Beijing’s an urban jungle, and in any jungle we need tools to survive and thrive. As urban jungle dwellers, we’ve managed to blend practicality with style, resulting in the modern bag. Here, form meets function, and what looks stylish and fashionable on the outside contains all our essential survival tools on the inside. Inspired by this, we ask expats each week, “What’s in your bag?” and get insights into which essentials they keep on hand when out and about in the capital city.
Greetings from Tianjiaying village! My name is Miranda and I have been Asia-based since 2009. I’ve fluttered about and have lived everywhere from Cambodia to Hong Kong, but I always return to Beijing and call it home.
After being unemployed because of Covid, I cocktailed and gardened for a couple of weeks and quickly became bored. So in the turmoil, I went back to my first love – making stuff! And soon afterwards KIYANI was born. KIYANI is a natural skincare brand that focuses on creating non-toxic products from plant-based ingredients that are free from plastic and quickly biodegradable.
I honestly don’t love this bag but I use it often as it can comfortably fit a lot of stuff and it matches a lot of my clothes. As I live 50km from downtown Beijing, I often run errands and buy supplies when I’m in the city. Which is why I prefer to use this big bag even though a majority of my purses are small and cute.
1. As the car ride is about an hour into the city, I usually use this time to put on my makeup. So I carry all the necessities along with my KIYANI mosquito bite balm as I seem to attract mosquitos.
2. I always make sure I have headphones before I leave the house, to catch up on my favorite podcasts. I’ve also been taking my passport just in case the village doesn’t let me back home during these weird Covid times.
3. As I have to create a lot of content for KIYANI, I always keep a camera with me as I prefer camera photos/videos.
4. In the city I always drop by April gourmet to stockpile treats, so I always have a tote.
5. And I often have flowers from my garden with me as I give them to people I am meeting up with.
6. Since summer is here, I always keep a pair of sunnies with me.
Want to share your Beijing survival tools with us? Shoot us an email at editor@beijing-kids.com, message our official jingkids WeChat account (ID: beijing-kids), or leave a comment below!
Images: Courtesy of Miranda
