Skimming the Surface of Beijing Nightlife

The Scoop

While Yelp’s advice back in Boston is greatly missed, it’s forced the Emerson Crew here in Beijing to make our own set of standards on how to decide what bars and clubs make the cut and which ones don’t.  Back in the States, main decision factors may be atmosphere, price, and location.  There are a couple of twists to what we consider when going out here in Beijing.  For instance, does the bar accept credit cards?

Other key factors include does it have air conditioning or Western toilets?  Often it’s common to find Chinese toilets that are shared among the ladies and gents.  This is particularly not fun when you are craving the slightest bit of privacy as your knees are getting way too close to the pee-ridden floor.

Price usually isn’t a big concern here because everything is so cheap.  Even if drinks reach the high price of 70+ RMB, our consciences are put at rest because we pay next to nothing for everything else.

Location is another factor for consideration.  Will the taxi drivers be able to understand where we’re trying to go?  So far, every taxi driver understands the Sanlitun area in any accent!  In considering location, we also consider what other bars and clubs are close for when we’re ready to change scenes, and what late-night dining facilities are available.  To date, the 24-hour McDonalds has battled the favored 24-hour Mexican burrito joint.

Some distinguishable perks to the nightlife in Beijing beyond the cheap drinks are the late hours.  Most bars don’t shut down until 4 am so it’s easy to stay out all night and see daybreak on the ride home.  Additionally, people are welcome to take their beers to-go and drink on the streets!  This is particularly enjoyed in the Hou Hai area where locals and tourists alike rent boats and take their own boos out on the water.

Local Chinese students will be the first to recommend the KTV Karaoke clubs scattered around Beijing. While the Beijinger and City Weekend are popular magazines with good suggestions, we’ve also looked to City Weekend online where user-reviews can be found.  But by far, the best spots have been introduced by expats or by just stumbling upon them.

Some other things that make the nightlife experience worth revisiting time and time again include the dance floors, music selection, crowd, drink selection drink specials, décor and seating. However, the amount of fun can’t quite be quantified by the mix of all the other ingredients.

Atmosphere

When it comes to bars, first impressions are largely based on appearance.  The atmosphere can make or break a place. Through critical eyes, bar-goers analyze the space, the bar itself, the lighting, the music, and the bathrooms before making judgments about whether or not the bar is worth re-visiting.

Luckily, in Beijing, you can find a bar that will suit all your needs. Whereas Boston is dominated by pub-type bars of all sizes, Beijing boasts a variety of settings for thirsty consumers. Those looking to listen to Western music while sitting street-side can take advantage of Sanlitun’s strip of smaller bars. If you’re looking for an upscale, yet affordable, environment where you can lounge in plush couches or beds while listening to live music, Song or Q Bar are your best bet.

Although you can find many different bar settings in Beijing, we’ve noticed some major trends. Most bars here are very spacious, featuring areas for dancing and those for seating. Seating usually consists of comfy couches or chairs around a small coffee table. Also popular are bed-type seating where you can kick off your shoes and relax while sipping your drink of choice. As for music, house and techno are overwhelmingly preferred. Bars and clubs are usually dimly lit with florescent or strobe lights breaking the darkness.

Drinks

One of the greatest things about bars in Beijing is that most places won’t break your bank! On average, a bottle of pijou, or beer, will usually cost somewhere between 15 and 35 Yuan, the equivalent of about 2-5 U.S.  dollars. Some of the swankier bars in Hou Hai will raise the price to 50 Yuan, a little over 7 American dollars. However, most local joints will serve very large bottles of Tsingao, the most popular brand of Chinese beer, for as little as eight Yuan, which is just over one American dollar! Tsingtao is a very light, crisp and refreshing beer that is very cheap for the American drinker. However, if you crave darker beers and bars with an extensive beer list, they are hard to come by in Beijing.

