Beijing Boyce

I’ve passed it a hundred times over the past year while hurtling about town checking the bars: that giant sky screen on Dongdachao Road,  perched some twenty meters in the air between the two four-story buildings of The Place, Beijing’s newest shopping complex.

I headed there last Tuesday night for dinner at the new Italian joint, Capone’s. (Expect a write-up soon, including on a dessert that fuses chocolate and chili peppers and a menu that lists 45 wines by the glass.) I ended up craning my neck outside for 20 minutes after being mesmerized by that screen.

Partly it was due to the vivid digital displays of butterflies undulating, goldfish languidly swimming and traditional Chinese umbrellas popping open, all accompanied by music. It was also the screen’s sheer size. An employee at the complex said it’s 250 by 50 meters (I walked it out at 230 by 35 paces). That’s 12,500 square meters of LED delight that probably requires enough electricity to power a small nation or two.

It’s worth it. And I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this monster - it’s the biggest sky screen in Asia!

Looking up at it, I thought of science fiction movies from the 1970s where the awe-struck citizens of a tiny town gaze skyward at the near-blinding light of an alien mother ship, seeing only the fuzziest of outlines of the crew within. Here I was in Beijing, with the same feeling, except I saw dancing butterflies instead of bulbous-headed martians, and avoided the nuisance of being beamed up and suffering a cavity search, which would have pretty much ruined dinner.

Also, the few dozen people around me didn’t look awe-struck. In fact, most of them were more interested in chatting, doing weird limbering exercises, or seeing who could hawk up the biggest loogie. I guess when you’ve a wall that stretches thousands of miles, some big TV on a weird angle doesn’t impress. And frozen loogies always bring the potential of unintentional comedy from slipping and sliding passers-by.

But for those who take delight in small, 12,5000-square meter wonders, brave the wind, brave the cold, and check out the mother ship.

Note: I’m not sure what hours the screen is on, but I caught the show at 8 PM.