Explore the hutongs at Beijing Design Week 2017

Beijing Design Week's back, and better than ever

Everyone's favourite citywide celebration of innovative design and forward-thinking urban solutions is back for another year, and we've picked out a few of the showcase pieces we're most excited about. However, considering that Beijing Design Week draws its influences and motifs from the often chaotic nature of our beloved city, we feel that it is in the spirit of the event to recommend that you just head down to one or more of the central hubs scattered around town and just absorbing proceedings at your own pace.

Please note, these bits of Beijing Design Week 2017 are knocking around until next weekend, so pace yourself if you plan to take part.

Dashilar

Our pick: Urban Revival Pavilion

With its Instagram-ready red streamers hanging from the ceiling and focus on translating the lines of historical Beijing into modern, practical architecture, the Urban Revival Pavilion focuses on the mantra of 'Renewing the City, Empowering the Future'. Visitors are encouraged to listen to anecdotes from old-time residents of the area, muse on what a modern city needs to thrive and consider how aesthetics can lead to continuity between old and new solutions to the great conundrum that is urban living. Consider our minds officially blown.

This exhibit is part of what is perhaps the second largest design hub of the week (after D Park), so we'd make visiting Dashilar your top priority if you fancy dipping a toe into the wonderful world of city planning, fashion and design solutions.

The Yangmeizhu Flora Cottage makes us want to upcycle our rubbish to grow stuff, it's great.

While you're in the area, don't miss shopping for high-quality, design-led homeware at the White Bazaar and gorgeous selvedge denim at the 'Return to Forever' collaboration; trying out the hutong exercise routines shown at 'Soft Tissues' stations along Yangmeizhu Xiejie; Beijing Green Corridors 2020 for some environmentally-minded forward planning and enormous, crazy-cool maps; Smart Air's exhibition of cheap, innovative solutions to air pollution problems.

Nearest subway Qianmen, line 2.

Baitasi

Our pick: Baitasi Remade: Towards New Neighbourhoods

In the narrow maze of hutongs that is Baitasi, urban explorers and innovative solution-makers are currently laying down plans for the residential city of the future, some of which include some rather natty bits of coloured knitting (holler, Weaving Baitasi and your excellent bits of yarn bombing!). With their focus on organic, community-inclusive revitalisation as opposed to more straightforward but destructive regeneration, these designers have practiced what they preach by integrating their ideas into the hutong landscape, hiding them down secret nooks and crannies and generally making you work for your chance to see some of the most vibrant urban planning around right now.

Baitasi Remade is around until 8 October, so we'd pencil this one in for next weekend.

While you're in the area, don't miss White Light White Pagoda, an audiovisual fantasy of texture and the march of time helmed by key figures in the Beijing music scene. The iconic, blinding temple structure that acts as the central point of the hutong area is here transformed into both a literal and a metaphorical monolith, but we can guarantee you'll enjoy one of the performances of this piece even if you're more into loud music than symbolism.

Nearest subway Fuchengmen, line 2.

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