Every city has its distinctive smell. In Beijing, this comes from burning incense in the ancient temples, floral scents from night clubs and bars, and from fried chestnuts, tea and snacks sold along the streets.

Clockwise from far left: Eric Berghammer, Cargo Club's "AJ", produces various aromas. Fried chestnut with sugar is a classic favorite in Beijing through the winter, spreading its wonderful fragrance in the air.Yonghegong Lama Temple is full of the rich and thick scent of Tibetan incense, composed of sandalwood and sapan wood. [China Daily]

Yonghegong Temple

Buddhism was introduced to China from India, the religion has seen many ups and downs. The temples across this city have borne witness to these changes. The smell of incense can easily lead visitors to the Yonghegong Lama Temple, Guangji Temple, and Fayuan Temple, among others.

Of these, Yonghegong is the best known. It is here that Beijingers come to pray for good fortune. You can smell the rich thick scent of Tibetan incense, composed of sandalwood and sapan wood. The intoxicating smell emerging from the many incense shops inside the temple and at the street's entrance, fills the air.

The faithful believe that air is a spiritual, not material, substance and a medium for offering gifts to the gods.

After offering worship, devotees stick the joss in large bronze burners, green with age and filled with incense ash. The smoke from these joss sticks and their sweet fragrance is the densest during the Spring Festival.

It starts on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Carrying giant incense sticks, devotees begin queuing up from 6 in the morning even though the temple gates open only after 8:30 am, so they can be among the first to light the oil lamp at the foot of the sacred Buddha.

The frigid winter air does nothing to stop the smell of incense from the centuries-old lamasery from radiating to the whole city. It is reported that nearly 10,000 people visited the temple in just an hour on the first day of 2009.

The second peak at the temple comes with the Laba Festival that falls on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month (mid-January to mid-February) - the day Sakyamuni, founder of Buddhism, achieved immortality. Each year, crowds of people head to the fogbound temple on that day for a bowl of Laba porridge made with nuts and dry fruits.

Burning a stick of incense, some seek blessings for a baby, some for a good marriage, and others for a promising future. It is important to come back to redeem a vow, if the wish comes true.

Five months ago, the city saw another boom in incense burning, as the temple flooded with hundreds of high school students from all over the nation praying for admission to the college of their choice.

Countless joss sticks were burnt, with carts shuttling in and out every few minutes, wheeling piles of incense ash from the giant burners.

Outside, in the main courtyard, tourists attempt to throw coins into a tall bronze vessel covered with elaborate markings. The belief is that if the coins land inside the vessel, it signals good fortune.

Nightclubs and bars

Beijing's nightclubs are not just about the smells of perfumes and cigars. The city's nightlife is paying increasing attention to the olfactory enjoyment of its patrons. If you go to Cargo Club near the west gate of the Workers' Stadium, you are in for quite a fragrant treat. One recent night, an unmistakable lemon scent permeated the venue. When Rihanna's hit Disturbia began to rock, up rose the smell of roses, chocolate, and vanilla, thanks to Eric Berghammer, Cargo Club's very own "AJ" or "aroma jockey." If a nightclub should have a DJ to please your ears, and a VJ (you got it, "visual jockey") to please your eyes with special visual effects and lighting, why not someone to please your nose, he rationalizes. Berghammer works with whisky brand Glenmorangie, which reportedly carries more than one hundred scents, which he distilled for all of Cargo's patrons.

Standing at his worktable high up in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by bling-bling bottles and two giant fans blowing air, he swirled some material in the bottle, and suddenly the air was filled with the sweet smell of chocolate. Then, he burned a piece of wood and everyone was transported to a forest.

Although Cargo Club is the only one with an AJ, partygoers can expect some wonderful experience of scents in other pubs too. Some Beijing bars, that regularly host wine-tasting events, have their own unique scent. For example, one could get the distinctive smell of toasted bread, roses, and flowers at the Touch Club at Westin Hotel at the Veuve Clicquot champagne tasting recently. Francois Hautekeur, winemaker for Veuve Clicquot, shares his experience of different scents in the city's bars.

Street snacks

Were you to venture near a dried nut store in Beijing in this season, you cannot miss the unmistakable fragrance of fried chestnut. Autumn sees the first batch of local chestnut in Beijing, especially those from Huairou district. The chestnuts are fried on the spot, spreading its wonderful fragrance in the air.

Fried chestnut with sugar is a classic favorite in Beijing and Tianjin, and is available through the winter. The chestnut not only smells fragrant, but also tastes soft and sweet. The shell and membrane peel off easily. One can see long queues at famous fried chestnut stores such as Qiu Li Xiang at the crossroad between Ping'an Dajie and Di'anmen Dajie, and Grandpa Wang's Fried Chestnut at Liujiayao Beili, Fengtai district.

Another smell familiar to old Beijingers comes from Beijing's teashops, most notably, Zhang Yi Yuan, and Wu Yu Tai. It comes from jasmine tea, Beijingers' favorite. It is estimated that half of Beijing's tea drinkers go for this fragrant tea made from green tea flavored with jasmine flower.

Other prominent tea smell in Beijing's tea neighborhoods - Ma Lian Dao and Fu Li Te, the biggest tea retail centers in North China - is the orchidaceous fragrance of tieguanyin, a representative oolong from southern Fujian province's Anxi. In spring and autumn, when new batches of tieguanyin become available, tea sellers separate the stem from the leaves, filling the entire city with its aroma.

At food stands and along Beijing streets, one can also smell mouth-watering mutton kebabs and roasted sweet potato, that will bring warmth to your hands and heart on a chilly day.

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