Talking Pints: Soirees for Singles on a Dark Weekend

There's a slightly eerie bent to this weekend's festivities even though Halloween is now but a memory. To go with a predicted snowstorm, a day lent to the lonely and a "freak show," there's a night of "dark music" to devour at Dada.

First to some more upbeat bites: US house music royalty Kaskade hits Spark on December 9. After a summer spent entertaining huge crowds over two nights at Coachella Music Festival, the Chicago spinner lands in Beijing. Another international DJ comes to town on December 14 when London-based Laura Jones drops by Haze for her debut China performance.

Singles Day falls this weekend in China. 11/11 – aka "Bare Sticks" Day – is when the Middle Kingdom's singles get together to celebrate their bachelorhood. As for those who are not completely thrilled with the single life, and this is their night to get out and look for a soulmate. To help them with that, V Lounge will host a Late Fall Singles Party on Sunday night, while Suzie Wong will hold its version on Saturday night (10/11).

Xiu is set to host a Freak Xiu on Saturday, featuring a performance from the Cirque de Soir circus troupe all the way from London.

Dada's dark weekend features The Black Eyeliner Crew tonight (Nov 9) before The Stockholm Syndrome Crew hold the Gulou crowd captive on Saturday night (Nov 10). Expect two nights of dark wave, goth, nu wave, cyber punk and witch house.

In other news, Flamme in Sanlitun is set to unveil its new winter menu on Thursday (Nov 15). With resident drinks expert Paul Mathew overseeing the revamp, it's sure to be a hit.

Enjoy your weekend.