by stylites -

A Negative Nainai悲观的奶奶

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。

by stylites -

Flea Market at Triple-Major

The first flea market on the roof of newly-opened boutique Triple Major attracted vendors, hipster shoppers, and at least a few fashion editors to charming Baochao Hutong, which is slightly northwest of the intersection between Gulou and Nanluoguxiang. The wares were a mix of well-preserved and high quality vintage brought back from abroad, low-priced new merchandise produced and purchased locally, and items worn by the former merchants themselves.

by stylites -

Pang Kuan Smashing an Apple Monitor

If the Creators Project had a climax, for me it was the smashing of an Apple monitor by Pang Kuan (庞宽), keyboardist and singer for New Pants, at the climax of the song “‘Sex, Drugs, Internet”. Judging by the visuals on the LED behind, the smashing had something to do with anger related to sex and the internet, but it seemed an ironic act at a project showcasing the meeting of design and technology. Though I like the music, the visuals were the main highlight of the show for me.

by stylites -

Ferarri Shoot for《中国汽车画报》

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.

by stylites -

A Kazakh Design Student

Astana, Kazakhstan, now has the world’s biggest tent, a city-within-a-city called Khan Shatyr. To celebrate the completion of this monumental edifice and the new global prominence of Kazakhstan’s frigid, futuristic capital, Stylites’ Liang Cheng interviewed Siko, a fashion student from Astana. In Beijing for six years, he is currently finishing his first year at Raffles Design Institute, majoring in fashion design.

Siko 来自哈萨克斯坦, 在北京已经6年，能讲一口流利的普通话。Siko在莱佛士设计学院学时装设计, 刚上完第一年的课程。

LC: What attracts you most about Beijing? And why did you choose to come here?

by stylites -

Retro’s Spokewoman 复古的代言人

Peipei and boyfriend Pang Kuan (the keyboardist for New Pants) own the shop on Nanluoguxiang called Bye Bye Disco and just opened a bar right off the street by the same name. They are actually having a series of after-parties there this weekend. I spoke with Pei Pei about her retro, the Nanluoguxiang area and other subjects.

NF: What are some of the changes you have seen recently in how young people dress?

孙配配跟男朋友庞宽（新裤子的钢琴家）开了一个小店在南锣鼓巷叫Bye Bye Disco。他们这个周末会开些party。我最近采访了她。

NF:看到哪些变化在年轻人穿着？
by stylites -

Red Brogue Girl

Amy is a retro kind of girl. She hopes to live in a courtyard nearby Nanluoguxiang and shops at the secondhand market. From Qingdao, she studied design in Beijing and now works as a designer at Wanda Place. I have a pair of red brogues just like hers except in suede.

梵米米在青岛出生，在北京学习设计，现在在做设计师。 她“偏爱具有时光感和魔术师风格的衣物，一般不看牌子 只选单品”。 她一般在外贸店和旧货市场买东西。现在她很想搬到平房住因为她很喜欢北京的老城。

by stylites -

Elegant Epicurean

In a vintage Prada hat, Robin Cheng is now based in Vancouver, but he used to live in Beijing.

Robin Cheng是个1/4德国血，3/4汉族的混血。原来在北京住过但现居温哥华。他喜欢“美酒美食，漂泊流浪。” 我问了他一些问题。

by stylites -

From Astana with Glam

Photographer Danara Battalova moved from Kazakhstan to Beijing in 2005 and says that living here has been “fun, especially the nightlife, but to be honest sometimes taxi drivers make me go mad.” Her favorite part of the city is 798. She says Kazakhs are more obsessed with labels than Chinese, who are often happy to hang around in public wearing pijamas.