Beijing Art: At the Stroke of Midnight, CNY 2012

Beijing at the Stroke of Midnight: Chinese New Year 2012 by Tom Pattinson

For the past six years, I have been in Beijing during the Chinese New Year holiday and although I’m kicking myself each year for not pre-booking a tropical getaway to some sunny beach far away from this city turned ghost-town where the majority of the population evacuates, streets are empty, everything closes down, taxis are impossible to comeby and temperatures drop to -17 degrees Celsius.

In spite of these downsides of Beijing at this time of year, I also love being in this city at one specific moment – when the skies light up with firecrackers.  I’m not talking about the loud firecrackers that start at the crack of dawn or the ones that are just plain loud and cease to stop even days after new years day, but the hour where all the best firecrackers are simultaneously fired into the sky at one go.

Every year, and without fail, at the stroke of midnight on Chinese New Year’s Eve, the dark skies of Beijing are illuminated at every angle with the most brilliant, vibrant firecrackers. It truly is a magnificent sight.

And although there are plenty of awesome parties happening all across town (in the restaurant, bars and clubs who chose to remain open), who wants to be indoors or in a dark basement and miss this special moment? For me, that would defeat the whole point of ringing in the Chinese New Year in Beijing. This glorious hour of fireworks should be the main event of the week-long holiday. Whether you’re firing them off yourself or just happy to watch, it’s a sight no one should miss if they are among the few stragglers who chose to stay in Beijing this desolate time of year.

There are many excellent vantage points to view this extraordinary display of extravagant fireworks, and one of my personal favorite places is on the rooftop of a tall building in the Gulou area. Normally the square between the Drum and Bell Towers is a choice pick for a great view, but fireworks have been forbidden here the past few years. Fair enough, as fireworks are often a terrible accident just waiting to happen and probably best to steer clear of any cultural and historical relics.

So with that option ruled out, we did the next best thing: bundle up and head up to the rooftop balcony of their apartment off Nanluoguxiang and watch the fireworks display until we couldn’t feel our fingers (it was a cold night) and honestly, after an hour of listening to fireworks booming into my ears, I feared the possibility of also going deaf if I didn’t head back indoors.

Spending the new year with close friends, this Chinese New Year was one of the best I’ve had and I’d like to thank Tom Pattinson for capturing the moment with his perfect picture.

Wishing you all a healthy, happy and prosperous Year of the Dragon!

Have a Happy Lóng Chinese New Year 2012!

Like me, I’m sure many of your email boxes have been filling up the past week with Chinese New Year E-cards and thoughtful holiday messages. While I’ve received  lot of cool designs featuring dragons, the color red, symbols of good luck and fortune for the upcoming year of the dragon, I’ve got to say the most creative design for a CNY card would be by Nathan’s Famous.

This card creatively emphasizes its brand identity while simultaneously wishing Chinese New Year holiday wishes for all with a dragon head sketched out of our famous hot dogs, burgers and chicken tenders! A brand synonymous with the world’s best hot dogs, 100% beef burgers, unique golden crinkle-cut French fries, Arthur’s Treachers quality seafood products and Chicken Classics, they have branches all over the world and currently have three locations in Beijing.

Some additional good news from Nathan’s is that they have just launched a partnership with Beijing’s best delivery service – Jinshisong.com. Open throughout the Chinese New Year holiday week, you can get Nathan’s delivered straight to your door!

Wishing you and your loved ones a Lóng and Happy Chinese New Year!

* Lóng (龙) is Chinese for Dragon.

A Very Merry LumDimSum Christmas

California is about 16 hours behind Beijing, so please forgive the belated post, but after a peek into my very merry Christmas, I hope that perhaps you’ll understand why I’ve been distracted.

LumDimSum Snapshots of My Christmas Day:

My LumDimSum Family

Christmas Gifts All Around – candy&caviar for Everyone!

LDS Christmas Feast:

I hope all of you had a memorable day surrounded by people you love, good food and if you were nice this year, I hope Santa brought you what you wished for!

Merry Christmas!

LumDimSum Christmas Cheer 2011

Merry Christmas!!!

Allow me to share a corny Christmas joke I just love:

What do you get if you cross a snowman with a vampire?

(scroll down for answer)

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Answer:

Frostbite! 

No matter how much older I get each year, the traditions surrounding Christmas season never seem to get old.

From decorating our tall Christmas tree to baking cookies for Santa, listening to Christmas carols, visiting neighborhoods famous for their insane amount of Christmas lights and decorations, last-minute Christmas shopping and spending the day with family, this is a holiday that rightfully encourages childhood innocence, playful fun, generous giving, a renewed sense of hope and a charitable spirit.

