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There are very few undiscovered countries any more — at least, not very many you would actually want to discover. And while China has opened itself up to the average traveller in recent years, Beijing hasn't had the same appeal as Shanghai or Hong Kong. Until now: The Olympics has transformed the city like no other place that has hosted the Games. But the true test of whether the capital is really ready to welcome the world comes after — when Beibei and the rest of the mascots are cutening up the landfills, and business gets down to the business of figuring out the new normal. We've put together a few things that may keep Beijing on your TripAdvisor alerts for some time to come.

Shopping

Ruifuxiang One gets the sense that authentic might be harder to find the bigger Beijing gets, but this tailor and textile shop, in business since 1893, is a sure bet. (Mao, a big fan, once wrote that its name should be preserved for 10,000 years.) You can get clothes made of silk, velvet, or cashmere from about $60. It'll take about a week, though you can pay to have it quicker. 5 Dazhalan Jie, south of Tiananmen Square; 86-10- 6525-0764; 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Panjiayuan Market A sort of Chinese Portobello Road, Panjiayuan is home to about 3,000 vendors, selling pretty much anything they can, including a lot of genuine memorabilia and antiquities harvested from the countryside. You can also find great Mao and Chinese-lantern kitsch here. It's open daily, but busiest on weekends, from sunrise until the afternoon.

Malian Dao Street "Tea Street" is 11/2 kilometres of tea shops, including the four-storey Cha Cheng (or "Tea City"). You can buy tea in leaf or brick form, and lots of pots and cups too. English isn't big here, so learn terms like wulong (oolong), gaoshan (a mountain-grown, flowery oolong) and renshen (ginseng tea) before you go. 86-10-6328-1177. Most shops open 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

SanLiTun Village This is where all the city's newest flagship stores are, including the brand new Apple store and the world's largest Adidas boutique. Nothing you can't get cheaper back home, but a fine place to muse on the future of this odd hybrid of a cultural economy. www.thevillage.com.cn.

Bars and restaurants

Makoto The top of any Canadian traveller's list has to be Makoto, the 12,500-square-foot Japanese restaurant (with a French twist) whose chef and namesake, Makoto Ono, is a 30-year-old from Winnipeg. There was a private opening on Monday, and it officially opens Aug. 28. It follows the omakase model (the Japanese version of a chef's tasting menu), so expect pairings like foie gras and unagi. China Central Place, unit L401, 4th floor, 81 Jian Guo Rd.; 86-10-5255-0668; www.makoto.cn.

China Doll This place is a full-on, DJ-based dance club, complete with VIP booths. In the middle of Sanlitun Village, it's a late-night spot, with official hours from 9 p.m. until everybody leaves. Expect drum 'n' bass, scratch, and people born after 1985. 3.3 Sanlitun Street; 86-158-1120-0839; www.clubchinadoll.cn.

Q Bar A little more upscale, but in a laid-back, young-professional kind of way, this is the place to go on a warm autumn night when there's nothing better than a rooftop bar and expertly mixed drinks — from a couple of the city's best known bartenders, George and Echo. 6th floor of the Eastern Hotel, corner of Sanlitun Nanlu and Gongti Nanlu; 86-10-6595-9239; www.qbarbeijing.com/en/.

Hotels

Hotel Kapok Between Mao and the Olympic buildup, hotels in Beijing were either unremarkable or unaffordable. But in 2006, Hotel Kapok (also known as Blur Hotel) carved out a third way as the city's first boutique hotel. It has 89 rooms on five floors and a bamboo-treed courtyard. With the translucent façade, architect Pei Zhu attempted to make the building look like a Chinese lantern — and it worked. 16 Donghuamen St.; 86-10-6525-9988; hotelkapok.com; $100 to $280 a night.

The Opposite House With a contemporary art gallery on the first floor, a 20-metre stainless-steel pool, and six bars and restaurants (including one called Punk, though its Grcic stools are really as punk as this luxe place gets), this 100-room gem, just opened in time for the games, is Sanlitun Village on the half shell. 11 Sanlitun Rd; 86-10-6417-6688; www.theoppositehouse.com; $480 to $780 a night.

Raffles Beijing

Raffles knows luxury, and though its very Asian take on the subject can seem a little jarring in, say, the Caribbean, it fits right in here, in a hundred-year-old building that was renovated and reopened in 2006. (1930s sinologist Edgar Snow had a room here back when it was the Grand Hotel) It's less than five minutes from the Forbidden City, with 171 rooms. 33 East Chang An Ave.; 86-10-6526-3838; beijing.raffles.com; $300 to $7,800 a night.

Events

Our Future: The Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection Belgian Baron Guy Ullens started a lifelong love affair with Chinese art when his diplomat father was posted to China in the 1930s. These days, Ullens devotes himself to the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, a former munitions factory in the 798 art district that he converted into an 8,000-square-metre gallery and lecture hall last year. This exhibition gets at the heart of the collection, which includes work by 60 Chinese artists, including six new commissions. To Oct. 12. 4 Jiuxianquo Lu; 86-10-8459-9269; www.ucca.org.cn. Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., $1.50 to $4.50 (free on Thursdays).

Clubbing: YuGong YiShan, MAO Live House, D-22 The contemporary Chinese music scene is a largely unknown quantity in Canada, and there's no better way to get a crash course in the sort of vibrant music that comes from busting free of generations of oppression than dropping by any of these clubs. Bands like Joyride and Carsick Cars give you the sense that CBGB didn't really die — it just moved east. Yugong Yishan: 2-3 Zhang Zizhong Rd.; 86-10-6404-2711; www.yugongyishan.com. MAO Live House: 111 Gulou Dongdajie; 86-10-6402-5080; www.maolive.com. D-22: 242 Chengfu Lu; 86-10-6265-3177; www.d22beijing.com. All open roughly 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. with entry less than $15 a couple.

Special to The Globe and Mail