We missed the stage, the live singing, the music making, the camaraderie. And we take it back with all our heart and hard work! As much as I’ve missed being on stage conducting, I enjoyed tonight so much more meaningfully, watching every single one of you performed the fruits of your labor over the past couple of months. Thank you for the music, the passion and the warmth of choristers I’ve not felt for a very long time. (Tks to you covid19 and for the last time, virtual choirs are nothing but a lesser substitute for the real thing 😉) #livesingingonly #chorusinconcert #sloadultchorus 📸: @gena.pp

Have always associated @fifty_tales with excellent noodles - minimally but meaningfully prepared - so it was no surprise that we enjoyed their Cincai Dinner very much. Tried all items on this week’s menu and our favourites were the special glazed spring chicken and Spencer’s eggplant with nam yu dipping. This menu is available ala carte from 5pm from Friday to Sunday, but must be preordered at least a day ahead via their WhatsApp or Instagram 🍽✨

[Beijing] Retirement can be fulfilling too, look at these seniors who are spending their time in the Beihai Park meaningfully, many of them are either dancing or singing with their friends in the pavilion, and there are those who are like this lady who practice water calligraphy. Mdm Li used to be a factory worker and had nothing much to do after retirement, so she started coming to the park with a pail of water and a long brush. “This is called di shu (地书) and calligraphy expresses both the writer’s spirit (energy, temperament, aesthetic taste, personal inclinations, etc.) and the spirit of the times”, she told me. Indeed, such scenes are pretty common across China, and they usually write poems or proverbs with water as if it was ink. When the verse ends, the first characters are already diffuse. In this park, there are several water calligraphers. In the whole China, there are thousands. I noticed that Mdm Li was writing Lantingji xu (《兰亭集序》), one of the greatest calligraphy work written by well-known calligrapher Wang Xizhi (王羲之) from the East Jin Dynasty, she was also surprised that I know Lantingji Xu as I am a foreigner. Lantingji Xu is really one of the masterpiece in China’s arts history, Emperor Taizong of Tang dynasty (唐太宗) like it so much and it was rumoured that the original calligraphy has been buried together in his mausoleum in Shaanxi. 📍Beijing, China. 中国北京。🇨🇳 . . . #china #beijing #forbiddencity #travelthroughthelenses #nonmainstream #ancientchina #travelgram #igchina #history #love #snow #seetheworld #bitesize #beijinger #chinese #chinesearchitecture #citygrammers #oldplaces #chinaexplorer #discoverchina #createexplore #beihaipark #instatravel #sihantravels #igdaily #instabeijing #notatourist #中国 #北京 #北海道