BB DAILY

Korean restaurant Saveurs de Coree will shift to a soju bar on a nightly basis, as of next week. Expect cocktails, infusions, Korean beers and snacks like fried chicken. More here.

Many know Lisa Zhuang from her near 20-year stint at The Den. She’s now working on new project Joe’s Bar, near the former D-One Sports on Gongti West. Look for Joe’s to open in four weeks. More details to come.

Q-Mex Taqueria is now open, with a lineup of tacos, Michelados, tequila and more. First-time visitors should try the coconut margarita. And chips and salsa. More on the new Q here.

Change of heart? | “China lawmaker wants ban on ‘American’ gesture during national anthem” — SCMP

Toy story | Transformers has fourth-biggest opening box office in China history — LA Times

Mussel power | “Every day, 25-year-old [Xinda Zhan] becomes ‘Pearl Bro’, a lively online presenter who runs a pearl shop on… Taobao.” — BBC

Air care | Pollution-fighting ‘green city’, with 1 million plants and 40,000 trees, in Guangxi. — Inhabitant

High speed | From Beijing to Shanghai, with 10 stops, in 5:45 on the “Fuxing” bullet train. — China Daily

Transfer East? | “Wayne Rooney and Diego Costa should consider moves to China if they leave Manchester United and Chelsea…” — goal.com

They were once fixtures at Flamme, Mao Mao Chong, The Brick, Louisiana, Starfish and other bars and restaurants in Beijing. But where are they now? See part one and part two of the Beijing bar diaspora series.

Read this Guardian piece. The author is one of many who visited North Korea but, unlike Otto Warmbier, returned safe. One of many, including me and you, who’ve done stupid things, gotten away with them, and later realized our luck.

Yet I see comments like ‘*I* wouldn’t have gone to North Korea’ or ‘*I* would’ve known the rules’, from people I’ve seen do stupid things, in China or elsewhere, that might well have led to prison, deportation or death.

If you have to side with North Korea or with a common humanity in which we all do things that usually have minor fallouts but on rare occasions end in extreme tragedy, I suggest the latter.

Bye-bye Chinglish: China issues national standard for public use of English. — People’s Daily

Quite a yarn | Human body embroidery: “Some even sew on their mouths.”— People’s Daily

Meat and greet | “China takes delivery of first shipments of American beef in 14 years.” Certain restrictions apply. — Reuters

Over pass? Rooftop driving school forced to close after photos posted. — SCMP

Mistress-Dispellers | “Yu, a gentle-looking man in his early forties, with the placid demeanor of a yoga instructor, works as a mistress dispeller…. His clients are women who hope to preserve their marriages by fending off what is known in Chinese as a xiao san, or “Little Third”…” — New Yorker

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Poutine is on the hot seat in Boston for what Canadians say are bad riffs on this dish. See here. In Beijing, 4 Corners did the real deal—cheese curds, gravy, fries, with a Montreal-style smoked meat twist—at CCBC’s Canada Day party. See this post for a party wrap-up.

Our drinking buddy at Q Bar this week.