Timekeepers at Ballhouse: On Keeping Beijing Alive and Running

Those of us who have called Beijing home for long enough share a pastime: moaning about the many transformations of the city. Things just aren’t —sigh— what they used to be. We miss beloved venues and corners where we made our acquaintance with the faithful departed, spun many memories and partied the night away. You know, a bit like those grumpy elderly folks that reminisce of yesteryears.

But let me tell you, dear reader —the present is all we got. Some old venues survive, carrying that old school Beijing magic that enamoured us all. Case in point: Ballhouse. This inconspicuous Gulou hideout has survived every curveball, perhaps because it was always shrouded in a little mystery. Just how much did any of us truly know about the many lives of Ballhouse? Most of its fame came through the grapevine. Contacting the original owners was an adventure of its own, and good luck finding out about their opening and closing times. But if the place was good enough to be graced by Vin Diesel, then by golly it suited us all fine. Besides, the haphazard, eclectic aesthetics were enough of a draw on their own. Tell you what —Ballhouse has always been a haven. And the one certainty we all had is that it would never, ever change a bit.

Except this spring, Ballhouse did undergo a transformation of its own. As we waltzed into March, a visiting friend informed me over dinner that he had just checked out Ballhouse that evening, for old times’ sake, and found it all upside down under renovation at the hands of “a local and a foreigner.” 

The magic duo was none other than Orlaith and Fred, of What the Folk fame. In one of those improbable twists of fate, the pair are now barpreneurs and timekeepers extraordinaire of one of Beijing’s quirkiest places. Old times have never looked better for Ballhouse.

Hey, guys! Congratulations on this adventure, I think you’re already feeling the love of the community at large. First things first —Ballhouse now has a bit of a different name, would you care to dig into it?
Orlaith: Sure! In English, the bar is now officially Timekeepers x Ballhouse. That one’s easy enough to grasp. You see, the Drum and Bell Towers used to be the old timekeepers of the city, so there’s that. Then also, this place feels like a time capsule, so the name also works as a small nod to preserving a local favorite... while still adding our own personal twist. As for the name in Chinese...
Fred: …You will see that it features the word 叁更 (sān gēng), referring to the ancient Chinese timekeeping system when the night was divided into five “watches”. This "third watch" signifies the late-night period from 11 PM to 1 AM —quite fitting for a bar setting. And in our location here at 40 Zhonglouwan Hutong, we are lucky enough to watch the Drum and Bell Towers, all silent and magnificent at night. 

I Love me some good lore for a place that already has so much of its own. Tell me, how did you get the opportunity to take over the reins of the bar? The place has its own brand new logo, too!
O: Yes! The logo is by local printmaker and artist Fei Fei! And, to answer your first question, well it just…happened, sort of. We had been keeping in touch with the family and we held the most recent edition of What the Folk here in March. They’d kept the place afloat but also realized that they were ready to step back themselves, and so the idea of working together came up. And you know what, we thought, why not? Things are ever so impermanent in Beijing, and we know it all too well. But come what may in the future, this chapter at Ballhouse will also be part of our own stories in town. We’re keeping this place alive because why wouldn’t we? We want to offer everyone an unpretentious, fun setting for their good times, their parties, for the craic. That’s what Ballhouse has always meant to our small community here in Beijing, so in that sense, we’re just carrying the torch, in our own personal way.

That is so sweet, and I really love your spirit and intention behind it all. This is indeed a bit of a museum, as you probably know better than us. What was it like to bring Ballhouse from its former state to what it looks like nowadays?
F: We haven’t changed all that much, now, have we? If you were a regular before, you will walk in and boom, you will immediately recognize good ole Ballhouse. At the same time, though, we did feel it was time to dust down the venue a little. There was a…cornucopia of stuff in here. Oh, and a whole room that nobody even really knew about.

Colour me not entirely surprised, haha. What did you guys find in the property?
O: What did we not find? A lot of it we kept —the lovely mix of oil paintings and tchotchkes that made up the décor, the wood trimmings, I mean the bones of it all were there and we loved them and wanted to preserve them. But then, you know, we found massage beds, because the place was a parlor at some point. We also found jar upon jar of ferments that had been sitting there for some twenty years…a little bit of everything. We did away with that, and then ironically we racked our brains for modern solutions that kept the old vibe strong. Take the light fixtures, for instance — a lot were broken, so we had to replace them with bright white, shiny new lights, except those just felt out of place. So we hand-painted them to help them blend in with the space.

It’s all truly looking grand. The moment you walk in, you see a place where you can hold a party, and yet you can also just come and chill with your friends…
F: That’s indeed what we wanted to achieve here. There’s a small area too that we hope may serve for a few small music events, at some point. But we’re also just figuring out our own groove, and we’re in no rush for anything. So, for the foreseeable future, we want this to be a place where you come after work because it’s your friend’s birthday, and the day after the party you can come back to just wind down with a drink or two. We have a happy hour and weekly specials, and the price list is also echoing this firm intention of ours to just keep this place open to everyone. 

What’s the best way to keep up with your shenanigans and contact you for bookings, events, etc.? 
O: Well, you can always add our official WeChat account (WeChat ID: gh_c2c16f3987a0). Or of course, just drop by the bar to have a chat with us for any ideas you have! Hope to see you all here, Beijing! 

Timekeepers x Ballhouse
40 Zhonglouwan Hutong, Xicheng District
西城区钟楼湾胡同40号
Hours: Sun-Thu 5.30pm-1am, Fri-Sat 5.30pm-3am
Contact: WeChat ID gh_c2c16f3987a0

READ: To Try List: Malo's on Meituan, Laksa Queen Opens & More

Images: courtesy of Timekeepers