By Jackie Zhang/He Jianwei (Beijing Today)
Updated: 2008-05-05 14:02

Interesting owners

**Xiao Baozhen, Beijing Today Art Museum employee

Luckily for me, there is a commercial street beside our museum. When I feel exhausted, I just go out and roam the street. Only some of the stores are open, and the place is not so popular, so it is a quiet and a peaceful place to relax.

On the west side of the street is FakeSpace, an exhibition room for young and avant-garde international artists. The space, opened last summer, is owned by a couple, Meng Jin and Fang Er.

Meng Jin is from the Chinese mainland and Fang Er is from Taiwan Province. Both are designers and artists and interested in graffiti.

They met in London, where they were studying the conditions of graffiti in London, Berlin and other European cities for three years. They made a book on graffiti in 2005, which is the first book written on the topic in Chinese.

The space was founded by FakeDesign Studio, which was set up by Fang Er in London in 2000. Meng joined in 2004 as an artist.

Their Beijing location has two floors. They kept everything in its original state and will not decorate the walls in their space. They are always glad to introduce their friends to me, and treat me with the green tea and desserts from Fang's hometown. On the east side of the street is a coffee bar. I firstly was attracted by the name of the coffee bar: Unconditional Love Coffee.

The owner is Lawrence Chen, who studied how to make coffee in the US for four years.

When he learned to make coffee in the US, one of his friends made a cocktail called "Unconitional Love." He could not forget the taste of the cocktail and named his coffee bar after his friend's cocktail. It is astonishing that the bartenders do not have salaries in the bar. They learned how to make coffee and cocktails from Chen. They said Chen is experienced in making coffee, and his coffee is quite different from the others you can get in Beijing.

The atmosphere of the coffee bar is dark red, which is not dull, but serene. Chen said he wanted to bring not only the typical American coffee, but American culture to China.

For 20 to 50 yuan's worth of coffe, I can sit in the bar and listen to the latest American music, including hip hop and Jazz.

Fake Space

Where: Room 111, Building 3B, Pinggod, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 5826 4512

Unconditional Love Coffee

Where: 3-A-110, Pinggod North, 3, 32 Baiziwan Lu, Chaoyang District

Tel: 5826 3652

Cost before environment

**Jane Sui, freelancer

Most of my money is spent buying clothes. The markets opposite the Beijing Zoo are great places to shop, as long as you don't mind noise and crowds. Although there are always crowds of people in the market, it is really an ideal place for shopping, and you can find almost every style of clothing. As long as you have enough time, you can spend a whole day here. Another advantage is that you can bargain with the vendors. Many clothes sold in stores are expensive, but they are actually bought from the markets and then sold at high prices. One shortcoming of buying clothes in the markets is you cannot usually try them on.

The Yan Sha Outlets shopping center on east Fourth Ring Road is where I usually go to for famous brands at low prices. There are several areas in the center with different brands. Everything is sold cheap, so if you like famous brands, then go there.

In my spare time, I like to eat vegetable dishes. A restaurant named Xiangyangxiaozhu at Meishuguan Hou Jie is quiet and clean. The interior decorations are simple, and the fragrant candles on each table give you a cozy feeling.

Clothes markets

Where: opposite to the Beijing Zoo, Xizhimen Wai Dajie, Xicheng District

Yan Sha Outlets

Where: 9, Dongsihuan Nan Lu

Tel: 6739 5678, 6739 5803

Xiangyangxiaozhu Restaurant

Where: Meishuguan Hou Jie, Dongcheng District, opposite to Beijing Neimenggu Hotel

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