drama fascinating because it can apply compre-hensive devices, and I believe the director can fully explore his creativity,” Huang said.

After that performance, he seldom missed the chance to see a play.

Thus hooked, he took part in student theater at China Agri-cultural University, appearing in several plays and further hones his playwriting.

He broke into Beijing drama circle while at the Cen-tral Academy of Drama as a postgraduate.

Huang produced To Be Con-tinued and staged it in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

“I was very fortunate – although I didn’t come from a classic background, I do have more than 10 years of experience making dramas,” he said.

Huang currently splits his teaching at Beijing Film Academy and studying in New York.

can be extended and show many imagined scenes.”

She said that Huang frequently tries to use dif-ferent devices to express his thoughts, and that multimedia is a necessity.

Initially they tried to arrange the set to recreate Beijing’s old landscape, but failing that, they gured using light and shadow would work better.

From science to drama

Huang, 34, has been on a tear over the past few years, and has gained notice for his remarkable output at such a young age. He’s fond of show-ing the world a different side to his work.

His style varies greatly, from the “Shakespearean Series” to the “Beijing Tril-ogy,” namely Jujube Can’t be Moved (2006), Peking Food (2009) and Hurry Hurry (2009), and from environ-mental theater to unplugged open-air performances. “Each of Huang’s works presents a review of and revolution against the previous one,” a theater reviewer said.

“I think every director wants to try different things,” Huang said. “When audiences look at a director like me, sometimes they typecast me.” He wants to defy those judg-ments, so that’s why he con-stantly experiments with styles and subjects.

Although his drama career

Director Huang Ying

Photos provided by Huang Ying

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Books are a source of knowledge, inspiration and adventure. They broaden one’s worldview and experience.

And they’re perfect for those who are staying at home this holiday.

For years, Sanlitun has lacked a good book-store. But that changed on Wednesday when Page One, originally from Singapore, opened a store there, its third outlet in the city.

Unlike its rst store in the basement of Guomao Wing Summit Hotel, the Sanlitun loca-tion is spacious, with two oors and big win-dows, offering a more comfortable reading environment.

Page One specializes in art and design books. Readers can nd many about fashion, architecture, home decor and lifestyle. There are cook-books by Jamie Oliver and Martha Stewart, a ne jewelry design collec-tion by Anna Hu, a full collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Jane

Austin, as well as Chinese books published in Taiwan and Hong Kong.

On the second oor is the children’s book section. You can nd many toy books and Barbie collections, also many nice gift options.

We liked the beautiful cupcake cases and toppers (156 yuan) with vintage rose or fairy themes, and ideal for a young girl’s birthday; also good are notebooks (starting from 54 yuan), gift wrappers made with dry owers and leaves (price to be determined), vintage telephones in black, orange, dark blue and navy green (starting from 700 yuan).

After Chinese New Year, Page One will stay open around the clock, a great comfort for many cre-ative industry professionals and col-lege students who are accustomed to working at night.Page One - Sanlitun

Where: 1 F, Sanlitun Village, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District

Open: 11 am – 10 pm Tel: 6417 6626

By Annie Wei Every year, we look forward to the Chinese New Year holiday. For many, it’s the only chance to reunite with

family in their hometown. For others, it’s a time for traveling.But then there are those who choose to not pay for expensive flights or sit in traffic jams, instead preferring to

sit at home and enjoying some valuable me-time.It’s for those people that we recommend these two stores.

Blades for the outdoors Do you often feel depressed in winter, especially on murky days? There are two things that might help a

little. One is to drink coffee – research from the Harvard School of Public Health discovered that caffeine has a stimulating effect on the brain, acting like antidepressants. Another is to exercise.

In Beijing, one can walk to the nearest park, where you can practice tai chi with older citizens or ice-skate on frozen lakes.

All you need is to dress warm, perhaps with a pair of blades. They are available at Taobao starting from 180 yuan.

Books and exercise for your holiday break

Page One Sanlitun soon to open around the clock

Vintage telephone, start-ing at 700 yuan

Inside Page One in Sanlitun

Gift wrapper

Cake cups and top-pers, 156 yuan

Photos by An Jianguo

Free ice skating spot at Liangmahe river Photo by An Jianguo

Ice skates, starting from 180 yuan at Taobao

Cashmere hat, starting at 110 yuan at Taobao

CFP Photos

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Next to Greyhound is another newly opened restaurant, Wangjiasha. The brand was founded in Shanghai in 1942 and introduced to Hong Kong in 2002. Now it belongs to Gaia Group, same as Greyhound.

