Photos: Suzy

Quite the tights.

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Photos: Suzy

Here is yet another winterly sweater on this assistant of photographer and creative Übermensch 223.

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Cola first appeared on Stylites four years ago – in fact he was one of the earliest people to appear on this blog.  At that time he was working in a little shop in 3.3 that sold some rather interesting menswear.  Now, he is one of the owners of the first Initial Fashion boutique that just opened on Nanluoguxiang.

I commented that it was a surprising location for a fashion brand like Initial given the somewhat down-market or touristy nature of much of the other retail on this famous lane.  Cola responded that they wanted to be in a place redolent of Beijing’s traditional culture in keeping with the design of this specific shop.  The theme of the next Beijing shop, which will be  at Joy City mall in Xidan, will reflect that location.  Aside from the Beijing outlet, the brand has five shops in Shanghai, each with a different theme.

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Photographed two years ago on Stylites, Cecaa’s brand, Mon Cheri, has recently grown into something more major.  He was at the Initial Fashion opening party.  The first shop of this Hong Kong brand in Beijing is on tourist-overrun Nanluoguxiang, a somewhat unexpected location for such a hip shop.

Here is PR executive Tina at Wuhao, which may have the very most attractive setting of any concept shop in the world.

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This couple that runs a fashion boutique in Jinan, Shandong Province, were in Beijing for Chinese New Year Holiday.  Despite warmer weather, the last week has not been terribly stylish in Beijing as the streets have been dominated by tourists.

这对儿山东济南的服装商店老板春节来北京旅游。这个星期潮人特少－到处都是游客。

Tourists from other parts of China are finding a souvenir that is helpful in Beijing’s cold winter. This Shanghaier just bought her hat the day before.

外地游客最近喜欢麦这样的帽子。

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Though I wouldn’t even notice a guy like this in a Western city, he really stood out in the hutongs.  More bicyclists like this visiting professor would be nice.

在西方的城市遇到这样穿衣的人并不会太让人在意，但在北京的胡同里他变得还挺特别的。希望会有更多骑自行车的人如此着装。

This old lady has lived at Nanluoguxiang #12 for 60 years since arriving in her twenties.  She thinks things have been going down hill rapidly on the street over the last two to three years. She doesn’t like the crowds.  ”The number of people is great, but the amount they spend is not,” she says. People born after 1980 are not favorites either.  They are rude when asking for directions, omitting “excuse me”, and always walk around the street eating.  None of this happened at the time of Mao.

这个奶奶在南锣鼓巷12号住已经有60年。她的观点有点悲观，觉得近几年中这条街在快速地恶化。我问她商业化是否促进了经济发展，她反而觉得人“来的多，买的少”。还有，她对八九十后的人特有意见，说他们问路的时候不会说“请问”或者“谢谢”，并且总是边走边吃。她还说了，毛主席的时候大家更有素质。

China Auto Pictorial had me find a few stylish people around Nanluoguxiang and take pictures of them with this Ferarri Enzo.  Check out their August issue!

Unsurprisingly, I not only do not own a car, but also actively oppose the auto culture which so perverted the landscape of the United States and is now making life in Beijing more and more unbearable.  My thoughts are similar to the editor who assisted me on this.  Of course the issue is more complicated than just saying “I oppose cars”.   I also thought it would be proper to acknowledge here China’s status as the world’s newest and potentially greatest Automobile Kingdom.

This hipster above is one who did not actually appear in the magazine.  Below are the ones who did.

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I encountered this lovely young cartoonist on Nanluoguxiang.  She is actually a local Beijinger.

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This fellow is a freelance photographer for Modern Weekly and other publications.

虽然看起来很普通，但这个穿着有一些值得学习的地方。

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Ces, who appeared last year on Stylites, is an editor at Chinese Men’s Uno.  He was walking at a very leisurely pace down Nanluoguxiang.  This is his blog.

Ziggy is a fashion design student at Qinghua.

Visiting from Shanghai, Esta works in event planning and most enjoys shopping at fabric markets.

从上海来的Esta做的是活动策划。她最喜欢在布料市场购物。

This young graphic designer sits in this chair outside of Ruxi nearly every day, often with a bottle of beer.  He hasn’t been able to find a job for around three months.  Over the last few nights, he has partied till every sunrise.  Does that qualify as a life of leisure?

These hutongs are making her feel brand new.  And being somebody in the China City is almost as good as being somebody in the World City.  Sylvia is just in from Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi province, and is planning to live here permanently perhaps working in a magazine.

从江西省省会南昌来的Sylvia觉的到了北京以后让她感觉焕然一新，这个新的城市给她朝气，可以给她站在世界舞台上的机会。她准备在这个新的城市里面做出自己的一番事业，她的目标？杂志社～

She had several lackeys photographing her on Nanluoguxiang.  I joined in.  She is a makeup artist.

Probably best known by foreigners at least for its appearance in 希望（xiwang – to wish/hope for), the character 希 means “rare” or “infrequent”.

看到这个字外国人肯定会马上想到“希望”。