When NLGX Design & Cafe opened its doors on March 1, 2008, we became the first completely smoke-free venue on Nanluoguxiang. According to recent news, it looks like we will have company by May!
After several months of rumors, the Beijing municipal government has announced that smoking will be banned in various public places, including restaurants, cafes, bars, hallways, elevators, and stadiums in an effort to promote a “smokeless Olympics”. Fines for those caught red handed, though, would only be RMB 50 for the smoker; to promote enforcement, the venue would be fined up to RMB 5000.
This follows the ban on smoking in Beijing taxis back in September 2007. While the ban on smoking in taxis has largely been successful, I highly doubt the new regulations will be as effective in restaurants, cafes, and bars. Even so, it’s a good try by the Beijing municipal government to adopt a no smoking policy for their “Green Olympics”.
According to government statistics, China is home to 350 million smokers, which is approximately one-third of all smokers worldwide. Get ready to see more cigarette butts on the sidewalks around Beijing!
Our shop in Nanluoguxiang, NLGX Design & Café, was reviewed in the April edition of Time Out Beijing magazine, and we were rated 5 out of a possible 6 stars! Click on the picture below to zoom in and read the review.
Starting today, we will be serving catered sandwiches and salads. Sandwiches are served on French bread and include: smoked salmon, tuna, curry chicken, and others. Salads include chicken Caesar, tuna, green salad, and others.
Come by, try them out, and let us know how you like them!
Hello all! We’ve gotten word from local neighborhood organizers of the first Nanluoguxiang Street Festival for 2008! This weekend will celebrate the Nanluoguxiang neighborhood with street vendors, live music, and potentially another hutong cat walk fashion show from our friends at Plastered. Make sure you save the dates for April 12 and 13!
Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted on the latest updates for the first Nanluoguxiang Street Festival of the year.
Here is an article from CRI about last year’s festival at Nanluoguxiang. Below is a picture from the first cultural festival at Nanluoguxiang back in 2006.
The Nanluoguxiang Street Festival has been postponed as of April 1st. We are awaiting word from the local government as to when the festival will take place. We will keep you posted, so stay tuned!
We are happy to have received our first shop review from a local Chinese publication called Modern Weekly Magazine (周末画报). A photographer and a journalist visited our store last week and interviewed Michel, our Creative Director, about our NLGX story and t-shirt designs.
Click on the image below to read from the article.
Just recently, we learned of a small bakery located out in Shunyi, a suburb of Beijing, called Bread of Life. Cheryl, the founder of Bread of Life Bakery offers a place for disabled orphans to learn the art of baking and a portion of the profits go to fund wheelchairs and other orthopedic equipment for children all over China.
We just ordered from them a batch of their carrot cake and an apple crumb pie, both of which are absolutely delicious and a reminder of classic American home-baking. Come over to try it out and support the kids!
Bread of Life Bakery offers homemade breads, cakes, and pies and delivers into Beijing city every Thursday morning. For more information, call Cheryl at 135-2019-1482 or 137 2262-2865, or visit their website by clicking on the logo below.
After 2.5 long months of preparation, we are extremely happy to have finally opened the doors to our NLGX Design & Cafe shop in Beijing’s old city area of Nanluoguxiang. This weekend we hosted old friends and new friends, and were lucky enough to be treated with the first warm weekend of 2008!
Thank you all for your support! Without you all, our first NLGX shop would not have been possible.
On March 8, 2008 we will finally open our doors to the public in our grand opening weekend! We welcome you all to join us on this exciting day as we officially join the vibrant community at Nanluoguxiang!
We will unveil our first batch of original designed apparel and our special NLGX blend coffee.
