Yugong Yishan and White Rabbit Alums Team Up to Open Beijing's Hottest New Club, Zhao Dai, Sep 30

Dancefloor diehards, get ready to get down at an exciting new venue in Xinyuanli. That's right, Zhao Dai, a new underground electronic music club spearheaded by alums from Yugong Yishan and White Rabbit, is aiming to shake up Beijing's underground electronica scene upon its September 30 opening with a debut set by esteemed Detroit-hailing DJ Patrick Russell (pictured above).

The new club will be located at the Glass Hotel on Xinyuanli Xilu, and its 250 square meters should be enough to accommodate 300 patrons. The brains behind the project – Lu Zhi Qiang, founder of Beijing's premium livehouse Yugong Yishan; Fu Yan co-founder of the now defunct, but innovative-in-their-day White Rabbit and Haze clubs; and Zhi Qi, a DJ and founder of the well-regarded Shadowplay, the electronic music promotional outfit – are working with musical direction from Carmen Herold of the Cultural Department Goethe-Institut.

That team of electronic music enthusiasts announced Zhao Dai's opening via a press release late last week. That statement also detailed their plans to reach the absolute peak of sound quality. It says: "The initial and most important idea behind Zhao Dai was to give electronic music enthusiast a high-end sound experience, which is why we are very lucky to cooperate with renowned sound acoustic label Void Acoustics. Together with Void Acoustics we are not only equipped with a very high-quality sound system, but they also supported us with the sound treatment of the venue, which was key to a good sound for us. This is complemented by Technics Turntables, CDJ 2000, and the Rane MP 2015 mixer."

Patrick Russell seems to be a fitting guest for the Sept. 30 opening, given the acclaim the DJ has garnered in his native Detroit and in New York, where he's currently based. He's been described by Resident Advisor (RA) as "a true veteran of the US underground" and "perhaps one of the last unsung heroes" of his genre. Since the early '90s, Russell has been steadily making a name for himself behind the turntables, and his biggest claim to fame is likely being one of the driving DJs behind the venerated No Way Back parties that dominated Detroit's underground scene. RA went on to describe Russell as: "A genuine sonic storyteller, he magically transforms the diaspora of acid, pure jack energy, and hints of IDM into a deep, fluent sonic dialog that never fails to devastate both minds and dance floor."

Though the promoters are so far keeping their cards close to their chest, expect a full write-up of the venue once we get a chance for an in-person visit. There's one thing for sure, Zhao Dai's opening, along with the forthcoming debut of One Third, not to mention the hip-hop offerings of Sir Teen, and Dada and Lantern's continued staying power and deepening bench of visiting star talent, all make this fall appear to be a memorable one indeed for Beijing club-goers.

Zhao Dai
Glass Hotel, 19 Xinyuanli Xi Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区新源里西路19号

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

*Correction: This article's original headline erred in describing the White Rabbit's ownership. It has since been corrected. 

Photos courtesy of the venue