Beer is not the only cheap option at the bar. In fact, hard liquor and mixed drinks are also much cheaper in relation to American bars! The cheapest mixed drinks, such as a Bacardi and Coke or a Gin and Tonic will cost about 35 Yuan, which is 5 dollars, and taste quite strong while other bars can charge up to 80 or 100 Yuan on popular nights, which is about 12-15 American dollars and not taste quite as strong. Just like Boston, you must always take chances and choose the appropriate atmosphere for your taste but you can never tell which bars are keen to water down their mixed drinks. Also, most Beijing bars won’t offer more than 2 varieties of vodka, rum, gin, whiskey, etc. For instance, while Grey Goose Vodka is a staple in most American bars, you can never count on most bars in Beijing carrying it.

If it’s cocktails that you crave, they usually cost anywhere between 60-80 Yuan, 8-10 American dollars and are by far the best bang for your buck at nearly half the price of most American cocktails. Apple Martinis, Sex on the Beach, you name it! Most of the popular bars in the Sanlitun area carry them, and every bar has their own classy method of presenting them.

Something that isn’t prevalent in Boston is drink specials and their widely available here.  Wednesday night is ladies night and always draws huge crowds.  The ladies get free drinks for a couple of hours while the guys enjoy the company.  Happy hour is another favorite where buy one get one free specials run at even the nicest places like Centro.  Something completely foreign to tourists is the ability to bargain for your beer prices at the main Sanlintun street.  The best price we’ve heard has been 10 Yuan for a liter of beer!

Thank you to Jenna Lebel and Sylvie Packard for contributing their thoughts.

Our favorite picks for bars include Q Bar, Song, Komomo and the "trashy" China Doll club.

USA vs CHINA Men’s Basketball Game

So I know that this is already old news since the USA men’s basketball team just beat Greece last night, but it was an amazing experience so here it is. I was at the USA vs CHINA men’s basketball game on Saturday, August 10, 2008, when USA dominated the second half to beat China a whopping 101 – 70.

The morning of August 10, my supervisor took me aside from my team of Chinese workers and asked if I’d be interested in going to the basketball game that night. I shook my head like a kid waiting to open a Christmas present – hell ya, I wanted to go, it’s only the biggest basketball game of the Olympics! She said that she had to get the approval from a supervisor but it was a possibility that I could go. But only one could go and I was asked not to share this with my teammates. A couple hours later she confirmed that I would be going to the basketball game. Inside I was jumping up and down.

As my teammates headed home, they worried about me staying back without an umbrella and wasn’t quite sure why I didn’t want to go home. There were another group of volunteers from the baseball venues I hadn’t met and that were lucky enough to go too. We all waited for the shuttle/golf cart to pick us up. There was a torrential downpour that night so the shuttle was greatly appreciated. All of my Emerson classmates were on the other side of town at All Star, a new bar with a ridiculous amount of flat screens tvs, as I made my way to the lit up square basketball arena through the pouring rain.

I perched myself on a railing in the media area securing a great view of the game. 15 minutes into it, my supervisor grabbed my arm and pulled me through the crowd of photographers and journalists that congregated in the walkway. Yanked away from my spot I had no idea what was going on. She wanted me to help guard an entranceway into the press tribune since I was the only native English-speaking volunteer. That was okay by me since that put me directly behind the goal post a couple stories up and close enough when the players yelled, I could hear them. And since I was in the press tribune area, I was surrounded by monitors showing close-ups of the game if I missed a beat with my own eyes. I wondered how I could be so lucky.

It was amazing to watch the China-USA game standing beside a Chinese woman commenting on the fans, atmosphere and plays. She said the Chinese fans were crazy because they still would cheer for the beloved Kobe and all of the USA team as much as the Chinese team. And when they cheered, the entire stadium erupted like thunder in cheers like I’ve never seen before.

A couple of sections to my left, President Bush sat almost aligned with my row. Despite the range, I could see him shaking his head, sitting back and then clapping his hands above his head when the USA team dominated the floor. A couple of journalists peering over my shoulder had me point him out and later I would hear them sharing the President’s location with fellow colleagues.

