Mandarin Immersion (Part 3)

This entry is part 3 of 40 in the series Mandarin Immersion

May 17, 2023

Mandarin Immersion (Part 3)

By Simon J. Lau

I visited Beijing’s 798 Art Zone. I’ve been to 798 before, but after learning more about it from my Chinese language book, I wanted to visit again. Previously, it was a military industrial park. After it was decommissioned, a thriving artist community took over.

I visited with my friend and former Twitter coworker, David. David grew up in Beijing and was in town, so he graciously showed me around. Inside 798, we saw the art district’s first AR/VR installation, and enjoyed some traditional Beijing and Manchurian cuisine.

We also visited Shougang, a former steel factory that recently hosted Beijing’s 2022 Olympics ski jump. Many of the large industrial furnaces remain, but other parts have been redeveloped. There are now a lot of new commercial spaces, including offices and a large mall.

Inside the mall, the first floor mainly housed EV dealerships. It’s a thing in China. We spoke with a few dealerships, including China’s current flagship EV manufacturer, NIO, and others. Huawei, the cellphone manufacturer, even sold EVs! To my surprise, NIO was excellent!

Finally, I tried to visit the famous Wangfujing pedestrian walkway for street food. Unfortunately, the street food scene shut down during COVID, and it never came back. You can still see the remnants of street food inside nearby food courts, but it’s just not the same! 😭