As the political, historical, and cultural center of China, Beijing has long been seen as the older, more traditional counterpart to Shanghai’s glamor and exoticism. But if you still believe that, you are missing out on everything this dynamic city has to offer. From innovative fashion designers to exciting swing dance nights and meditative modern tea ceremonies, the capital is an exercise in contradictions, ready to be laid bare by anyone who dares to venture off the beaten path. Forget everything you think you know about Beijing and discover the creativity, energy, and passion pulsing just beneath the surface.

Independent by design

What the Beijing fashion scene lacks in history, it makes up for with its voraciousness and eclectic flair. While global luxury brands like Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci are still de rigueur among the city’s label-conscious, there is a growing movement towards local pride and independent design.

Last year, Dutch-trained designer Hu Sheguang created a sensation at China Fashion Week by sending out models bedecked in gray padded cotton jackets inspired by his native Inner Mongolia. Bloggers and media outlets latched onto the garments’ kitschy floral lining, a print familiar to anyone who grew up in Dongbei (China’s northeast) during the 1980s. Hu is not alone in mining local influences. Fresh from top design schools like Parsons and Central Saint Martins, the next generation of Chinese designers is returning to its roots and setting up shop in the creative enclaves of Beijing and Shanghai. As their clients’ tastes evolve, their own inspirations become shaped and reshaped by the rapidly changing face of China.

Take Beijing-based Xander Zhou, for example. Drawing on his background in industrial design, the Dutch-trained designer marries unlikely shapes and colors to create functional but playful and often futuristic menswear collections. By contrast, Simon Gao’s architectural, largely monochromatic creations draw on Buddhist philosophy and Western tailoring techniques to evoke a new avant-garde, one informed by the past while forging decisively into the future.

One of the best places to discover up-and-coming designers is Brand New China (BNC), a retail store established by media mogul and fashion editor Hong Huang, who has been called “China’s answer to Oprah Winfrey and Anna Wintour.” Located in the swanky Taikoo Li North complex, BNC stocks the latest in clothing, accessories, and furniture by local designers like Alicia Lee, Bai Peng, Liu Qingyang, Vega Zaishi Wang, and more.

The forbidden city that can't stop dancing

Dance is woven into the history of China. The earliest record of the Chinese character for “dance” dates from the Bronze Age and from harvest dances to the dragon dances of the Lunar New Year, local dance traditions are alive and well. Group dancing, in particular, remains a popular pastime in Beijing. At parks and public spaces across the city, ranks of middle-aged women and retirees can be seen participating in guangchang wu (public square dancing) to contemporary or Communist-era music.

Unbeknownst to them, there is another revolution taking place in the city’s dance studios and cocktail bars among Beijing’s younger generations. Swing – a dance style originating in the American jazz culture of the 1920s to 1940s – has exploded onto the mainland, led in part by local groups like Swing Beijing. The emergence of swing is fuelled by the post-80s and 90s’ generations’ growing interest in foreign art forms and retro lifestyles, as evidenced by the many vintage stores dotting Gulou East Street and speakeasy-style bars popping up in the city’s trendiest neighborhoods.

Rejecting more conventional clubs in favor of good old-fashioned dancing and live music, Beijing’s young and hip are injecting their own culture into the mix by donning pin-curled hair, pearl strands, and qipao dresses inspired by the glamor and decadence of 1920s Shanghai. Try Modernista in Baochao Hutong for a packed swing dance and jazz band events calendar. Each year, there is even a Great Wall Swing Out every April where dancers can do the Lindy Hop on Beijing’s most famous landmark.

Twenty-first century tea appreciation

Tea is easy to find in Beijing, but learning how to truly appreciate intricacies and histories of the tea leaf – that is a luxury indeed. Eschew crowded markets in favor of modern teahouses, new bastions of a tradition whose mission is to bring more than 4,500 years of tea culture to a more worldly and discerning clientele.

At the beautifully tranquil and award-winning Green T. House, the meditative strains of guqin, a seven-string Chinese instrument, can be heard wafting through stunning minimalist halls washed in blocks of still colors – black, white, cream, and light green. Unlike most tea houses, Green T. House offers the chance to soothe one’s entire body in the beneficial properties of green tea. In one room, a revolutionary reimagining of a Tang Dynasty emperor’s bathhouse, a warm pool infused with green tea invites guests to soak and forget all their cares.

A highlight of Chinese tea culture is the gongfu tea ceremony, a highly ritualized event using preparation and presentation methods from Wuyi in Fujian and Chaoshan in Guangzhou. Local millennial guests may not be familiar with traditional tea ceremonies but Green T. House is helping pass on old traditions with private tea ceremonies using traditional tools and accessories such as a slatted tea table, a Yixing clay teapot, teacups, bowls, and a “tea pet” – a clay figurine of a boy, zodiac animal, or mythical creature that waste water is discarded over.

As night approaches, a spectacular transformation takes place at Long Jing, an airy venue in the heart of Sanlitun. By day, Long Jing is a modern teahouse that aims to bring tea culture to a new generation; by night, it becomes an upscale bar serving tea-infused cocktails such as the eponymous Long Jing, an aromatic concoction made of No. 3 London Dry Gin, Japanese shochu, and Dragon Well Green Tea from Hangzhou. With over 100 varieties of tea on the menu, there is something for everyone here.

So modern tea-drinkers are invited to go ahead, linger over their cups. Tea culture, old and new, is all about reflection, appreciation, and repose.

The serenely luxurious Rosewood Beijing is ideally located in the heart of the capital.