Specialty coffee and Beijing’s hutongs: A cultural fusion of East and West in China, 2023

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V7 Coffee, serving fantastic specialty coffee in Haidian district, Beijing, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro, JE Nilsson & E Sindhöj 2023

Having had the privilege of visiting Beijing on numerous occasions, I remain drawn to the Forbidden City, also known as the Palace Museum, despite the staggering modernization that has transformed this great city. The Palace’s imposing gates and striking red pavilions situated at the heart of Beijing never fail to impress me. Equally fascinating to me is the network of narrow streets and low houses surrounding the Forbidden City, known as “Hutongs.” Once the living quarters of those who worked in the palace, some Hutongs have been converted into commercial areas, while others remain residential neighborhoods.

During the Ming and Qing dynasties these quarters served as a mental relief to the even the highest ranked individuals inside the Forbidden City. Some eunuchs played a role in facilitating visits by imperial court members even to pleasure houses outside of the Forbidden City. These illicit visits were seen as a way for court members to escape the rigid protocols and constraints of palace life.

Even the Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908) sought help for his medical problems from those among the Hutongs that practiced traditional Chinese medicine towards the end of the Qing dynasty. It is said that his great-aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi, repeatedly tried to poison him due to irrevocable differences in their ideas about the future of China. In 1908 they eventually both died. The Guangxu emperor one day before Cixi, poisoned by arsenic.

With this in mind I set out to visit this maze of winding small roads and gray buildings in the area around the Forbidden City in late February 2023.

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Stalking Louis Vuitton since 2006

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Beijing, China, 2023

At the airport, on the day of departure, 7 March 2023, Beijing, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2023

There is almost no excuse anymore. I didn’t exactly chase down Louis Vuitton Maison Beijing that officially opened in Beijing China World Mall in Feb. of 2015. It is a beautiful flagship store designed by renowned architect Peter Marino. But, I did however, manage to capture this image, which made me really happy to have found Louis Vuitton, as I was on my way from Beijing back to Sweden, at the airport.

Louis Vuitton holds an endearing place in the hearts of many in China, where the luxury brand has lasted over 20 years. When in China, the conglomerate employs a multi-channel marketing approach that integrates digital and in-store services. It actively maintains a presence on several popular social media platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, Weibo, and Wechat. Leveraging these platforms to showcase its latest products, consumers are invited to new travel and luxury goods experiences. In acknowledgement that traditional retail stores continue to play a role in customer experiences, in 2022, LV decided to expand its physical footprint in China by launching new stores at Taiyang Taikoo Li in Chengdu and The Mixc in Fuzhou.

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Beijing, where tradition meets innovation

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One of my favourite city sights of Beijing, China, the CCTV Headquaters. Located in the Beijing Central Business District, this stunning 51 storied skysraper on East Third Ring Road was awarded the 2013 Best Tall Building Worldwide from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro & E Sindhöj 2023

My last visit to China was in 2019, to the cities of Shanghai, and Chengdu. Shanghai, located on the eastern coast of China, is the country’s largest city and a global financial hub and easily one of my favourite cities in China to visit. The city has a modern, cosmopolitan vibe, with glass walled skyscrapers, luxury shopping malls, and a trendy nightlife. Evening walks along the Bund and day time walks around the French Concession, offer glimpses into the city’s colonial past. Chengdu, located in southwest China, is memorable for its more relaxed city vibes and lifestyle, spicy cuisine, and adorable giant pandas. I have written about dining at its many traditional tea houses, meandering through its parks, and contemplating the symbolic architecture of its temples.

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A walk through scenic Kuanzhaixiangzi Alley, Chengdu, China 2019

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At Kuanzhaixiangzi Alley, Chengdu, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2019

I was expecting a Yuyuan street experience like that of Shanghai 2011, when I thought to visit Kuanzhaixiangzi Alley in Chengdu, China. But this was a different adventure of sorts. Cozy yet vibrant, visitors are greeted with beautiful architecture throughout the alleys. Located in proximity to Tianfu Square and Renmin Park a taxi ride will take just about ten minutes to Kuanzhaixiangzi Alley and what I think is one of the more scenic (historic-) urban areas in Chengdu.

