here is ARTICLES
The first thing we noticed when we arrived at Fuji was that the environment was innovative and had a kind of night club-like vibe. We could easily imagine such a restaurant in some trendy neighborhood of Tokyo. The restaurant just opened in May, but it was quite full even though we arrived later on a Wednesday evening.
While brunch has become a mainstay of many of the coastal cities in China, Xi’an has long lacked anything approaching the leisurely gourmet experience that is a nice brunch. While there are many great breakfast foods, and plenty of 5-star hotel buffets for you to stuff your face at, the brunch experience, a.k.a. sweet or savory breakfast style foods and some sort of boozy accompaniment that will help ease out the aches of a night of overindulgence or as a way to kick start a fine weekend.
Coffee has been around for so long that it seems that there is little to no room for innovation. For the coffee purist, there would seem little to be no need to do so, but for shops looking to bring in more customers, the next big thing is a priority. FOOM Coffee, also known as BakeWorks, has settled on an interesting trend – charcoal lattes.
It’s safe to say that cocktails have taken Xi’an by storm. There are more cocktail bars than any one person would be able to visit, and there are new bars opening all the time, even as older bars close. But even with the vast variety, bars can sometimes start to feel…generic. It’s always the same drinks, mixed in very similar ways, without out much in the way of theme or originality. It’s often that I walk into a bar and recognize every single drink, and every single bottle on the wall. So, it takes something unique to impress me.
As the National Games are approaching soon, I thought it best to include a recipe for this month’s issue focusing on shared food.
Many of us think of a fondue being made and served in a pot, however, the vehicle of choice here is an entire loaf of bread that’s been disemboweled and stuffed with cheese. The inner bits removed are torn into chunks, anointed with olive oil and baked in a hot oven until crispy. These bronzed morsels are used to dip into the fondue. This is an ideal oozing, gooey pull-apart treat that’s great for sharing whilst watching the games and certainly a crowd pleaser.
Diets are one of those things that everyone loves, and hates, to talk about. Many of us are on one, or have some kind of dietary restrictions for tons of different reasons. A lot of people also love to have a nice drink; a cocktail here or there to take the edge off. And being knowledgeable about drinks, people often come to me with questions or request about drinks they can have while sticking to their diet. It’s tricky trying to balance both of those lives. I wanted to make an article to help people figure out how to drink responsibly (for their health, the rest is on you). It would be super easy to list a bunch of low-carb, sugar-free, healthy cocktails but you could easily look up list after list of these. I figured, as someone who knows craft cocktails, I could give you some techniques and tips on how to make your own drinks suitable to your diet. So, let’s dive right in.
Sometimes it feels like there is nothing new to do in Xi’an. Our casual routines and set patterns lead inevitably to a sense of boredom that can feel difficult to overcome. However, there is more going on in and around Xi’an than most people realize, and it would be a shame not to give the different activities happening around the city a shot, even if it is just to temporarily relieve the ennui. Since the National Games are now upon us, we decided to pick out a few different sports-based activities that you can try out in Xi’an.
Shuyuan Men is an area of Xi’an located just inside of the South Gate, running along for a few hundred meters until eventually terminating close to the Forest of Steles near Wenchang Gate. This area is often visited by tourists, who come looking to pick up some trinkets or calligraphy – something to take home that looks like it has some cultural value. And, indeed, Shuyuan has become the home of some of Xi’an’s various artists, especially those that specialize in the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy.
Money and budgeting is one of the things on most people’s minds. Whether it is due to a change a of jobs when the income is tight, or whether you are just trying to save as much as possible to send back home, many people will reach times when they need to pull down on the purse strings and really save some money. So all of this begs the question, how much does it cost to live minimally in Xi’an.
As many ultra-endurance races got postponed this year and travelling is still very complicated, expensive, and includes many risks, me and some friends decided to set up our own challenge here in China. We came up with the idea to cycle along the Great Wall from west to east and called it Great Wall Ride (GWR).
I took the train with my bike and met my friends from Beijing in Jiuquan, who flew there. Whenever possible I prefer to take the train over a flight, because I rather carry/handle my bike myself rather than trusting airlines with it. Once we had met up, we were ready to begin the trip.
