The National Day holiday is over (as is the seven-day work week!), and we have not quite arrived at that debaucherous time known as  “Halloween”. But there are still plenty of things going on in Beijing: big news, “Autumn-esque” festivals and new openings! Read on to see what is happening in Beijing.

News Roundup

1) Steve Jobs died
Not exactly Beijing specific news, but as two of China’s very limited number of real Apple stores are here, the impact of Mr. Jobs’ passing continues to be felt here. The Apple stores in Sanlitun Village and Xidan were both turned in to makeshift memorials for China’s apple enthusiasts/fanatics to stop by and pay their respects… and start queuing up to buy the new iPhone 4S.

2) New (Mandatory) Social Insurance System
Wow! Judging from the vehement responses in the comments section for the recent article we posted on the matter, it seems a lot of us are… less than pleased with the new measures, which takes effect on October 15th. The good news: at least we don’t have to wait much longer to find out the actual details of just how screwed we all are! Check out the full write-up on the Social Insurance System here.

3) New metro lines open
All of Beijing’s traffic problems are soon to be a thing of the past! Three new metro lines in Beijing began trial operations on September 25th. Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an overstatement, but new subway lines are always good news, right? The three new lines (squared in the above picture) are: the north section of Metro Line 8 Phase II, the south section of Metro Line 9 and the east section of Metro Line 15 Phase I.

Events

1) Beijing Red Leaf Festival
Feel like you had too much personal space during the holiday when half of Beijing was on vacation? Well, there is no better way catch up to the good ole’ “sardines in a can” motif than by heading to Fragrant Hill Park (香山公园) for the 22nd Red Leaf Festival with the rest of Beijing (festival runs October 15th to November 7th). Beautiful changing leaves, long queues and mountain climbing await you! Click here for more details.

2) Great Leap Brewing Harvest Festival
Beijing Micro-brewery Great Leap Brewing is celebrating its first anniversary in style by holding a Harvest Festival on October 22nd at its new Great Wall location (at Mutianyu). The Harvest Festival will include fresh local produce, a spit-roasted pig and grilled locally farmed fish. More importantly, it is an all you-can-drink affair, (Pale Ale No. 6, Oatmeal Porter and Little General IPA on tap). Also, various drinking/harvest-y related games like corn hole and a keg toss will also be on site.  Tickets are 400 RMB per person, or 700 RMB per couple, and include transportation, food and drink. Tickets for children are 150 RMB. Buses will depart Paddy O’Shea’s at 12:00 and 12:30, and return at 20:30 that night. For tickets, call 156 1121 8019 or visit Great Leap.

3) Start preparing for Halloween
Although it is still a few weeks away, you’d best get your Halloween costume(s) picked out and start planning your epic night out ASAP. This year’s Halloween craziness promises to be no different than previous years; the Yen Fetish Halloween Party and the Spooked Halloween Bash are sure to be entertaining, as is seeing drunk foreigners dressed as pirates riding around on the Beijing metro. Good times… Keep an eye out for our upcoming article on where to get the best costumes in Beijing, and where all of the best Halloween parties are happening.

Opening:

1) Obama Fried Chicken closes, “UFO” opens?
Well, it was kind of fun (and overtly racist) while it lasted. Much in the same way that “Darkies toothpaste” underwent a de-racial-ising name change in the mid 1980s after Colgate acquired it, Obama Fried Chicken, a victim of its own success (in a sense), after making international headlines and being threatened by KFC for copyright infringement, is now no longer Obama Fried Chicken. Welcome in its place: UFO? Although the new name doesn’t really make sense, at least the restaurant is still rocking the same super offensive Obama/Colonel Sanders photo-mashup, because, hey, it was the name “OFC” that was racist, not the picture, right? Still no word on how the actual food tastes, or where exactly the shop is located.

2) New Bridge Cafe
A long-running student favourite in Wudaokou, the Bridge Cafe has just opened a new branch on the Beijing Institute of Technology campus  (理工大学) south of Renmin University. The new location offers all of the same amenities that are oh-so cherished at the WDK location: Delicious foods and drinks, free WiFi, open 24 hours etc.

3) Sendmetickets.com delivery service
Beijing’s first expat-run ticket delivery service recently went online and it promises to simplify the ticket-buying process for all of us. No longer must we spend hours looking for the address of a ticket office or input our credit card info into a shady looking Chinese character-filled website. Hop over to sendmetickets.com, pick an event, input your name, telephone number, email and address info, and someone will show up to your house within a few hours to hand deliver your tickets. Pretty simple huh?

4) New Ganges restaurant
Indian Cuisine lovers rejoice! One of Beijing’s most popular Indian restaurants, Ganges just opened up another branch above Paddy O’Shea’s on Dongzhimenwai Dajie (opposite the Canadian Embassy). The new restaurant offers all of the same lovely decorations, friendly service and tasty dishes as the other locations.

Coming soon:

1) Akon Beijing 11/4
Konvict!… One of the biggest names in R&B is making his China debut in Beijing. He will be performing at the Wukesong (Mastercard) Arena in Haidian District on November 4th at 20:00. Tickets are priced at 280/480/680/980/1280/1680 RMB and are on sale now at various online box offices (including the above-mentioned sendmetickets.com). Get your tickets now before they are sold out!

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Keywords: Beijing Steve Jobs Beijing social insurance system Beijing new metro opening Beijing Halloween Beijing Great Leap harvest festival Beijing Akon