wanderlust posters

Wonderful Wanderlust graphic posters of  the 7 continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, South America, North America, Australia and Europe. I want! via JoshSpear

new gift trends: mini gardens

Growing gardens dioramas seems be a new trend: “Plant your love, let it grow” when you buy a pre-cut book and some seeds to plant your own garden. It’s certainly a great way of bringing the outside in and possibly a good DIY project. via my NanLuoGuXiang visit Similarly, have a look at Postcarden‘s cards: After setting up […]

old man playing Chinese chess

Randomly strolling through a neighborhood, I found some old men playing Chinese chess, as they often do in parks. I’m amazed at how active the Chinese are at old age, from dancing groups, martial arts, and card or chess games…all done in the local parks. I wonder about the stories they have to tell and […]

packaging: origami soap

Lovely! To coincide with its 20th birthday, Compagnie de Provence has added a substantial 180g version of its iconic vegetable soaps to the ranks. Each bar, made according to Marseille tradition from local natural ingredients, comes with a tiny instruction card so that once undone, its wrapper can be transformed into an ocean-inspired piece of […]

a sponge for your wine glasses

I’ve been aching to host a dinner party lately, but living in a space that’s 8ft x 10ft (2.4meters x 3meters) makes it a bit difficult! hahaha. Regardless, Wine Glass & Champagne Flute Sponges are a very practically designed for your post-dinner party cleaning! via SwissMiss

hang your umbrella here

This umbrella rack was in a restaurant to that keep your umbrella safe while you dine. Meeting a need:

this city needs a bike rental system

It’s been about 2 months since I’ve arrived in this sprawling city of Beijing. I find myself keeping quite active with exploring and meeting some great people. Though, I continually wish for a more walkable city and more manageable scale. I wonder how long it will take me to fully adjust, or if I will. […]

camouflage tree

Literally. Sooo… this IS a natural pattern! VERY COOL.

NanLuoGuXiang Hutong

A visit to NanLouGuXiang was great to see with all the small independent and creative shops. From the pottery to Tibetan yogurt and craftmanship items. It’s a shame to come across this article in the Beijinger noting the change in environment from an authentically developed ‘tourist attraction’ to one that will potentially be artificially enforced. […]

helveticards

Playing cards dedicated to no other typeface than Helvetica. So Swiss and so lovely. via CoolMaterial

capsule apartment

I thought my room was small; this is a very different lifestyle…! With space pressures increasing in Beijing, the first “capsule apartment” complex has now opened in China’s capital – and according to China Hush it’s found at least one tenant. China Hush reported the opening of the capsule complex in Liulangzhuang, Haidian, earlier this month. According to […]

street: metal breaks through concrete

A bit of history is peeping up under the pavement. I’m not sure what this metal tube is/was used for though. At first glance it looks like a trolly line or something, but of course the tracks would not look like this. Some sort of casing for wires..? I have no clue! Somehow it’s lovely […]

feeding my American food craving

Beef Noodles may not be an American original, but the hamburger sure is. Minimalistic packaging for take-away: And not a bad burger:

public toilet map

So smart to orient the map the same way the street is laid out! Proof that community living and communal bath houses and toilets are still used and needed, even in a ‘developed’ city like Beijing: I do wonder if this map is for locals or tourists, since it’s placed on a main street that currently […]

clever pottery: coffee mugs

A clever way to keep the spoon out of the way when trying to drink from your mug! (But does the handle of the spoon get wet from liquid dripping?) Lovely, regardless, for the novelty.

Beef Noodle King

It’s funny and insightful that the USA is used for reference when beef noodles are an original Chinese dish. California is apparently home to the beef noodle king. And here’s a Beijing location:

Cherry Blossoms

A few photos from YuYuanTan Park (玉渊潭公园) this weekend:

graphics + fashion: thething

Founded in 2005, a local Chinese graphics and t-shirt company called thething has some unique streetwear graphics. I like. Our goal is to design clothing and products that are innovative and aspirational, yet affordable. The inspiration for our designs comes from our daily lives and we try to infuse each product with a unique sense of style and […]