When there was 10 minutes left of the game, Carolyn, my superviser, and I headed down to the mixed zone to help out. My Chinese Momma was waiting there and gave me a massive bear-hug welcome. She then gave me a quick tour of the mixed zone. Itching to watch the end of the game, I heard music to my ears: they had enough volunteers to man the mixed zone so I could just watch the athletes as they went by!

Carolyn whispered that I could sneak pictures but to keep it unnoticeable. Pictures were not allowed at all in the mixed zone but one NBC guy was solely there to take pics with his personal camera and my stealthiness quickly faded when it was evident I wasn’t going to be really reprimanded for snapping pics here and there.

When Yao Ming rounded his way to the print journalists, a horde of people rushed so hard to interview him that the metal barrier barged toward the athlete! He then shook his head and wasn’t going to put up with such ruthless journalists and made his way back to the locker rooms. All the while, I pitch in in an effort to reclaim the barriers original layout.

When the USA team first walked by, Kobe and LeBron jumped the barriers, skipped half of the mixed zone, and flew straight back into the locker rooms. As Jason Kidd leisurely walked by, he looked back to a staff member and asked, “Aren’t we supposed to be talking to these people?” The staff member shook his head and then all the players were gone and left the media wondering if they were going to come back.

After what seemed like forever, the USA basketball team re-emerged for their interviews. I listened in on Howard until I was distracted by Kidd. Then I’d hop over to another lump of journalists surrounding a player. I made myself right at home and more than a couple of times, the players glanced my way probably wondering what the hell I was doing. I didn’t care, I was savoring the moment. I was by the rail as Kobe walked by. Right in front of me, he turned around to speak to someone in Italian and I so wanted to blatantly take a picture, but I contained myself. Besides, I already have one picture of me with him.

While in the mixed zone, I met Marc Spears with the Boston Globe, and he wrote a fantastic article on that night (Check it out here ). He’s been reporting on basketball for 10 years and the players know him by name which was really cool to see then converse. From that, I found out the team was heading to The Great Wall the next day and that they were having a hard time getting tickets to other events!

I’m going to use one Mr. Spears’ closing lines, “it was easy to see this was the most memorable night of basketball this country has seen,” and I was there to witness history been made.

Side notes:

-During the game, I definitely saw one journalist on Facebook

-One Chinese volunteer informed me after-the-fact, that a Chinese pop-star, Li Ke Qin, was standing right beside me!

-After the game, I met up with my fellow Emersonians in full uniform at Bling, a lush club, to partake in the last of that night’s celebrations over USA’s fierce win.

-I’ve got to run to work now…

Pictures!

Just posted my Opening Ceremony pictures this morning and thought I’d give you all a heads up.  I haven’t had time to put captions, but I think they speak for themselves!  Check them out here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenstravelcorner/sets/72157606701429055/

Also, you should check out Kodak’s picture of the day photos.  Kodak is a major sponsor of the Olympics and showcase the best of the best of photographer’s work.  The photos are timeless and spectacular!  Check them out here:

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=13132&pq-locale=en_US

I’m off to work to my first official baseball game tonight at 7pm.  It’s Cuba vs. Japan.  It’s Wednesday and an Emerson classmate’s birthday so I’ll be heading to Sanlitun afterwards to help celebrate and take advantage of ladies’ night.

More to come…

If I didnt have pictures, you wont believe me!

Hello all,

First and foremost, I apologize for not writing sooner! There ‘s so much to tell since I last wrote! But I’ll skip to the good stuff since I’ve got to run to work soon. Both sleep and time are limited here. This is a long one but you’ll see why.

So where was I at during the Opening Ceremonies?

With some friends’ help, I got into the Main Press Center (MPC) in the Olympic Green area. I wasn’t supposed to be there nor do I have the credentials to be there! Jenna, my partner in crime, and I watched the Opening Ceremonies front row in front of a flat screen tv in one of the hotel bar’s two comfy chairs. When the fireworks went off, we’d run outside to see them in person!