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Chengdu by night, China 2019

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Night scene at the intersection of Shangdong Street and Chunxi Road, Chengdu, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2019

According to a World Economic Forum 2019 [1] article Chengdu is among 10 cities that the UN predicts will break the 10 million mark by 2030, bringing the global number of megacities to 43. About 55% of global population live in urban areas today, compared to the less than one-third of the global population living in urban areas in 1950. In one generation to come, the proportion of people living in cities is expected to grow by 68%, adding to our current already crowded cities.

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Morning skyline in Shanghai, China 2019

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Morning skyline in March 2019, Shanghai, China.
Text & Photo © CM Cordeiro 2019

I’ve often written that landing in Shanghai, China, feels as if I were coming back home. If there was a city in China that I have visited the most, it would be Shanghai. Between 2010 and 2014, I found myself almost annually in Shanghai for various work and study visits. It’s been about five years since I was in Shanghai and expectedly, the city has developed some, a morphing burgeon of its 1920s and 1930s personality from Paris of the East unto its own. I do not know how else to describe other than, it is, Shanghai, lacking nothing.

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Tea house and temple, Chengdu

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Served in the tea house, across the road from the Manjushri Monastery, Chengdu.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2015

The grounds of the Zhaojue Temple and the Manjushri Monastery are vast. In both temple grounds, one could easily make a small pilgrimage, pit stopping at the numerous separate buildings housing separate halls for different prayer or contemplation purposes. Continue reading “Tea house and temple, Chengdu” →

Calligraphy of Chengdu

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At Tianfu Square, the Sichuan Science and Technology Museum.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2015

As I walk along the street, my arms laden with books, a woman with a child in tow stop me to ask for directions, “Do you know how to get to Tianfu Square?” she said in Mandarin, without hint of any regional accent. “Yes, you go straight and then take a left up ahead. Just follow this road.” I replied. As soon as I turned my attention from her to continue walking back to the hotel, the realization hit me that I, having spent less than a week in Chengdu city, China, was giving directions to a native of the land. I smiled and hoped that Tianfu Square was really where she was headed. I might have heard wrong. Continue reading “Calligraphy of Chengdu” →

Swan Lake, Chengdu

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Swan Lake, at the Chengdu research base for giant panda breeding.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro, Sweden 2015

The landscape of Chengdu, China, are said to have inspired poets from as far back as the Tang dynasty.

At Swan Lake, located within the compounds of the Chengdu panda research base, visitors will find more than pandas to sit and contemplate their hours. Some very hungry koi, a couple of black swans, and ducks, send ripples through the otherwise perfectly still cane coloured water reservoir. Continue reading “Swan Lake, Chengdu” →

Lujiazui by night, Shanghai

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro at Lujiazui, Shanghai 2011

Lujiazui by night. In the background, lit blue, the Oriental Pearl Tower.
Text and Photo © K Meeks and CM Cordeiro 2011

When in Shanghai, the last place I expected to find myself exploring come sundown is Lujiazui, the city’s financial district, as the more popular of nightspots would include Xintiandi or even the quieter street of Hengshanlu lined with all sorts of eateries from Turkish and Thai to Hunan cuisine.

Shanghai World Financial Center

Shanghai Word Financial Center (SWFC).

Still, walking down the pristinely clean streets of Lujiazui lit blue and orange from the surrounding buildings, called to mind the quiet of Raffles Place and Singapore’s very own Central Business District by night, where all at once, despite the glittering globes of the Oriental Pearl Tower in festive blue ahead, I couldn’t help but feel at home, thinking – this is Asia! – and how much I miss its vibes when living and working in Scandinavia. Continue reading “Lujiazui by night, Shanghai” →

Dim Sum that touches your heart, in Hong Kong

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Steamed eggyolk buns, dim sum or yam cha in Hong Kong.

Steamed egg yolk buns, New Star Restaurant, Hong Kong.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

I’ve far too often heard that Hong Kong has the best dim sum, so I was naturally excited about being in Hong Kong if only for the food.

But when in Hong Kong, like its so many shopping establishments, you’re confronted with so many eateries and interesting food choices that finding the recommended dim sum spots doesn’t even occur to you. You’ll find yourself pulled by interesting sights and smells to various foods on display, not the least amusing is watching people enjoy their meals standing at street corners, oblivious to heavy traffic not two feet from them. People stand and eat with the current rain on their shoulders, playfully dampening their fresh clothes and all of this plus the noise of the traffic and the rush of footsteps from others, makes you as a visitor want to get in on the act too – go completely local and tuck into some interesting food, standing in mud puddles and all.

Steamed meat dumplings, dim sum, Hong Kong.

