Beijing Boyce

A Horizon survey recently ranked Beijing as the fifteenth best city, and that is only in China. Ouch! If my daily observations are any indication, Beijing’s drop from third last year is due to the worsening traffic and air pollution. Too bad it wasn’t a survey about nightlife or we might’ve ranked in the top 12. / You’d think Yao Ming’s NBA jersey would be the highest-selling in China, but he comes in third, behind teammate Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson. / China Radio International has started interviewing me weekly about Beijing’s bar scene. I wrote an article about martinis for this week’s China Daily and The Boston Globe quoted me a few days ago. At this rate, I’ll have the media clout of Rupert Murdoch in about, uh, 5,000 years. / Eight readers have expressed interest in the Whisky and Bourbon Society idea. The basic plan: get about a dozen people together at a local watering hole, where we’ll try three or four selections on the menu, and then a couple of bottles provided by members (these would be ones unavailable in China). This is a non-profit proposition: we simply add up the cost of the booze (this does not include airfare to Kentucky to pick up Bourbon) and divide by the number of attendees. If you are interested, let me know. I would like to get this started in the next month. / As always, if you like the newsletter, pass it on to like-minded individuals. They only need a “sign me up” email to beijingboyce@yahoo.com. Cheers, BB.

(From Beijing Boyce X, first emailed on February 10, 2006)