I didn’t think things would get better until a friend who was given VIP stickers passed one onto me and the other one was Jenna’s. During the final set of fireworks, Jenna and I went outside and soon discovered the power that these stickers had. We met our first set of guards around the MPC but after flashing our credentials, we were waved in. Fireworks were still going off as we made our way to the Bird’s Nest. The fireworks were spectacular and lit up the entire sky. It sounded like thunder as the colors exploded.

Shortly after they ended, Jenna and I ran into our first crowd of the day. A horde of people were parading past us. Then noticed that Lebron James walked by – I yelled his named and he flashed us a peace sign! It then dawned on us that the people swarming both sides of us were all the ATHLETES leaving the Opening Ceremonies! We were right in the middle of them! Upon this realization we started wishing them all good luck. Some of the athletes with video cameras filmed us! The only other people in this area were journalists trying to snag some stories. They crowded around Kobe as he went by. Jenna and I turned into his personal photographers and were quick to get our pictures with him and his signature! Quickly after, we snapped shots of Yao Ming.

When the crowd got a little more sparse, we redirected our attention to the getting to the Bird’s Nest. We followed the path that the athlete’s came from. At the entrance one guard stopped us and had to wave someone over for a second opinion. They asked us if we were journalists and Jenna confidently said, “yes.” We got the welcome in wave and on we went. We entered into the Bird’s Nest through a corridor that opened directly onto the arena floor! The girl’s in red Chinese dresses who led the athletes wanted pictures taken with us! That was the start of our Olympic Green photo shoot.

As we started heading back to the MPC, we stopped for some pictures outside of the Water Cube which was lit a magnificent blue and then shifted colors periodically. Beyond its gates, it looked vacant. Sine we were there, Jenna wanted to see how magic our VIP pass was. Low and behold the guard unlocked the gate and welcomed us in. Jenna said her favorite line of the night for probably the millionth time to the guard as we pranced in, “I love China,” said in Chinese…it also works magic!

We walked right into the Water Cube like we owned the place. There were loads of guards and security personnel hanging out like it was a rest area for them. We walked by and waved and said “Ni Hao” to everyone! We tried one door to get to the pool but it was locked. So we used the bathroom and then tried another one….it was open and we walked in to the pool area. We were the only two people in the entire room!

We then continued our photo shoot first hopping onto a lifeguard’s chair. At one point, we walked behind a wall and saw the inner side of the membrane wall and could touch it. It was absolutely mind-blowing. We then went to the diving board and hung out for a good 30 minutes. It was the most serene and surreal feeling in the world. We had our feet in the Olympic swimming pool the night of the Opening Ceremonies and the day before the swimming events started! Three people walked towards us but after we shouted “Ni Hao” to them, they turned around and went away. All of the spotlights also turned off except for one which stayed on us! I thought it was nice of them not to leave us in the dark.

On our way to the exit, Jenna test out the Jacuzzi and then we went through the press workroom which was dead silent until we entered. The exit door was open and we walked out but first recapping the night thus far on the Flip Cam.

After the guard let us exit through the gate, we walked by the National Indoor Stadium across the street. I flashed my credentials from across a low gate and the guard ushered us in! One female janitor who was excited to see us navigated the back hallways for us almost until we entered the field of play. This arena wasn’t empty. A crew of workers were cleaning the seats and a couple of people were working with their camera angles. This of course didn’t stop Jenna and I’d photo shoot. We walked up where the uneven rings are and the pommel horse. Jenna then tried to launch herself on the pommel horse! It’s a lot bigger in person. Not long after hilarious attempts, we were finally shoed off that stage area.

We headed back to the MPC after deciding the entrance to the fencing hall looked like too much walking and went to visit Bruce who is a classmate that was working the overnight shift in the photo workroom. With tons of animation, recounted our night’s events with him and he was excited for us. He had the third VIP pass but didn’t get a chance to reap its benefits like Jenna and I did.