Steamed meat dumplings.

Charsiew pau, dim sum, Hong Kong.

Char siew bao.

After the first rush of excitement and confusion with authentic Hong Kong cuisine, I set about to find the Guide Michelin star dim sum restaurant, Tim Ho Wan (添好運點心專門店) which means “Add Good Luck” at Tsui Yuen Mansion, Kwong Wa St, Mong Kok. The place is notoriously tiny in seating capacity and has been described as literally, a hole-in-wall place to eat. Well, suffice to say, without much planning this time around for Hong Kong and worse, without a map, I didn’t manage to find that place but ended up at New Star Seafood Restaurant along Stewart Road that, to my serendipitous discovery, had some truly awesome dim sum!
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Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong.

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Cheryl Marie Cordeiro at Avenue of Stars, Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong.

Along Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui’s Avenue of Stars (Chinese: 星光大道).
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

As you walk around Hong Kong, you realize that there are those who visit and who even do business in the country, but who never get involved, like a bystander that avoids the puddles when it rains, and then there are those who are living the very heartbeat of Hong Kong because they must.

Hong Kong Museum of Art, Tsim Sha Tsui, Victoria Harbour.

Hong Kong Museum of Art, flanks one end of Avenue of Stars along Victoria Harbour, Tsim Sha Tsui, providing visitors a perfect starting point for walking down the waterfront.

These two sides of the same coin is most poignantly illustrated at Tsim Sha Tsui, along Victoria Harbour that shows the two facets of Hong Kong still meeting in this day and age, one of old China and one of what is modern China demonstrated literally by two vessels of different times passing each other. It is at this waterfront that western savvy gathering in The Peninsula, Intercontinental and Shangri-La meet eastern traditional that is just a stone’s throw from the harbour, down from Nathan Road at Mong Kok’s street stalls and wet markets.

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Only in Hong Kong…

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Signboards along road, Hong Kong.

Information overload along the streets of Mong Kok, Hong Kong.
Photo © Cheryl Marie Cordeiro-Nilsson for CMC 2010

Characteristic of Hong Kong is the information overload that greets you along its busy streets, not only from signboards that hang abovehead, but by all the minute happenings along the street and around every street corner. From the movement of goods from van to store, to the bargaining for the best prices and the rush for buses, taxis and the MTR, it’s tempting to want to observe everything when you’re there. For a first time visitor, it’s perhaps sometimes easier if you just ignored for the most part, the things that happen around you in order not to feel overwhelmed by it all, for Hong Kong like Singapore with a sliver of difference, seems also a city that hardly sleeps.

These pictures were taken mostly in Mong Kok, Hong Kong, with the wet market scenes most familiar and heartwarming to me.
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A view of Shanghai

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Chopsticks, Shanghai, Kevin Dominic Cordeiro Photography

Photo © Kevin Dominic Cordeiro for Cheryl Marie Cordeiro 2010

The Shanghai Expo 2010 will open in just 3 days, running for 184 days (from 1 May to 31 October, 2010). When it comes to China, nothing is on a small scale these days if they can help it, just browsing the Events section of the Expo gives something to look forward to, from parades to song, dance, insights into the local food and culture.

The theme for this expo is “Better City, Better Life” and aims to bring awareness to and perhaps tackle the challenging issues that face global cities in the near future.

In this post, some pictures of Shanghai today, from food that includes century eggs to braised pork and chicken, to the clean modern lines of a hotel, a room on the 27th floor with a view over Shanghai.
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The Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III: arrival in Canton, China

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The Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg III: arrival in Canton July 2006, China

Photo for CMC © Jan-Erik Nilsson, 2007

The rebuilt replica of the first East Indiaman Gotheborg, the Gotheborg III has now made its old trade route trip around the world, from Sweden, around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa and up to Canton, China. On its way back from China, it touched base at Singapore earlier this year, where some of you might already have had a chance to view Her in Her majestic beauty. To me, she looks every bit belonging to the movie Pirates of the Caribbean where I can almost see Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm, albeit in the wrong flag colours.

The project was based on the excavation of the original East Indiaman Gotheborg which sat sail in early 1743 not to be heard of again before September 1745 when upon homecoming, She, with a huge crash, hit an underwater rock just outside the home harbour of Gothenburg and sank. The salvaging of the immensely valuable cargo of silk, tea and about 300,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain started immediately. This salvaging of lost treasures continued intermittently for centuries, since her foundering.
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