2018 in review: 34 things you probably forgot happened

Image: @kodai_kubota via Instagram

From pollution news to Shaquille O'Neal, 2018 had it all

2018, a year of ground-breaking films, the Russian football World Cup, ten years on from the Beijing Summer Olympics, a raft of openings and closures in Beijing's transient F&B scene, fast trains to Hong Kong, and so much more. Whether your 2018 squared up to be one of the best, worst or most normal years of your life, all of us here at Time Out Beijing hope it was a happy and healthy one.

Forgot the highlights? Here's just a few of the things that happened this past year.

January

         

China Eastern and Hainan airlines allowed passengers to use their smartphones and other small portable electronic devices throughout the whole flight.

According to the lead researcher Cao Junji, the 100-metre high experimental smog-sucking tower produces more than 10 million cubic metres of clean air a day and has an effective area of about 10 square kilometres.

February

         

The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Chinese Cities Livability Development Index Report ranked us two spots behind Shenzhen – and one place behind Shanghai.

Though only classified as 'light' (4-4.9 magnitude) on the Richter scale, Langfang's earthquake was felt 65 kilometres away in Beijing, Tianjin and even as far as Tanggu.

In February, researchers at Beijing's Chinese Academy of Sciences unveiled the design for a new supersonic jet capable of reaching speeds of up to 6,000km/h – five times the speed of sound.

March

         

Titans of the Wudaokou student bar scene, Lush and Pyro Pizza, were temporarily forced to limit the number of foreign customers to 10 at any one time during the National People's Congress, threatening the very fabric of student existence and creating a serious risk of some actual study being done.

Revelations of sexual harassment in Hollywood and the subsequent #MeToo movement brought the world’s attention to what most of us already knew: gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence are endemic, normalised and blind to distinctions of colour, class or wealth. To find out what the situation was like in Beijing specifically, we asked Time Out readers about their experiences.

For the third year in a row, Beijing nabbed the top spot as the city with the most high-rollers, with 131 billionaires calling the capital home (an increase of 37 billionaires since last year).

April

         

Spring time in Beijing means one thing: the arrival of willow catkins. Aka, catkin-ageddon. Enacting a no-child policy back in April, the Beijing Municipal Landscape and Forestry Bureau announced plans to treat over 300,000 female willow trees by injecting them with hormone inhibitors to prevent the flowering process.

In April, users of iPhone 6s and newer models, as well as Apple Watch Series 1 to 3, could start linking their devices to Beijing Metro cards and swipe them to enter subway turnstiles – making lost and forgotten metro cards a thing of the past.

In a bid to 'improve the international language environment' of Beijing, local authorities began enlisting volunteers to spot mistranslations and incorrect signage in Jinrongjie and the CBD.

An April installation at London's Somerset House featured 'pollution pods' where visitors were able to breathe in Beijing levels of smog, along with air from Tautra (Norway), London, New Delhi and São Paulo. Hm.

May

         

Few Beijing bars – none, it could be argued – have known the sustained success, accolades and perpetual Monday-to-Sunday buzz that Xingfucun's Great Leap Brewing #12 has had since it first opened its doors in 2012, and its abrupt closure sent ripples through Beijing.

In a 2018 study published by the Hurun Report, it was revealed that Beijing is home to the most unicorns in the world (start-ups valued at over 1 billion USD, not the mythical animals sadly).

Previously just a small post at the 258 Maizidian Electronics Market, which – as is now Beijing tradition – was closed indefinitely earlier this year, May saw the launch of The Bulk House's first official brick-and-mortar shop in Gulou.

June

         

In June, Beijing cranked the thermometer to the highest temperature seen in the city up till that point of 2018, maxing out somewhere between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius. (That's as high as 106 Fahrenheit to you Americans out there, and 314 Kelvin to the scientists among you.) Our editors took to the books to find out why.

Under his pumped-up guise of DJ Diesel, the NBA legend unexpectedly headed to One Third in June to slam-dunk euphoric EDM into our ear drums.

July

         

In a city well-known for brickenings, it came as depressingly familiar news to hear of the planned demolition of galleries in Beijing's Caochangdi art district. Among those affected were X Gallery and the Hong Kong-based De Sarthe Gallery. Others in the art district remained safe, but an air of uncertainty hung around like a 400 AQI smog layer. 

Spanning approximately 1,000 square metres, this three-storey behemoth doesn't just serve coffee, but tea and booze as well.

In what was exciting news for Canadians, doughnut lovers and, particularly, Canadian doughnut lovers, beloved slinger of coffees and baked goods Tim Hortons announced plans to open more than 1,500 branches across China within the next ten years.

August

         

Ten years on, we looked back at Olympic Games that changed Beijing and its sizeable legacy.

In collaboration with the China Foundation for Cultural Heritage Conservation (CFCHC) and experts from Wuhan University, tech giant Intel began using drones to carry out aerial inspections of Jiankou, using the collected images to create a true-to-life 3D digital replica, which preservationists can use to map out damage on the wall.

September

         

If you've ever wanted to get to Hong Kong slower than usual, enjoy taking the scenic route, or have a fear of flying, this speed (?) train will get you from Beijing West to West Kowloon in just eight hours.

In September, the Dongcheng Sanitation Bureau announced an ambitious, nay, momentous project boldly titled the 'Toilet Revolution 2018', which began work to install automated dispensers in as many as 200 public toilets by the end of the year, with 1,325 to be kitted out and catapulted into the new era within the next three years.

The ride-sharing and taxi booking app suspended its post-11pm services for a week in September in response to heavy scrutiny of its safety measures.

October

         

Golden Week, that annual week-long holiday synonymous with record-breaking numbers of travellers, did it again with over 500 million domestic travellers visiting China's biggest attractions.

According to stats released by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, our fine city saw a 16.7 percent drop in PM 2.5 density during the first three quarters of 2018. While this decline was to 50 micrograms per cubic metre – still above recommended levels – there was also a reported average density of just 35 micrograms per cubic metre in January, August and September, apparently the best recorded densities to date. Woo.

The unofficial Eighth Wonder of the World (according to us), Beijing World Park celebrated its birthday after 25 years of exhibiting scaled-down versions of 109 of the world's most famous landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower and Taj Mahal.

November

         

As reported by The Beijing News, the capital's autumn began on September 16, but winter came and blew out autumn's flame on October 30. That 44-day autumn meant we clocked out seven days short of Beijing's 51-day average.

Bite by Callus opened a pop-up on Sanlitun Bar Street, and quickly caused a stir due to its priced-up sweet potatoes, served in what you might describe as 'vintage Americana incarceration chic' surroundings.

Not really news, per se, but in November we were enrapt with British mapping and transit enthusiast Alastair Carr's alternative London Tube map which saw Beijing's subway layout superimposed onto London. A fascinating hypothetical for all map nerds.

December

         

Closing out 2018 on a high, Great Leap Brewing opened its long-awaited Lido brewpub after the closure of #12 back in May. The new space sees a whopping 40-seater central bar, and table space for another hundred or so, plus an expansion to 30 different beer taps, featuring a line-up of their classic crafts and rotating draughts, including space for nine guest beers from across the world.

The first of its kind, Shanghai-founded app Qmmunity is a platform for people from the LGBTQ+ community to connect with queer business owners and individuals for professional and networking purposes.

Offering what they say will be a neighbourhood-friendly, laid-back vibe, the taproom will be hidden, yet not so hidden – because it's right next to Dengshikou subway station – amongst the hutongs of downtown Beijing, harking back to their sadly lost Dongsibatiao location.

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