It was now probably around 3:00 a.m. and the 24 hours McDonald’s in the MPC couldn’t have sounded more like heaven at that time. We were in line with photographers with Getty Images who had been working all night on trying to capture timeless pictures of the Olympics. They enjoyed Jenna and I’d entertaining company in line to break their stress and smile at our Olympic Green Night Tour.

Jenna had to work at the Photo Lab at 8am so we had the brilliant idea just to spend the night at the MPC and I’d take the shuttle back to campus with Bruce at 8:30 a.m. People camped out in the main Press Conference room so that became the area of choice. Within two minutes we were on the floor because the seats weren’t comfy at all to stretch out in. We were there about 45 minutes until we couldn’t bare the freezing air conditioning any longer. We used the bathroom and then huddled under a heated hands dryer for a while and I’m sure the bathroom cleaners thought we were nuts….and I don’t blame them.

This is around 6 a.m. when we decided our original bar had the most comfortable couches and chairs. We ordered hot tea and fell asleep. At 7 a.m. we were told that we had to sit up! The waiter then asked if we had gone home…why would we do that?

We eventually made our way back to where Jenna had to work a 12 hour shift! And I teamed up with Bruce to head back to campus. I was the only person on the shuttle bus not in uniform!

As I walked out of security to leave the MPC, I felt like Clive Owens from Inside Man when he left the bank. I just got away with the most amazing night ever and I wasn’t even supposed to be there!

More to come…

Much love,

Helen

Sidenotes:

I was at the USA vs. CHINA men’s basketball game…will write about that next

I work the nights at the Main baseball field for the 7pm games. After the games I set up the temporary mixed zone area.

Pictures are taking forever to load but will do what I can

Sorry if I haven’t responded to your email…I will when I get a chance. I really appreciate them and love getting them!

And I didn’t edit this so I can’t be held accountable for obvious grammar and typos J

Olympic Volunteer for Baseball

In-between enjoying the sightseeing, culture intake and nightlife Beijing has to offer, I’ve been training to be a volunteer for the Olympics. It’s been a long process to get here, but since landing on the Far East’s soil, it’s been smooth sailing for the most part. I’ve been assigned as a mixed zone assistant for the main baseball field at the Wukesong Center which isn’t brain surgery by any means. Wukesong is home to the basketball arena and three baseball fields, the practice field, field 2 and the main field. I’ll be working at the main field. The mixed zone is the area in which reporters cram after games in hopes of getting a good interview with an athlete. My role will be to set up the temporary mixed zone after games and ensure that the reports stay in their designated area and abide by all the rules laid out for them, like only 1 minute interviews are allowed. I’ll be working the night games if you want to try and spot me on tv!

The coolest part of my job is that by working at the main field, I’ll get to see all of the good baseball games. Additionally my post is right beside the dugout so I’ll be within an arm’s reach of the players as they walk past onto their press conference.

Just yesterday there was a rehearsal for the medal ceremony at the main field. Volunteers appeared out of nowhere to pose as the winning baseball teams as other volunteers acted out being fans. For the record, in this practice, Cuba won and the US placed second! I hope the games play out in a more favorable outcome for the US.

I work on a team of 4 to set up and supervise the mixed zone of which I’m the only non-Chinese teammate. My teammates are awesome and show over-the-top kindness towards me. The only frustrating aspect is when they get flushed setting up the mixed zone and revert to only speaking Mandarin. I have to ask what’s going on so I’m not clueless out in left field. It’s weird to not be aware of the situation in its entirety and only being told the minimal information required to carry out my task. This experience is definitely a learning one on many levels and I’m soaking it up as much as I can.

This is an extremely exciting year for baseball since it’s been voted out of the Olympics for the next Games that will be held in London. It puts more pressure on the United States to succeed. This brings me to the hardest part of my job. It will take every ounce of my will not to show any favoritism towards the US team while working. Even seeing the States’ flag raise during rehearsal, patriotism swelled up under my skin.

I hear there’s going to be Cracker Jack’s available to purchase during the games. You can be sure, underneath my concealed expression I’ll be thinking: Let me root, root, root for my team!