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The best way to keep up with many events in the capital of China is to sign up for the weekly newsletter of the expatriate magazine, The Beijinger. This will keep you informed of the latest gigs, shows,
club news, restaurants, etc. And of course, pick up this expat magazine when you are in town. Most foreign
related hangouts stock it and it is free. Also available free of charge is Time Out Beijing.
My favourite place to visit for alternative music is D22 in the university district. If you want to sample the rock bands of the city, it is one of the best places to visit.
The Voorhuit is a Ghent institution. A Artdeco/socialist building, it has not lost its roots.
The huge café area plays host to multiple activities from quiet union meetings to cinema and concerts. Most of the latter are free. The French and Flemish press are available.
Sit down at any of the tables and you can be left alone or join in on the conversations. Nearly everyone talks English. The bar is good and very cheap and the food is wholesome. Homemade soup and bread for 2.60 euros which is great and pasta for about 8. Mostly fair trade and not bad for veggies.
For the stay over there my favourite in an ex-convent called Geertje Henckens on Zwartezusterstraat in the centre of town. There are only two bedrooms so book. A breakfast to die for and the second day it gets better.
If it is full try Faja Lobi in Tarbotstraat, a little further from the centre but with a lovely garden and (if possible) an even better welcome from the gay couple that run the place. Both are about 60 euros for a couple.
Then take a wander. Everything is within 30mins walk but take one of the river tours if you haven't done any research. The Cathedral is a must.
For light refreshment I recommend The Pink Flamingo in Onderstraat as possibly the most kitsch bar in the world. I go at least twice a year with my wife to Ghent and we are never disappointed.
The thing about the chip shop is true - it is the best.
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat
This cultural newsweekly is published by a multinational crew of young hip Barcelona residents. You can pick up the paper copy on Thursdays in loads of bars and restaurants, but their website also offers a Listings page with great ideas about things to do every day that you're visiting the city.
The best Rio listings magazine in English. What's on, plus loads of great insider tips from locals. Highly recommended.
Go early in July, when they have the Open Gardens Day festival and you can get free access to some beautiful hidden gardens belonging to private residences and institutions.
Have a green and orange break! For Europe's best street (and canal) party get to Amsterdam for the annual Queen's Day birthday bash.
Live bands and street bars on every corner; disco parties on boats; everyone dressed in orange and wanting to be your best friend for the day – the Dutch from Beatrix on down certainly know how to have fun.
You can be in Amsterdam in 6 hours from London via Eurostar and Thalys. And the beer glasses have a €1 deposit on them to make sure they’re recycled. How green is that? Get drunk and no carbon footprint!
Leuven is Belgium's best-kept secret. You can find it 20km east of Brussels. The capital of Flemish Brabant, it has a lot to offer within walking distance.
The historic centre contains "Belgium's longest beer counter", and the "Oude Markt" (Old Market), where nearly 40 cafés await you.
Rather handily, the only other outlets on the square are two pharmacies.
Just round the corner is the Great Market, or "Grote Markt" - scene of one of Belgium's finest buildings, its 600-year-old town hall with hundreds of statues adorning its façade.
Turning right we come to Muntstraat, a cosier and much less commercial restaurant street than the Rue des Bouchers in Brussels and further up, Hogeschoolplein (College Square), where you can sit and eat salads which look like mini-gardens at De Werf restaurant and guest house.
In Naamsestraat, De Clijne Taefel restaurant offers the finest grilled food in 450-year-old decor.
400m further on, you come to the Great Beguinage (Groot Begijnhof), a Unesco World Heritage site, where an order of nuns lived in a self-contained village. It is now maintained by the University of Leuven, along with most of the other major buildings in the town.
Another very nice building to look at is the University Library in Ladeuzeplein. It was gutted during the war, but lovingly restored with help from other colleges and universities which pledged money for its reconstitution. All the names of those establishments which helped renovate it are grafted onto the pillars and walls of the building.
If you come on Saturday afternoon, the bell ringer performs a concert from St Pieters church in the Grote Markt, audible throughout the centre.
There are many festivals and events all year round, but here are a few:
Easter Folk Dance festival
www.paasfeestenleuven.be
Summer concerts:
www.beleuvenissen.be
High summer gastro-event:
hapjetapje.leuveninscene.be/
City centre rock event:
www.marktrock.be
Short Film Festival:
www.kortfilmfestival.be/index_engels.html
There is also a Christmas market in December and a yearly autumn market on the first Monday after the first Sunday in September. There are plenty of places to stay, and much to do in the surrounding region:
Tervuren, Brussels and Antwerp are very close by.
