Joys of finding a near-empty mall in the middle of Beijing

As part of a generation which grew up when malls first exploded on the scene, the weeks and months in Beijing have been spent going from one to another in the city to kill time during the weekend.

Before the intrusion of a virus, which must not be named (with apologies to Harry Potter), we would go to the usual spots to take in the local shopping and dining scene.

The choices for expats would be the block of buildings in Sanlitun and the winding steps snaking around Solana.

The wide walking areas of Wangfujing also drew us in, especially since there is a reminder of home in the Cheesecake Factory restaurant on top of one building there.

But the whole thing quickly got tiring, and old.

While the crowds thinned out in February and March before coming back in July, we decided to look for other malls that were not as crowded.

That is where China World Mall came in.

Its best feature is on the 6th and 7th floors where it has a breathtaking viewing deck.

A steady drizzle beat down on the wooden slats when we got there. A gigantic building shaped like an inverted goal post loomed nearby, framing the leaden gray of the sky.

Children just inside the glass panels of the building squealed in delight while pushing the strollers of their siblings around.

Parents sat on rectangular benches while nursing their thoughts, some smiling at the happy children who were seemingly glad they are out of their half-quarantined apartments.

China World Mall has a gaggle of restaurants scattered between the 4th and 7th floors. It has a grill on the 79th floor.

We flitted from one restaurant to the other, rifling through menus and promising ourselves to go in one of the eateries during the next weekend and other weekends to come.

The luxury brands such as Prada and Dior and Givenchy can be found on the lower floors. Interestingly enough, not a lot of people were hanging around there.

The malls we have seen in Beijing are just different from the ones we've flocked to in New York City and New Jersey or Manila.

Manhattan Mall just off Herald Square in New York is fairly functional but nondescript. It is used mainly to get to the subway trains connected to the department store at the bottom of the mall or hop the Path Train that goes out to New Jersey.

Herald Square is always jammed morning, noon and night. Macy's is around the corner and the stratospheric Empire State Building is a few blocks away.

As for restaurants, you would need to go east on 32nd Street to get to Korea Town, the best hotpot place in that city.

In New Jersey, we used to go a lot to Menlo Park Mall in the sprawling town of Edison.

It is a blocky rectangular structure which only has two floors. There are a couple of restaurants on either end, including a Cheesecake Factory that rapidly fills up on Mother's day in May.

The movie house is on the second floor and a Godiva chocolate shop sits just inside the door.

In Manila where I grew up, the series of malls developed by the Chinese-Filipino conglomerate SM is something like a town hall there.

There is a massive food court in the basement, several high-end restaurants on other floors, a movie complex, art galleries, a skating rink and of course the department store. You go in and there is a good chance you never get out.

For Filipinos, the mall is the place to hang out in to cool off on a torrid tropical day when temperatures are hovering near 38 C.

I much prefer a quiet mall where there are not a lot of people around which is a bit of an oxymoron since most malls are full of people.

On an afternoon when pellets of rain beat the deck of China World Mall like a drum, it is a treat to find a place with only a handful of souls.

One could gawk or just sit alone with thoughts of other places, other times. The reverie is comforting.