Jump Start 2014: LDS’ Top 10 NYE Celebrations

2013 came and went faster than most of us would have liked, but here’s to the passing of another eventful year and the beginnings of a bright and exciting 2014 ahead!

After stuffing ourselves silly at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, I’m not sure how many want to indulge in lavish multiple-course meals again this New Year’s Eve but there are plenty of fancy dinners available at many of Beijing’s top restaurants followed by a range of different NYE parties including both upscale, dress-up parties and wild, packed-out dance parties with the city’s top DJ’s playing straight into 2014.

There’s plenty out there, but here goes the LDS breakdown of Top 10 Events to ring in 2014 –

LDS’ Top 10 Picks for New Year’s Eve:

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Time Out Beijing: 100th Issue Celebration Party at Xian

Time Out Celebrates its 100th Issue!

After going strong for 8+ years, Time Out Beijing magazine is about to celebrate their 100th issue, an admirable achievement worthy of a blow-out bash at one of Beijing’s swankiest new bars in town – Xian Bar & Lounge in East Hotel in Lido.

“Phew – next month we reach 100 issues! And we’ll be celebrating with a big ol’, swanky knees-up. So swanky, in fact, it’ll take another 100 issues just to pay the bar tab.” – Lee Williamson of Time Out Beijing

If you haven’t been to Xian bar, it’s pretty smokin’ with crafty designs for the bars’ drink displays and plenty of room to lounge upstairs. It’s a maze of rooms, which should make for an interesting party layout.

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Sunday Salon: Prestigious Pianist Wang Xiaohan

Pianist, Conductor & Composer Wang Xiaohan

For the first Sunday Salon of 2013, Time Out’s Classical & Performance Editor Nancy Pelligrini has teamed up with music critic and impresario Sam Su and promoter Zhang Kexin to invite prestigious pianist, conductor and composer Wang Xiaohan to perform at their upcoming event this Sunday at The Bookworm.

Time Out Beijing’s Sunday Salons are some of the most incredible Beijing events around town. It still baffles me that Time Out is able to continuously invite these super famous, multi-talented musicians to perform in such an intimate setting for an unbelievably low price – RMB 50 (or RMB 40 if you come with the latest January issue of Time Out Magazine in hand).  Having attended a handful of these events in previous years, I consider myself among the few, highly privileged to have been present for these musical Sunday Salons.  I really can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday evening.

“This is a unique opportunity to listen to the great musicians from China and ask them questions directly about their incredible talents.” – Nancy Pellegrini, Time Out BJ & SH’s Classical & Performance Editor

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Dali Courtyard: Discreet, Delightful & Delicious Yunnan

Dali Courtyard’s Discreet Entrance

A classic Yunnan favorite, Dali Courtyard is a restaurant so popular in the warm summer months that you can’t count on walking in without a reservation, a lesson I’ve learned well.

It’s a trusted restaurant among the local foreign community with a reputation to serve consistently tasty and authentic Yunnan cuisine in a charming little courtyard nestled in the hutongs.

But I was surprised to find it rather quiet in my most recent visit a few weeks back.  I was convinced that hoards of hungry diners would all arrive any moment, but they never came.  In one entire evening, there were a total of about 10 other people in the entire restaurant.  Needless to say, it was too cold to sit outside in the courtyard (which is covered up with a temporary roof in winter months), but there were hardly any other diners even in the cozy indoor spaces.

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Sunday Salon: Chu Yibing’s China Cello Philharmonic

Don’t Miss the Next Time Out Sunday Salon at The Bookworm

Time Out Beijing’s Sunday Salons are some of the most exceptional Beijing events around town that are made available to the public and I consider myself among the few, highly privileged to have already attended a handful of these Sunday Salons.

Always held on a Sunday evening around 7:30PM, Time Out has somehow managed to arrange for incredibly talented Classical musicians to come to The Bookworm and play extracts from their music in an intimate setting, followed by an opportunity to discuss their inspirations behind the music together with their audience.  You’d normally only be have to listen to these musicians perform in a massive concert hall among an audience of thousands. This is an incredibly rare chance to not only hear these incredibly talented and famous musicians right in front of your face, but you can also meet them, shake their hands and ask them questions directly to better understand them, their background and experience as professional musicians who are invited to perform all over the world.

“This is a unique opportunity to listen to the great musicians from China and ask them questions directly about their incredible talents.” – Nancy Pellegrini, Time Out BJ & SH’s Classical & Performance Editor

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LDS Top Picks: A Wicked Week of Halloween Festivities

“Goblins and Ghosts and Creatures of Fright, 

Don’t Miss the Call of Halloween Night.”

Halloween used to be all about pumpkin carving and trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for sweets, but now it’s about freaky, spooky, sexy parties running throughout the city.

With Halloween falling smack, dab in the middle of the week, there will be events taking place all week starting this Friday through the end of next week.

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Sunday Salon: Young Violin Soloist Gao Can

Gao Can Concert Violinist

Time Out Beijing’s Sunday Salons are some of the most well-done regular events Beijing has to offer.  Always on Sunday evenings around 7:30PM, they host incredibly talented Classical musicians to come to The Bookworm and play extracts from their music in an intimate setting, followed by an opportunity to discuss their inspirations behind the music together with their audience.

“This is a unique opportunity to listen to the great musicians from China and ask them questions directly about their incredible talents.” – Nancy Pellegrini, Time Out BJ & SH’s Classical & Performance Editor

This Sunday, Time Out is welcoming back Gao Can, who is arguably China’s most respected and fastest-rising young concert violin soloist.

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Mai, Mai, What Have We Here?

Seductive Cocktails at Mai Bar

I generally wouldn’t post about a bar on a Monday morning, but it’s October holiday so Mai Bar 麦酒吧 is absolutely appropriate for those who are enjoying a week-long holiday break in Beijing.

Mai Bar is hands-down my favorite bar in Beijing at the moment. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single cocktail I’ve ever ordered here and while it can get pretty crowded here, it’s still got more breathing room than the teeny-tiny Mao Mao Chong (another favorite bar of mine).  I find myself recommending Mai bar to more and more people and I couldn’t believe that I had yet to post about it on LDS (sorry about that)!

I’ve been here a handful of times already – for birthdays, for going away parties and, most recently, I organized a pre-wedding bash here where a whole lot of out-of-towners managed to find their way through the hutongs and arrived with nothing but praises for the bar recommendation. The bar is guaranteed to be packed from the hour approaching midnight till about 2AM, but I like it best before the masses take it over.

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