If any of you have some fun or silly Christmas jokes, please feel free to share by posting a comment to this article (click here and scroll down to comments).

I wish you all a very merry Christmas wherever you are in the world!

Snapshots of My Very Merry LumDimSum Christmas:

LDS Discovery: GungHo!’s Turkey Hot Pot Tradition

Annual Turkey Hot Pot Tradition

It really should be no surprise that GungHo! Legends John and Jade are the masterminds behind my newest LumDimSum Discovery: Turkey Hot Pot.

LDS Discoveries are normally reserved for finds I uncover in various dining establishments around Beijing (click here for previous posts), but I couldn’t pass up writing about this discovery because this could easily be imitated and replicated in the comfort of anyone’s home! Yes, you can try this at home too!

Always scheming up new adventures, new recipes and new concoctions to share, this happens to be a relatively new tradition (second year running) and John & Jade were kind enough to introduce me to their world of turkey hot pot.

Turkey Chainsaw Massacre

Taking a giant, frozen turkey and slicing the meat into thin slivers and prepping a ton of veggies – pumpkin, sweet potato, brussel sprouts, baby carrots, potato slices and asparagus, we shared three massive pots of boiling turkey broth between 16 of us.  If you can close your eyes and just imagine, the turkey meat is even more juicy and moist in hot pot broth than out of the over! And the boiled vegetables were super healthy and carefully selected to follow in their theme of a classic turkey dinner’s veggie sides, but in Chinese hot-pot dinner style.

And not only did each person get their own sesame dipping sauce, we had cranberry sauce as well -an unexpectedly delish compliment to the savory turkey meat!

Pure Genius: Turkey Hot Pot

Flying Chopsticks Fighting For More Turkey Hot Pot!

As this weekend was Beijing’s first snowfall of the year, a hike on the Great Wall was in order. Needless to say, it was cold, but the sky was bright blue and winds were mild. So in spite of the lack of snow on the wall, it was an invigorating hike with gorgeous views of the mountain side and valleys all around.

LumDimSum Snapshots of Hiking on the Great Wall at the First Sign of Snow:

Hatsune King Alan Wong Uses ThinkPad X1 to DO

Hatsune King Alan Wong is the featured star of Lenovo’s new ad for their new, thin and powerful ThinkPad X1.

“One of the most successful entrepreneurs in the cut-throat Beijing F&B market, Alan Wong is the successful founder and CEO of Hatsune Group, with over 500 employees across nine branches.  

Observe how the ThinkPad X1 ergonomic keyboard, minimalist design, and rapid boot SSD make work and play an experience.  

See how the ThinkPad X1 allows Alan to design new restaurants, the RapidCharge battery – recharging 80% in less than 30 min keeps him going no matter how far he travels; and the Fingerprint reader keeps his business information secure.”

- Cory Grenier, Lenovo China

A cool video that showcases Alan Wong in action at his restaurants, working on new upcoming projects and racing on his bike, this is just something cool I wanted to share!

Check out the full video on Youku.com here:

You can also watch the video on Tudou.com here.

Lane Change: Take the ‘Winter B-Icicle Challenge’

I am a true Beijing biker and damn proud of it.  Some call me crazy, some call me a nutter, some call me a biking Mary Poppins (when it’s raining I often bike while holding an umbrella in one hand), you call me whatever you want, I won’t have it any other way.  I am that stubborn, but for good reason!

Rain or shine, I am biking every day – to work, to meetings and even out to bars/clubs on the weekends.  Fashion doesn’t even hold me back – I bike in miniskirts, in high heels, I’ve done it all.

Bicycling in Beijing really is the only trusted mode of transportation in this manic, traffic-ridden city and it is by far the most efficient way to get around.  You can never hail down a taxi when you’re most in a hurry and of course the same goes for the levels of traffic leaving you in a habit of road rage when you’re not even behind the wheels!

But more important than being punctual, biking is just one more way I can be more green. With both the traffic and pollution become more and more unbearable, I wish more people went back to riding bikes in Beijing…which leads me to Lane Change’s Winter B-Icicle Challenge!

Starting December 1, Lane Change is starting an initiative to encourage everyone in the Northern hemisphere to keep peddling through the winter months

“It’s not difficult to wax lyrical about the joy of cycling. It’s fun, good for your health, better than being stuck in traffic, and gives you an entirely new relationship to a city. And on a larger scale, it’s a much more environmentally friendly option than gas guzzling cars. Something to think about with climate change breathing down our necks.”

Take The Winter B-icicle Challenge!

Why are we doing it?

• To see if we can put our money where our mouth is in regards to living a greener life, and not just when weather permits

• A good time to reflect about those people without homes during winter

• We love riding our bikes and don’t want to go three months without it

• We hate Beijing traffic jams!