Take the E40 from Calais straight there. Follow signs to Brussels, take the ring road round the capital and drive for a further 20 minutes.
By train, 30 minutes from the Eurostar terminus.
Map: tinyurl.com/yt8jan
eno is a lifestyle brand created in Shanghai. They provide a platform for Chinese artists, musicians and designers to create fresh clothing and lifestyle products. Also consumers can hand in their design and have the chance for them to be sold in the store.
Eno creates limited edition products: t-shirts, hoodies, long sleeves, bags, shoes.
Also very much worth visiting are their two monthly in store events called enoise with chinese and foreign bands performing in a relaxed atmosphere.
139-23 changle road/chengdu bei road
021-63860120
Brand new free community website for listings and features on events for children in London.
There are thousands of festivals throughout the year in Japan, you can often accidentally stumble on them in the most unlikely of places, for example, I once bumped into a troupe of traditionally dressed dancers parading through a shopping center. The ultimate festival to attend has to be a Bon dance. Held during the summer people gather in the town square for a group dance. At the center are the professionals who have been practicing all year, whilst children, foreigners and the inebriated are welcomed in the peripheries. The atmosphere is fantastic, the costumes exquisite and the food delicious.
My advice is not to leave it to chance but to log onto the Japan Times’ festival guide at:
www.japantimes.co.jp/festivals.htm
It’s the most comprehensive guide I’ve come across.
First pressing of the grapes, looks like cloudy ginger beer, smells a bit yeasty but tastes great. Easy to down and absolutely lethal. Also plays havoc with your insides. Only available for a few weeks in September. Comes in massive bottles with a loose tin foil cap therefore can't be exported.
everywhere but only for a while
Home of the Gaelic Athletic Association, promoter of native Irish sports. Very impressive stadium. Hurling and Gaelic football matches from May to September most Sundays. There's a superb museum detailing the history of the GAA behind the main stand.
Jones Road, Drumcondra.
www.gaa.ie
I recommend that people coming to New York go to a wonderful website, Chowhound.com (www.chowhound.com), and read the New York postings (there are separate threads for Manhattan and the Outer Boroughs, which include Brooklyn). It's a fantastic way to get real
opinions and find out about cool, small, cheap places as well as the
well-known glamour spots.
Every summer. 'Nuff said...
Some people are going to groan at the name, but bear with it. If you are young at heart and looking for a variety of fun things to do in Rio, you could do worse than pick up the "Rio for Partiers" guide. It's a little bit like this site - crammed full of tips, and just the thing to turn to if you are wondering "what to do next" in Rio.
It's not the "club 18-30"-ish guide that it seems from the title. I'd recommend at least having a look at it in a bookshop - many of the places in it were things which Cariocas recommended to me anyway.
www.rioforpartiers.com/ (I've got no affilition, in case you're wondering)
New York Yankees. The world's most famous baseball team. Experience America's favourite pasttime surrounded by New Yorkers in 'The House that Ruth built' Even if you don't understand the rules, just soak up the atmosphere. Season runs from April to October
www.yankees.com Yankees Stadium, 161st Street & River Avenue, Bronx Metro: 161st Street / Yankee Stadium
Get up early enough on 1 May and you're in for a riot of English tradition at its best. Revellers from the previous night's balls join city folk, morris dancers and tourists to listen to the eerie Hymnus Eucharisticus that echoes from the choirboys who ascend Magdalen Tower for the occasion. Meanwhile, the drunker and more foolhardy of the students (often dressed in black tie) leap from Magdalen bridge into the murky waters of the river Cherwell below.
Outside Magdalen college tower, High Street near the Plain roundabout.
Concert in Central Park in the summer. Some free, some not - but usually a great selection (Sonic Youth/David Byrne/Patti Smith/Femi Kuti/Lyle Lovett....)
www.summerstage.org, Central Park
Another free publication, printed in dual Spanish and English, which is designed for visitors looking for a more sedate holiday. It focuses on cultural events and luxury shopping. Find it in upmarket shops and hotels.
A well-designed and handy map, in English, of El Carmen, the funky old-town barrio (district) that houses the core of Valencia’s nightlife, cafe and alternative shopping scene. It gives locations and descriptions of the barrio’s best shops, bars and restaurants. You can pick it up for free in shops and bars all over the Carmen.
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