Talking Pints: Link Star, Pole Dancing, SuperColab and Hot Drinks
Welcome to our weekly roundup of all that's going on in nightlife this weekend in Beijing. Tonight (Nov 12) sees the grand opening of Link Star, the new club-lounge in World City (north of The Place). It's a decent little spot, with a good layout. Getting taxis around that area is often a bit tough at night, but it's worth a look. The party's free and kicks off at 9pm. Over at Chaoyang Park West Gate, Suzie Wong's hosts their monthly Suzie's Night party, from 10pm. The champagne will be flowing.
Tomorrow (Nov 13), DJ Wordy and Lomang throw it down at this month's Hot Pot at Punk (free, 10pm), while over at Star Live, Markus Schulz (RMB 100, 10pm) drops progressive house and trace, with local boys Patrick Yu, El-Mar and more for support. More visitors to town at the inaugural SuperColab party at d lounge, which is mixing it up with Tokyo DJ group HARD behind the decks. Entry is RMB 50, but they'll be laying on drinks deals on the night.
Last week's Booty Shake party - the first from the Street Kids team - brought masses of people down to School, a bar with a seating capacity of about 30. See the photos from the night here, but if you want to check out School for yourself, a bunch of Australian DJs and VJs - Wasabi, Monkey Marc, Mantra and Sharthi - are playing in an event sponsored by the Australian Year of Culture in China. No entry fee and things get going at 10pm on Saturday night.
Also on Saturday, Hilton Beijing presents its second Pole Dancing Competition, in association with Love Show Studio. The event takes place in Zeta Bar at 10pm, with RMB 99 entry including one drink. You might even get the chance to have a go on the pole yourself.
In other news, many bars around town are responding to the cold - is your heating on yet? Mine isn't - with a range of hot drinks. A few examples: Fubar's got a Hot Buttered Rum, The Brick's doing an "Anna Kournikova" (that's a hot White Russian, boss Lee Mitchell tells me) and George's is doing a Bourbon Sangria. Also in on the hot drinks game are Apothecary, d lounge, Stumble Inn, Paddy O'Shea's, The Bookworm and Salud. There's also Q Bar, where you can now sit in one of their "Q Boxes" on the terrace and enjoy a hot drink in your own private room, complete with radiator and sound system - bring your iPod. We'll be doing a full hot drinks roundup in the near future.
Looking a little into the future, because sometimes in life it's good to have a plan, the weekend of November 26-27 is going to be a bit special. Two big-hitters, Armin van Buren and Derrick Carter, are coming to town that weekend, both playing on November 26. Fortunately, they're playing separately - the combination of Eurotrance with Chicago house would be a bit weird. Van Buuren, inevitably is playing GT Banana, while Carter plays Punk. The real fun's going to be up at 798 on November 27, when o2 Culture - them of Yen fame - are putting on their latest Cosmo party. A bunch of local electronic DJs will be playing, and the Beijinger is sponsoring our own chillout room. Till, then, have fun and keep each other warm, Beijingers.