It specializes in Shang-hai snacks, especially xiaolongbao – steamed buns with llings such as pork (22 yuan for ve buns and 44 for 10), crab roe (38 yuan for ve), dongporou (38 yuan), tender square cubes of braised fatty pork, and dandanmian (38 yuan), a Sichuan noodle available nation-wide as a street food.

The food is quite expensive, considering you can nd the same items from Dingtaifeng, a Taiwan restaurant known for its handmade steamed buns with fresh ingredi-ents, or Meizhou Dongpo, a restaurant chain that serves Suzhou and Zheji-ang cuisine.

But if you are in San-litun, there are no better buns in such a comfortable environment. Wangjiasha

Where: S1-30A, 3/F Sanlitun Village, 19 Sanli-

tun Lu, Chaoyang DistrictOpen: 10 am – 10 pm Tel: 6416 3469

Next to Niajo, the Spanish restaurant on the third oor of Nali Patio, the Korean restaurant Jubang takes over for what used to be a cake and coffee store.

Its decoration suits Nali at night. The dining section is more spacious, with an open kitchen, an industrial ceiling and brown wood tables and chairs.

The menu is simple, with, soup, rice, barbecue, hotpot and noodles. If you’re not sure what you want, feel free to ask.

Ginseng chicken soup (128 yuan) is an ideal choice for winter, and also a Korean staple. But Jubang’s ginseng chicken soup is a bit salty – the waiter explained that Koreans normally pair rice with the soup, but they can also add unsalted soup for balance.

Some dishes rarely seen in other res-taurants include buduitang (58 yuan, a soup made of ham, kimchi and noo-dles), meaning “army soup,” which can be traced back to wartime when starving people used cans left behind by Ameri-

can soldiers.Banzhupi (45 yuan), spicy pork skin

mixed with sesame and chopped shal-lots, is chewy.

Zhengrou (95 yuan), pork belly sim-mered with garlic for three hours, then cut into thick pieces and placed on let-tuce, comes highly recommended. It’s also a typical Korean dish, but normally eaten with vegetable wraps and paired with kimchi.

Try the kimchi pork belly pancake (48 yuan), served in four small sizes.

Spicy chicken (89 yuan) is served in a hot iron pan, topped with melted cheese and spicy chili sauce.

The restaurant offers Korean distilled spirits and plans to add some wine selec-tions soon. Jubang

Where: C308, Nali Patio, 19 Sanli-tun Lu

Open: 6 pm – late Tel: 5208 6071

We weren’t convinced on this place when it rst opened – and cus-tomers were sparse. A local designer insisted we try.

“I bought a belt at Greyhound many years ago when I was in Hong Kong and it is still my favorite piece,” she said.

That sounds like a brand that cares about quality.

The fashion brand has expanded into the food industry, offering modern Thai cuisine, with outlets in Bangkok and Hong Kong.

The restaurant’s special recommendation is Thai iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk (36 yuan) and Thai iced tea with milk (36 yuan).

We tried its its hot buttery tea (28 yuan). Made of Thai herbs, the tea has a lovely blue color, which turns purple after adding some honey and stirring.

We liked its deep-fried chicken wings (58 yuan). The middle part of a chicken wing is halved then deep-fried, leaving a drier texture but all the taste. However, the serving is quite small.

Its fried rice with pound prawn (108 yuan) was also yummy.

Light Tom Yum soup (88 yuan) is the traditional Thai Tom Yom Koong with prawn and ravioli, not very spicy but with a good balance of avor.

The restaurant is nicely decorated, with a gray con-crete wall, high ceiling and cozy sofas. Greyhound Cafe

Where: S1-30b, 3/F Sanlitun Village, 19 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District

Open: 10 am – 10 pm Tel: 6416 3439

New comfort Asian food at Sanlitun By Annie Wei

The dining scene is evolving fast, especially in Sanlitun, where increasing rent has forced old vendors away and allowed new ones to try their hand.

If you’re in the neighborhood looking for simple Asian food in a comfortable environment, there are three new options.

Greyhound – Fashion brand doing modern dining

Jubang – Korean kitchen

Wangjiasha – upscale Shanghai snacks

Butterfly tea, 28 yuan

Inside Greyhound Cafe

Deep-fried chicken wings, 58 yuan Photos by An Jianguo

Vegetable starter, 50 yuan Inside Jubang Photos by An Jianguo

Steamed buns, starting from 22 yuan CFP Photo