Rules. We will ride to work or school everyday unless:

• The road is so icy we’ll most probably break our necks 

• We have a meeting or activity that is more than an hour bike ride away

• We’re so sick with the flu we can’t even be bothered to watch The Wire

To join this global bike gang, sign up here.

Wishing All a Winter of Safe & Happy Biking in Beijing!

LumDimSaying: A Toast To Tasty Turkey Feasts

“May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!” – Unknown Author

The last thing on your mind this Thanksgiving should be guilt.  All diets are thrown out the window as loved ones gather together and enjoy all the fixings of a Thanksgiving feast that really only comes once a year.  

In the thoughtful and giving spirit of Thanksgiving, here’s a toast to my LDS friends, fans and readers.  

Savor every last bite and enjoy every moment of this day and all the wonderful memories that come with it!

Thank you for being my sole motivation for continuing to post each and every day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

*What is a LumDimSaying? A quote I find worth noting. And sharing.

Happy Halloween!

For someone who’s petrified of anything half-scary (I couldn’t sleep after seeing one episode of The Might Boosh last week), this little picture of Snoopy is about as scary as I can muster.

Happy Halloween to my dear LumDimSum Readers!  

I hope your day is full of treats (and not tricks).

x LDS

Catch the Changing Colors of Autumn

Only lasting a few weeks each year, catching the changing of colors in the mountains just outside of Beijing is something worth the hour+ long trip out of the city.

A shame it only lasts such a short period of time, but it’s absolutely breath-takingly beautiful and if you can possibly find a day or two to escape Beijing (as it will only last at most another week), then GO-GO-GO! As the skies are still blue and there’s a slight breeze for comfort, you must rush to go before the wind blows away all the colorful leaves!

You can thank me after.

LumDimSum Snapshots of the Mountains Erupting in Vibrant Colors:

Happy Campers: 3 Days of Hiking, Climbing and Camping

With no plans to leave Beijing this October holiday, I was thrilled to be tagging along with new friends on a 3-day camping trip to Yun Meng Shan 云蒙山, TianXian Waterfall 天仙瀑 and then rock climbing in Baihe.

When I first signed myself up for this trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was worried about being able to keep up with the gang, I was worried I didn’t pack enough food, I was worried if we’d all get along.  In the end, this trip exceeded my expectations entirely.  It was perfect.

We were engulfed in beautiful landscape, we were blessed with sunshine and clear blue skies, we were spoiled for choice for food with amazing meals and I am stoked to come home with 4 awesome new friends.

In summary: Across the three days, we hiked 27+ kilometers carrying 50 lb packs and we sang the entire way. 

LumDimSum Snapshots of Yun Meng Shan 云蒙山 Hike:

Our Spooky Campsite:

Hike to Tian Xian Waterfall 天仙瀑:

Tian Xian Waterfall天仙瀑:

Rock Climbing in Baihe:

A Birthday Shared by Three Within My Family Tree

My cousin Shelby, our grandmother and I were all born on the 8th of September

Today is a special day.

It’s not only my 27th birthday, but it’s also my cousin Shelby’s 22nd birthday and our grandma’s 80th birthday.

Last week, I made a 8-day trip back home to California to celebrate our birthdays together with my family where we embarked on a few adventures – a day of sailing around San Francisco Bay and also a day trip through Napa Valley’s rustic and uniquely beautiful wineries.

LumDimSum Snapshots of Birthday Celebrations:

Sailing in San Francisco Bay

Day Trip through Napa’s Beautiful Wineries:

V. Sattui, Duckhorn, Beringer, Domain Chandon, Castello di Amorosa, Darioush & Viansa Winery

Triple Birthday Bash Family Reunion:

In The Mood For Adventure

After staying in Friday night to recover from Hatsune’s 10 Year Anniversary the night before, I was in the mood for adventure Saturday morning.  I was up for anything as long as nature and physical activity were both part of the equation.

There are a few good people in Beijing I can consistently count on to be both spontaneous and outdoorsy and this time, I was lucky enough to tag along for a day of fun with none other than Pizza and Burger King Jade Gray (co-owner of Gung Ho! Gourmet Pizza Factory, and the man behind both Lush and Pyro Pizza in Wudaokou). One of my favorite people in Beijing, Jade is freakin hilarious and is always on-the-go whether he’s traveling, exploring or on a mission to just get out of Beijing for a day.

Thanks to Jade, I got my fix of the great outdoors as we zoom zoomed out of Beijing on his motorbike.

But first, we made a quick pitstop at Shunyi’s Olympic Rowing Park to see the University Rowing Race where crews from 10 universities around the world including Oxford, Qinghua, Harvard, Yale, and Cambridge,battle in a two-race competition.  Gung Ho! Pizza was the proud sponsor of New Zealand’s University of Otago rowing team.

