LUXE City Guide Beijing

When my cousin got married in April, he and his bride held two ceremonies: one in Taiwan for our family, and one a week later in Hong Kong for the bride’s. E and I took this opportunity to spend two weeks in Asia. We went to both weddings, then visited Beijing.

The wedding in Hong Kong was the more elaborate one, with a church ceremony and banquet for 200. My cousin asked if I would sing at the church, and I was honored to do so. He knew we were going to Beijing afterward, so as a small token of his appreciation, he gave me a slim yellow travel guide: The LUXE City Guide Beijing.

The LUXE Guide is more like a long, laminated accordion pamphlet than a book (extremely convenient for printing semiannual updated editions). Despite its booklet status however, the guide is packed with listings, according to the cover text, for “Shopping, Dining, and Lifestyle.” The cover also indicates that it is the “First Fabulous Edition.”

Fabulous indeed. This is a guide with exactly that attitude. The opening paragraph:

“Only got a few days in Maomaoland? Want no faff, no crap, just the best of the best? Well, clap your hands. LUXE entries are all hand-picked from the Lovely Tree so you’re always on the freeway to style. How snazzy is that? In this Forbidden City, nothing is forbidden anymore…”

I’m so not-fabulous that I don’t even know what half those words mean. I’m also not in the correct socio-economic stratus, apparently. In the overview section, there is a list of helpful hints that includes, “Avoid the use of public toilets like you would an evening with Steven Seagal,” and, “Have your concierge’s direct line at ALL times.” Useful tips indeed. We could see that the listings (without any price indications) were in the order of Grand Hyatts and Pearl Markets.

E and I couldn’t decide whether to laugh at the guide or sneer at it. I mean, the section following “Accomodations” is called “Goss.” What’s Goss?! We obviously don’t travel in the same circles as my cousin.

Ultimately, we did refer to the guide for dining options. We ended up eating in two of the recommended restaurants, but only after other friends seconded the recommendations and assured us we would not be taking out a home equity loan to eat a meal. One was called Li Qun, famous for its Peking Duck. The LUXE: “Stashed deep in an atmospheric hutong, this fave, family-run duck diner is not so much designed, as collapsed.” The other was Source, an exquisite Sechuan restaurant: “Superbly restored old hutong house with set menu, courtyard and very soigné crowd.” They were both excellent—maybe there is something to this book after all.

LUXE City Guide Beijing

tags: books book reviews travel guides Beijing China Luxe Guides