Talking Pints: Armin van Buuren, Derrick Carter, Cosmo and Kruder
Fans of a good pint should check out Great Leap Brewing this weekend. Run by an American-German called Carl, his partner Sam and Carl’s wife Liu Fang, they’re a small operation turning out a bunch of craft beers from their base in a hutong just a few hundred meters west off Nanluogu Xiang. There’s not much to look at inside, but all you really want to go for is the beers anyway. At the moment, they have four beers on tap – Cinammon Rock Candy Ale, Honey Ma Blonde, Pale Ale No. 6, and Oatmeal Porter.
My personal favorite was the Honey Ma Blonde, with the Pale Ale a close second. They’ve got a board displaying the various beers that are coming up, so you can get a preview of the goodies to come. They’re at 6 Doujiao Hutong: from Di'anmenwai Dajie, walk east down Fangzhuanchang Hutong until you hit Doujiao Hutong. Turn right then follow the road round to the left when it splits in two – Great Leap is just around the corner.
Tonight’s top draw club-wise is arguably Armin van Buuren at GT Banana. I say arguably because it all really depends how much you enjoy standing in a crowd of people clamouring to snap photos of a Dutchman while he plays trance records. He’s rated as DJ magazine’s “number one DJ in the world” – there’ll be a prize for the first reader who can offer us an explanation as to what exactly that means. If you’re going along, entry is RMB 200 and gets underway at 10pm. Note that in this week's 7 Days in Beijing newsletter, we incorrectly listed Armin van Buuren's party as "coming up" on December 26. Yes, we got the month wrong. Apologies for any confusion caused. In any case, Armin probably never does much on December 26 - he's probably working off a massive hangover since his birthday is on Christmas Day.
Another dance music legend is also in town tonight – Chicago house pioneer Derrick Carter plays Punk. You can get in for free before 11pm, and it’s RMB 50 after that. Not to be missed.
Argentinian producer Jonas Kopp teams up with local promoters/DJs Science of Sounds at Yue on Lucky Street for minimal techno that’ll go on into the early hours. Yue is a venue to look out for, with more and more club nights on in their basement bar. Free entry for the Kopp party tonight.
On to another place that is starting to emerge as a reliable venue for clubbing, School has an electro party on tonight called Whale! Soundsystem. According to their flyer, Whale! Brings you “Eclectic music from non-DJs,” which might actually be a good thing.
Down in Gulou, Byebye Disco is closing down and having a party to “celebrate.” Drinks are discounted by 20 percent and festivities will continue until there’s not a drop left.
On to Saturday night, and the Kruder half of Kruder and Dorfmeister is at Link Star in World City. Entry is RMB 100. Up at 798, the team behind Yen - o2 Culture - bring you their latest Cosmo party. That means house from Taku Takahashi, Patrick Yu and Eddie Lv, and – listen to this – a chillout lounge from our good selves at the Beijinger. Tickets are RMB 100 on the door. Finally, at Yugong Yishan, Section 6 gives hip-hop heads cause not to go to Vics.
