Here are just a few reasons to pick up the latest issue of agenda:

Enter our competition to win tickets to see Kylie Minogue’s Dec 1 gig at the Workers’ Gymnasium

Save money on eating out and more with the great deals available in our new coupon page

Discover new openings including the Park Hyatt’s China Grill and China Bar, respectively Beijing’s highest restaurant and bar; Californian cuisine and luscious desserts at Tribute North; elegant Western dining at Yellowstone, and MGM, the latest Gongti West Gate club dedicated to overstated decor and the joys of Chivas and green tea.

We find out what’s going down as Lan Club gears up for its third year, Cicilia Young tells us how her Pussycat Dance Studio helps Beijing girls find their inner Madonnas, and we look at some off the beaten Great Wall tracks.

New spots featured in this issue of agenda:

Sandwiches, salads and smoothies galore at Element Fresh

A tour of North Asian flavors at Bei

Domus offers contemporary elegance by the Forbidden City’s walls

Water sommelier Forrest Zhao pairs mineral water with Macanese cuisine at Vasco’s

Cocktails and nightly jazz at Flames

This issue’s cover girl is DJ Ngelik, billed by Maxim magazine as “one of the sexiest DJs in the world.” In an interview ahead of her month-long residency at Zeta Bar, which kicks off on November 7, the foxy Venezuelan tells us about balancing careers as a DJ, model and designer and looks forward to her Beijing debut.

In our Spotlights, we talk to Amanda Powell and Deborah Lukic from The BookMark and Mosto manager Alex Molina. The Lists highlight some of the spookiest Halloween parties going down this year; we also round up the best of Italian dining and take a look at the best eats in the expat-centric Lido area; and if you work your way through all that eating, you’ll want to take a peek at our selection of gyms and fitness centers!

Like us, you're probably struggling to come to terms with the end of the National Day holiday, but Beijing’s cultural life stops for nobody, and there are plenty of big events coming up over the next fourteen days. Sure, Linkin Park have now canceled, but we’ve still got the visit of Grammy award-winning jazz star Diana Krall to look forward to. Other events to make a date in your diary for include the Oct 18 NBA showcase at Wukesong Indoor Stadium, where the Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Golden State Warriors (see the 7 Days e-mail newsletter for details of how to win 4 tickets to the game), the Chopschticks stand-up show at Block 8 on the same day, and the Vienna Boys Choir at the Poly Theatre on Oct 15. Find the full program for the fortnight in our Day-by-Day events.

In Spotlights, we talk to SALT’s new girl in the kitchen, chef Ana Esteves, and go on a walking tour of Beijing with Beijing by Foot author Eric Abrahamsen. Formerly of The Rickshaw, now managing Tun, the aptly named Chad Lager gives us his insights into Beijing’s bar life, and as winter begins to cast a chilly shadow over the city, the less suitably named Spring Chang, director of JW Marriott’s Quan Spa, gives us some tips for keeping warm and well over the coming months. In The Lists, we round up some of Sanlitun’s best eating options, tighten the purse strings for a tour of Beijing’s cheapest bars, and in this issue's cover feature, seek out some of the best places to pick up gifts of all shapes and sizes for friends and family.

We’re all looking forward to the National Day holiday, and this issue is packed with recommendations and event info to help you fill up your days if you’re sticking around Beijing. In a year when major live shows in Beijing have been dogged by uncertainty and cancellations, the holiday week should provide music fans some much-needed encouragement. The Modern Sky Festival (Sep 29-Oct 2) and the NOTCH festival (Oct 2-4) at Yugong Yishan are just two of the highlights in a fortnight also featuring the visits of French electronic duo AIR (Sep 26-27) and skate-pop rodent Avril Lavigne (Oct 6), Acupuncture Records’ first anniversary party (Sep 30) and the World Folk Song Festival at the NCPA (Oct 3-8). You’ll find all the details in our day-by-day event listings, although do take note that the Midi Festival, listed for Sep 29-Oct 2, has since been rescheduled (tentatively) for Oct 1-5 at the Midi School.

You might want to use the holiday to try new openings like Mosto, former SALT chef Daniel Urdaneta’s new restaurant, The Opposite House’s Mediterranean restaurant Sureno, or Let’s Burger, our favorite of the wave of burger joints to have hit Beijing of late.

Our very last issue before the Olympics has hit the streets, packed with all the usual handy event listings, as well as plenty of dining, nightlife and shopping recommendations to keep you busy before the summer's big distraction arrives on August 8. This issue's highlights include interviews with Italian chef Eugenio Iraci from Cepe and Dorothea Adam of Yugong Yishan, as well as Lists featuring Beijing's best places for catching live jazz jams, Nanluogu Xiang shopping and our cover feature – with a sumptuous cover shot taken by our photographer Judy Zhou – on business lunch deals. And, as new places scramble to throw their doors open in time for the Games, we've got Try These write-ups on just-opened venues like mega-buffet import Todai, Nanluogu Xiang bar-restaurant-mini-spa Taste, and the Tsingtao microbrewery at the Solana mall by Chaoyang Park West Gate, which offers barbecue and teppanyaki as well as China's finest brewed on-site.