We mistakenly thought it would be a good idea to rent this bike to ride alongside the boats as they raced, but then we realized that this cart is one of the slowest vehicles ever created.  A shame because it had so much potential.

Gung Ho! Pizza sponsored the University of Otago’s Rowing Team.

Check out the size of that oar.  (that’s what she said!)

After checking out the first of the two races that day, we were on our way to visit a spectacular spot by Miyun where you can swim in clean, natural pools of water surrounded by mountains.

Aside from a small group of Korean students and tourists around, there was really no one else around.  This place is incredibly beautiful with mini rock falls and tall mountains with sightings of the Great Wall perched just above. There is even a bit of sandy beach and shaded little benches to lounge about.

Run by a Korean couple, the area is well-kept and the restaurant served absolutely delicious Korean dishes with veggies picked from their own garden and high-quality meats to grill.

What an adventure!

LumDimSum Snapshots:

We Like to Zoom Zoom: Me and My Biker Gang

Ducati, Kawasaki, Benelli, Suzuki…I was once ignorant to the power and significance these names hold for many.  But then again, my initial thoughts of a bike gang were once of a group of men having a mid-life crisis with “biker” mustaches and skulls engraved into their helmets and leather jackets riding big, chunky Harley-Davidson bikes.

This biker gang is definitely not what I had in mind.

JUST KIDDING Mom & Dad, this photo is just pretend! (but admittedly, I would be 100 times cooler if I was a real biker chick!

Lucky for me, Alan Wong let me tag along and ride on the back of his 2-seater BMW bike for one of the most exhilarating adventures of my life.

With 11 of us total, we met up at 7AM and together, we sped outside of Beijing’s smog and zoom-zoomed into some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable.  Surrounded by green mountains and bright blue skies with perfectly winded roads with “decreasing radius” (biker lingo), we were in biker heaven.

Zoom-Zooming Out of Beijing

Passing by some giant dinosaurs on the way, we’ve now dubbed this trip “Jurassic Park”

Screaming “Wow” over and over as we sped past sparkling lakes, tall, green mountains and cliffs wasn’t doing the scenery justice, so we all stopped for a short break to really breathe in the smog-free air and soak in the beauty of our surroundings.

Can you believe this exists only an hour or so outside of Beijing?!

The way back was just as stunning and we even passed by a section of The Great Wall!

Needless to say, this ride was more than just a quick-fix for these speed-junkies.  Hooked on the adrenaline rush of racing 200+ km/hr, I now understand the lure into the world of motor-racing, but the surrounding scenery of these trips also gives these riders an escape from the horrendously traffic-jammed, smog-filled city of Beijing.  It’s wonderful to know you can access such spectacular sights so close to the city we call home.

Scuba Steve Gets You Certified Under The Sea

Getting my Open Water Padi Certification has been on my list of things to do for ages and I’d been stalling all this time waiting for my chance to go back to Koh Tao, Thailand or Sipidan, Borneo to do the required testing and training and then I met Steven Schwankert aka Scuba Steve.

What I realized finally is that I should not waste precious vacation time studying for a test, but I should get all that over and done with in Beijing so that I can actually start diving straight away once I finally did make that trip.

Scuba Steve is founder of SinoScuba, Beijing’s first professional dive operator, and they’ve been around more than 8 years and while he’s officially certified over 300 divers, he’s prepped over 800 to complete their over water dives abroad (divers like me).  Divers can start as young at 10 years old and courses can be taught in both English and Mandarin.

“Our PADI Open Water Diver courses allow people with little or no diving experience to become certified divers in approximately three weeks. The course is divided into three units: knowledge development/academic, confined water/pool, and open water. We conduct open water dives near Beijing seasonally (June-October).”

In preparation for my 5 day holiday this coming weekend, I started my under water sessions about a month ago and this past week, I just aced my final exam with a score of 49/50 - boo-yah! Phuket, Thailand - here I come!!

And the coolest part of it all was the the confined water skills sessions were all in Beijing’s Blue Zoo Aquarium where you get to swim with monstrously large sharks, turtles, eels and other exotic aquatic creatures. Pretty badass if you ask me.

LumDimSum Spotted in the Blue Aquarium:

Removing and Re-strapping Weight Belt Underwater

For all instruction, all equipment rental and use, all necessary documentation, all materials and all pool use and fees, the cost is RMB 2800 per person. And let me tell you from personal experience, it is worth every penny. Scuba Steve is a patient, skilled and professional instructor and the experience you have learning all your practical skills under water swimming next to sharks in the aquarium is priceless.

To sign up with Scuba Steve, you can email him directly: stevenschwankert@gmail.com