The international schools have closed their doors for the summer break, swiftly followed by the summer exodus of the Shunyi expat community. If you’re one of the few that’s staying put this summer, then fear not. Here are a few suggestions to keep you busy and having fun during the holiday break.
Hit the Range
Citee Golf Performance Centre is a great facility that offers golf clinics, PGA coaching, and a top quality golf driving range. The range is great fun for the whole family. If you’ve never picked up a golf club before, it’s a great way to get introduced to the game. For just RMB 40 you get 40 balls to practice swinging and driving. Their summer clinics include ladies play, skill development, group and individual programs. For details and pricing visit their website www.citeegolf.com.
After all that exertion you can sit back and relax in the center’s café, which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Choose from a selection of wraps, panini’s, and rolls with fillings such as chicken and cranberry with brie, smoked salmon with cream cheese, grilled vegetables with hummus and feta, and the rather superb roast beef and gravy roll. Mains include fresh salads, curries, steaks, home-made burgers, Asian and vegetarian dishes.
Citee Golf Performance Centre
Daily 7.30am-9pm. 1 Xiang Jiang Beilu, Chaoyang District (8430 8226, info@citeegolf.com)
Get Arty
Sign up for a visual arts workshop for adults at Atelier Art School. Their Drawing and Painting workshop teaches students the basic techniques of drawing and painting, giving a solid foundation on which to build more creative projects. Upcycling is all about transforming and re-using those items lurking in the back of your closet. Sculpture will enable you to discover new techniques and materials, and to understand 3D creation.
The adult class schedule during July is detailed below, for pricing and more details visit their website.
Monday – Watercolor 1-3pm; Drawing and Painting 6-8pm
Tuesday – Oil Painting 1-3pm; Drawing and Painting 8-10am, 6-8pm
Wednesday – Sculpture 1-3pm
Thursday – Upcycling 8-10am
Beijing Cuisine
Dine out at Linda’s, a new restaurant on Pinnacle Plaza serving traditional Beijing cuisine. The roast duck comes accompanied by shredded scallions, cucumber, and melon, with pancakes and blueberry sauce. Other classic dishes include braised pork in brown sauce, kung pao chicken, stewed chicken with three cups sauce, mapo tofu, and roasted eggplant with garlic. The small terrace out front makes for a lovely spot for some people watching. To make a reservation, call 8047 7033.
Retail Therapy
Indulge in a spot of retail therapy at Shine Hills Shopping Center on Anxiang Dajie, with stores including GAP, Uniqlo, Miss Cucci Home, Brenda Interiors, and Watsons. Kid’s stores include Motherswork, Kid’s Land, and Adidas. Enjoy a break from all that shopping with a coffee from Costa Coffee, Starbucks, or Momo Coffee, or stop for lunch at popular Italian restaurant Loft Eatalicious. If its higher-end brands you’re after, head to Beijing Scitech Premium Outlet Mall on Xiangjiang Beilu, where you’ll find Nine West, Steve Madden, Esprit, Diesel, Dunhill, and a number of sportswear factory stores including Adidas and Nike. Make sure you stop by the GAP outlet store, where you’ll find great deals and special offers on everything.
Keep Cool
Escape the heat and go inside a giant fridge this summer. The friendly, qualified, international ski and snowboard instructors from Imagine will meet you at Qiaobo Indoor Ski Centre, for a fun ski or snowboard lesson. The center is open until 9.30pm every day. RMB 1,200 for two hours (can be shared between 1-6 people). Ski center ticket RMB 200, including boots and skis or board. Helmets, clothing, and lockers are an extra RMB 10-30 per item. To book, contact (5739 4933, snowsports@imagine-china.com)
Nothing tastes better than an ice cream on a hot Beijing day. Baskin-Robbins has stores at Europlaza on Yuxiang Lu and Pinnacle Plaza, where you can enjoy their meltingly good flavors, blended using a unique flavor ribbon technique. Flavors include mandarin mascarpone cheesecake, mint choc chip, very berry strawberry, and their trademark pink and purple cotton candy. Head over to Häagen-Dazsat Shine Hills and indulge in flavors such as Belgian chocolate, strawberries and cream, and cookie s and cream, or cool off with their tangy fruit sorbets. Comptoirs de France serves up homemade ice cream in pots or cones, and you can take home a liter tub for the freezer. The dark chocolate flavor is wonderfully rich and the caramel ice cream is very moreish.
beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.
Photos: courtesy of Citee Golf, Imagine, Ewan Munro (Flickr)
