Year in Review: Our Hottest Blogs of 2021
The year 2021 has been filled with twists and turns, making us all the more ready to bid it farewell. But Beijing wasn’t a too bad of a place to spend the year, so in 2021 Year in Review, we’re taking a look back at the best and worst of times in the capital from this year that was.
With just one day to go before the year wraps up for good, it’s time to take a look at the hottest, most viral Beijinger blogs of 2021. Although Beijing managed to escape the virus-related tumult that characterized 2020 (those who have cancelled winter holiday plans due to Beijing's current tight entry restrictions may disagree with this...) many of our most-viewed blogs were ones related to COVID-19. With the exception of vaccine-related content, we've decided to skip the Covid reminiscing and stick to the other hottest stories of the year.
Vaccines officially rolled out for foreigners
On Mar 26, Beijing's Foreign Affairs
Office finally announced plans to make Chinese-made vaccines available
for foreigners. While the timeline for the rollout wasn't specifically
announced at the time, since then, foreigners across Beijing have been
once, twice, three times vaccinated. And this is really no surprise. On
Mar 26 we conducted a small poll to find out how foreigners felt about
getting the Chinese vaccine, and of 676 respondents, 64 percent said
they planned to take the Chinese vaccine immediately. Read the original article here.
How to apply for a Covid vaccine passport in Beijing
Once double jabbed, many people started
to wonder what kind of internationally recognised paperwork (if any)
would be available. It turned out that here in Beijing it’s easy to get
an International Vaccine Passport, even if you're a foreigner! Nicola
Licata visited the Beijing International Travel Health Center in Hepingli
(the same place you go to do visa application health checks) who laid
out the process step-by-step, so you can get one too. Read the original article here.
12 Beijing-centric WeChat groups you need in your life
Look, whether you like it or not, WeChat
is an unavoidable part of living in Beijing, so why not use it to make
life easier? Joining niche WeChat groups can do just that by giving you
tips and tricks, recommendations, and more for the things you're
interested in. We here at the Beijinger can vouch for the 12 groups in
this popular blog post – they’re all moderated and we personally do our
best to keep them spam- and clutter-free. Find out all about the groups here.
Why the bathroom in your Chinese apartment smells so awful (and how to fix it)
It really is the eternal China
apartment-related question: Why does my bathroom always smell so bad?
This year, not only did we find out why, we also gave you some
handy-dandy, Taobao-accessible solutions to fix it. Read the original article here.
What's in a Beijing sandstorm?
Sandstorms are an unfortunate part of
Beijing life, and while you may know how to spot one (yellow air,
anyone?), do you know what's actually in one? When a particularly gnarly
sandstorm gripped the capital earlier this year, we decided to look
into what causes sandstorms, whether they are really just sand, and what
they mean for our health as Beijing residents. Read the original article here.
When the Kris Wu scandal became a civil case
This year saw an unusual amount of
celebrity scandals in China, involving everything from tax evasion to
soliciting, but no scandal created more column inches than the sexual
assault and date rape allegations made against pop star Kris Wu. In
July, a Beijing police investigation found that Wu had had sexual
relations with an accuser surnamed Du, despite his previous denial. Wu
was later formally arrested on suspicion of rape in August. Read the original article here.
READ: 2021 Year in Review: New Restaurant Openings
Images: Nicola Licata, CDC (via Unsplash), Adem Ay (via Unsplash), Anna Pellerin-Hartley
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