Talking Pints: Calling Time on Sanlitun Houjie?

An enormous carpet of dirty-white slop still has shrouded Beijing's skies all week. It will rain tonight, and heavily. I'm convinced of that because I'm one of those annoying people who are fond of conspiracy theories. My own personal conspiracy theory is that those rain-provoking missiles the Ministry of Inclement Weather fires into the Beijing skies are scheduled for weekends, so that around 7.30pm the city almost drowns in a deluge of rain.

Well enjoy ourselves we will, rain or no. Perhaps not on the west side of Sanlitun Houjie though. Bars, DVD shops and other businesses on that strip, including Luga's and 9.9, were shut down for a night last week, and their future looks increasingly in doubt. I passed by on Wednesday night to find that Luga's and the burrito hole-in-the-wall joint (aka "The Hut") next door were the only businesses open on that side of Sanlitun Houjie. This was around 8.30pm. One falafel and hummus pita sandwich in Biteapitta later, and staff at 9.9, Salud and other bars were opening up for the night, but opening after 9pm seems unusually late. Incidents of violence seem to have been on the up over the summer, and an uncomfortable number of incidents have been reported around the 9.9 Bar in particular. Maybe the local police are starting to take note and cracking down on all businesses on the strip. Not that they seemed interested when I saw around 15 guys scrapping with chairs and bottles outside 9.9 about a month ago. The boys in blue showed up 30 minutes after the trouble died down.

Aside from the recent spate of trouble, there's the uncomfortable fact that the west side of Sanlitun Houjie, with its old-style residential housing, snack stalls selling food at increasingly "unfashionable" prices (in nouveau Beijing, we can't be having people enjoying RMB 3 jianbing, can we?), and budget-friendly dive bars, probably doesn't fit in with the grand plan for Sanlitun's future. That future being Villages North and South, Nali Patio, and even old Tongli Studio, where a succession of new restaurants and bars have injected fresh vitality to a development that was starting to look rundown one year ago. A long-in-progress residential development to the west of the Village North is another example of the old slowly being pushed out by the shiny and new. It may be business as usual tonight in the bars housed by that crumbling old tenement block, but the noose may well be tightening.

A bit more bar news. The Tongli space that until last month housed White Rabbit will be reworked and reopened in the near future as Jaison's. Sounds like we can expect an upscale venue serving cocktails, though we also hear there's going to be some kind of "home" theme, even including a "bedroom."

The Stumble Inn isn't quite ready to open in Sanlitun Village, but the bar's "company car" - a yellow-and-black sidecar motorcycle - is out on the road. Look out for Stumble Inn bosses Glenn and Shane zipping around Sanlitun.

Le Coq is a newly opened bar in the Fortune Plaza mall just north of the Kerry Centre. Le Coq is part of a massive project called "Couleurs de Vie" - a huge, multi-venue showcase for French, food, drink and culture in general. Other venues opened so far include a bakery called "Le Croissant" and a French bistro.

Tonight night sees Juicy Spot's latest wet T-shirt contest - guys and girls both welcome to take part.

At Lantern Dave DK does a set tonight (RMB 50 after midnight).

Finally, ROOMbeijing's restaurant-club concept is used to its maximum effect this Sunday as chef Brian McKenna hosts NBA star Kevin Garnett for a special dinner - Yao Ming is also expected to attend - which will morph into a "Kevin Garnett after party" once the dining is done. No word on whether the NBA duo will get behind the decks, but be reassured in the knowledge that the ever-capable DJ Wordy will be on hand with beats to at least get the big lads dancing.

I'm away to get an umbrella.