C ONT INUE D ...
FRANKFURT FROM DEU TSCHE BANK TO RIVER BANK
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south of the river where the apple orchards used to be in Sachsenhausen, are a cultural experience in themselves. In Sachsenhausen the focus of social
life is on a nest of pedestrian alleys a couple of blocks inland, particularly Paradiesgasse and Rittergasse, and these days it is not just apple wine on offer: there’s everything from sports bars to
...grocery stores with fine displays of exotic
fruit adding appeal. Te station quarter is also home to new
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and hip cocktail bars like Plank and Amp, gathering places for Frankfurt’s transient international population, mostly speaking English. And a small kiosk called Yok-Yok in Munchenerstrasse, whose fridges contain some 300 different brands of beer from all around the world and where handfuls of off-duty bankers meet up for beer-based reminiscences of their more exotic travels. If the day is fine, and you’re looking for
green space to snooze in and let the world driſt by, then walk south of the centre until you hit the river Main, busy with short-trip riverboats from the likes of KD Line and Primus Tours. Tere are generous grassy banks on both sides of the river, but the wider southern shore, backed by a host of museums and galleries, offers a spectacular view of downtown. Te area also hosts a flea market every other Saturday and is dotted with cafés and eateries. Tese include the floating floral Bootshaus (bootshaus-dreyer. de) by the Iron Bridge, where you can hire your own rowing boat, and the doner boat Istanbul, which, as you might expect, serves kebabs. In the evenings and at weekends the riverbank is a sanctuary for lovers, joggers, picnickers and stressed out executives.
APPLE WINE TAVERNS No visitor to Frankfurt, should come away without experiencing its apple wine culture. Tis tart version of cider packs a powerful punch and is traditionally drunk out of special ribbed glasses, called geripptes, and poured from earthenware carafes called bembel. Te true traditional apple wine taverns or apfelweinwirtschaſten, especially
JUNE 2 0 18
shisha clubs to belly-dancing lounges, and the atmosphere can be lively, particularly on Saturdays during the football season. Te true taverns are places like Germania
(on Textorstrasse) and Struwwelpeter (on Neuer Wall). Teir offering is simple: customers drink locally made apfelwein seated at sociable long benches, and eat traditional food such as handkäs mit musik, a sour milk cheese drowned in vinegar and chopped onions and served with bread. Tere are options here, of course,
particularly in the new trendier breed of tavern like Lorsbacher Tal (lorsbacher-thal. de), hidden away round the back of Grosse Rittergasse, a more distinguished venue whose courtyard shelters under a chestnut tree and spreading vine. Inside the wood- panelled interior there’s an elaborate menu and a large wine list as well as the usual apple wine, plus regular live music – jazz, funk and even opera – out in the courtyard.
FURTHER AFIELD Tere will be some regular visitors to Frankfurt for whom Sachsenhausen will always be too touristy. Te alternative is to head north-east, through the former working-class district of Bornheim (U-bahn station Bornheim Mitte) and walk out along Bergerstrasse, a street that becomes a long open-air restaurant on summer evenings. Up here are two of the most unadulterated apple wine taverns in the city, the rustic half- timbered Zur Sonne (zursonne-frankfurt. de), established 1768, which is better in summer, and the hugely popular Solzer (
solzer-frankfurt.de), around since the 16th century and cosy in winter. Settle down in either of these places for
the evening and you could easily be in a village in deepest Hesse, not in one of the foremost business capitals in the world. BT
...is drone manufacturer DJI, one of China’s top ten “unicorns” – so called for receiving a billion-dollar valuation out of the starting blocks. “Shanghai is a financial centre. Beijing is
politics and finance. And Shenzhen is the technological hub of China,” agrees 30-year resident Raymond Su, resident manager at Kempinski Hotel Shenzhen. In addition to its tech legacy, another reason Su believes the city has flourished with respect to new technology is its relative youth. “Shenzhen is a young city, not even 40 years old. So there’s no entrenched mindsets. Young people can set up a new system and figure out how to do it efficiently. Te local government is also more efficient and there’s less red tape.” The government is working hard to
attract and retain young talent, with a wide range of financial incentives from tax breaks to free rent schemes for returning graduates. Lifestyle benefits within this tech frontier are also evident – from the prevalence of mobile payments and app-centric services, to cool new neighbourhoods such as Shekou populated by growing numbers of expats and modern entrepreneurs.
EVENTFUL DESTINATION Major technology-focussed events are also frequently held in the city, says Fiona Liao, director of communications at Shangri-La Hotel Shenzhen. From the Intel Development Forum, which welcomed more than 20,000 guests, to the “must-attend” Mars Summit. Apple, Tencent and Huawei all host major annual or biannual events as well. In fact, the city has a thriving conference
and events industry in its own right, reveals Liao. “One of the reasons Shenzhen is so popular is that it’s very convenient for
bus ine s s tr a v el ler .c om
SHENZHEN P U S HING B OUND A RIE S
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