Let us know what you think! Get in touch with your comments and suggestions by e-mailing iainshaw@agendabeijing.com

The new issue is out, and as well as featuring 14 days of events including Timo Maas at Coco Banana, July 4 parties, and the environmentally conscious Greening the Beige festival, we've got lists covering Japanese dining, Traditional Chinese Medicine, art galleries as well as our cover feature on imperial cuisine – have a glance at our cover image for a preview!

We've got some cool interviews this issue, which include a chat with Alexandra Pearson from The Bookworm, chef Laia Pons from Tao on Mediterranean dining, talking shopping with a Marie Claire editor and learning about life on the back streets of Beijing with a rickshaw driver who speaks 21 languages!

And that's not all – as ever, our Try These write-ups cover some great dining options, hot new bar openings like Klubb Rouge and China Doll, and even Beijing's first indoor snowboarding venue, Burton Qiaobo Mellow Park. The issue is all over town by now, so look out for a copy today.

The latest issue of agenda takes us through to the beginning of July, and August's big event looms ever larger over Beijing. With one month still remaining before the city goes nuts for a few weeks, there's no shortage of things going on, and we've got the best of the next two weeks of events in our Day-by-Day listings. Our cover feature is a look inside the out-of-town Crown Wine Cellar and an interview with the venue's GM, James E. Thompson. We also talk to Royal Restaurant boss Ni Xiaopei on eating like the emperors, and take some spa tips from Aye Mon Yee of the Heavenly Spa at The Westin Chaoyang, which opened last Saturday. Other features include lists covering the best of Sanlitun nightlife, eating Southeast Asian-style in Beijing, some choice out-of-town daytrips, and our picks of Beijing's best dining and shopping venues in Try These.

Let us know what you think! Get in touch with your comments and suggestions by e-mailing iainshaw@agendabeijing.com

agenda is still looking for interns to help with contributing to features, interviews, compiling and formatting event listings, and contributing new ideas as the magazine continues to develop and grow. Ideal candidates will have previous experience in journalism/writing, and should be energetic, organized and creative. In-depth knowledge of Beijing and Chinese language skills are a bonus, but not essential. All candidates are welcome to apply, but excellent English speaking and writing skills are required. If you’re interested, please e-mail your resume to iainshaw@agendabeijing.com

Hi friends and supporters of that’s Beijing magazine:

It's official – our company, the producer of "that's Beijing" magazine since its debut issue in October 2001 right through the June 2008 issue, will now no longer be involved with the brand "that's".

Our publisher, who controls the official publishing license of "that's," has abruptly ended our long-term cooperation mid-negotiation and behind our back hired someone else to produce "that's Beijing" magazine from now on.

Our company, however, will be soldiering on with a magazine you'll find to be quite similar to that's Beijing -- a magazine to be called "the Beijinger" which will make its debut with the July 2008 issue.

It features the same layout, the same content, the same distribution, and most importantly, the same team that has brought you that's Beijing since we created its debut issue in October 2001.

Another two weeks have flown by, and that means it’s time for the latest issue of agenda!

This issue’s cover feature combines culinary and aesthetic enjoyment in equal measure with a roundup of the finest of Beijing’s courtyard restaurants, while The Lists also profile some of the city’s top spas and weekend brunch options.

In Spotlights, veteran antique collector and trader C.L. Ma gives us some learned advice for buying antiques and reproductions, we talk to Bata from Sahara restaurant about where to find authentic Middle Eastern cuisine, and Leon Lee from OT Lounge tells us where to get our cultural kicks.

The dark, brooding skies on this issue's cover might stir memories of the now-distant Beijing winter, but that doesn’t look like the new Tower 3 at Guomao looming in the background … Beijing gives way to London for our cover this issue as we Spotlight the IFC's amateur production of Oliver!, the musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' tale. We also speak to Richard Robinson about his ChopSchticks comedy shows, which will bring some English-language laughs to the capital at the end of the month. The Lists feature roundups of Beijing's finest terrace bars, a selection of restaurants that prove you can at least sample a wide variety of Chinese cooking styles without leaving Beijing, and our suggestions on where to get clothes tailored. In Try These, we profile new openings like Beijing's first Uzbek restaurant, Shash, as well as plenty of other fine spots for dining, wining and shopping in the city, and as always, we've got full listings for everything that’s worth knowing about in Beijing over the next 14 days in our day-by-day events, so pick up a copy today.