Pick up your August issue of beijingkids, back with a brand new name and a DIY primer on hosting your own Summer Games. Cecily Huang tracks down the flying gymnasts in our midst, Amani Zhang goes behind the scenes with Beijing’s littlest soccer champs and Donna Scaramastra Gorman dives into the sports vs. studying debate. We trek to Qianmen for shadow puppets and underground tunnels and learn how to make sidewalk chalk from scratch. Elsewhere in the magazine, Caitlin Manicom goes horseback riding in Chaoyang, while Martin Adams looks back on his first year of as a Beijing baba.

In this month’s Urbane, distributed concurrently with the city’s explosive self-exhibition, we reflect on the shape of the “New” metropolis. Our August mega-feature, made up of six essays, explores the city that greets the world this month. From Old Beijing, Green Beijing, and Beijing TV to addressing the question of what will happen to the city after the Games, One Dream Beijing Infinity offers an in-depth snapshot of the New Beijing that has evolved before our eyes.
We also go behind the scenes of the Beijing Games image-making machine, into the design workshop at CAFA (China Academy of Fine Arts) with Olympic designer Wang Jie in our designer Spotlight, as well as the mastermind of this Games’ design, Wang Min, in our second feature. What was the creative process behind the Olympic banners, logos and emblems blitzing the city from every angle? Read on.

August’s issue of the Beijinger is out! And to celebrate, armies of journalists, the world’s finest athletes, thousands of tourists, and heads of state from around the globe have descended on our fair city. They might even stick around for the Olympics. If they do, they can find all the information they could possibly need in our latest issue - the best places to watch the Games if you haven’t tickets, and, for those have, things to keep in mind when you go to the venues. Of course, the Olympics aren’t just about sport - they’re a celebration of humanity and getting wildly drunk at every opportunity. Adriane Quinlan gives her tips on the best international houses where you can go and raise a glass to the Games, while Matt P. Jager recommends bars that will offer some respite from the Olympic bedlam. Likewise Venus Lau reminds visitors that the Beijing art scene isn’t all about 798 and Eric Mendel previews the top concert events for August.
All this, plus athlete interviews, comprehensive Olympic listings, and the lowdown on what the top athletes will be wearing - and eating - as they go for gold.
Let the Games begin!

The latest issue of agenda is our first of two covering the Olympics - for these issues, our focus remains providing the best restaurant, nightlife and shopping recommendations, but we couldn’t ignore the summer’s main event. For visitors and regular readers who are following the Games, then, we’ve given a chunk of our event listings over to comprehensive Olympic schedules, with full venue addresses and an Olympic map pointing you in the direction of the venues. In our regular sections, meanwhile, we’ve got a roundup of Beijing duck restaurants, a quick tour of the breadth of dining options available in Beijing, tips on bargaining courtesy of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, interviews with master chef Brian McKenna of Blu Lobster and ChinaDoll’s Ai Wan, and much more besides!

Around Beijing, everything has gotten a touch up: new subway lines have opened, flowers everywhere, and just in time for the Olympics, Immersion Guides has updated its Beijing City Map. Perfect for tourists or residents, the Beijing City Map has all 29 downtown Olympic venues – from the Bird’s Nest to the Wukesong Baseball Field. After spectating, check out the best of Beijing’s dining and nightlife venues like food street Gui Jie (Ghost Street) and Houhai’s best hutong chill spot, Bed Bar and much more. For visitors, the city’s best sightseeing spots both touristy and deserted are included. After watching ping pong at Peking University Gym, head to the Big Bell Temple or the Park of Yuanmingyuan Ruins also known as the Old Summer Palace. In addition, this updated map includes all of the city’s historic neighborhoods - perfect for those who just love to take to the streets of a new city. Finally, before you head home, take a gander at Beijing’s shopping meccas - the Hongqiao Pearl Market, Silk Market, and Panjiayuan Antique Market. Wherever you’re going, keep the Beijing City Map handy!

“The Insider‘s Guide to Beijing rates as one of the best, new, imaginative and informative guidebooks in a long time.”
—South China Morning Post
“The Insider‘s Guide to Beijing is the guide book every long-term laowai [foreigner] wishes was around when they came to Beijing, and the one anyone new to the city will come to rely on as their Beijing Bible.”
—Beijing Today
“Whether you plan to move to the Middle Kingdom, want to make the most of a weekend getaway or simply impress dinner guests with your knowledge, then you should seek out this book ... [its] scope is much wider than that of Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, et al.”
—Hong Kong Standard Weekend

This is the guidebook other guidebooks wish they could be. We tell you what's happening right here, right now, all over Beijing, because ... we live here. So do our 40 specialist contributors.

With this book, you'll learn which songs will melt hearts in a Beijing karaoke bar, who has the best deal on antique furniture, how to take your landlord to court, and what Mandarin language program is for you. Along with all this wisdom goes the wit that has become the trademark of the Insider's Guide to Beijing over the years.

Fully updated for the countdown to the 2008 Olympics, crammed with listings of hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants, lavishly illustrated with the work of the Chinese capital’s best photographers, the Insider's Guide to Beijing is indispensable for residents and tourists alike.

Stop looking for the key to the city. You’re holding it in your hand.

Selected press attention:
· Two of our editors contributed to this Guardian (UK) article "Tale of Two Cities" on Beijing and Shanghai
· Review on Beijing-Visitor.com (scroll down to the third entry on the page)
· Mentioned in Danwei.org's China Book Roundup of 2007
· Review in China Daily