Beijing Boyce

My constructive criticisms (some erroneously label them complaints) usually fall on deaf ears, but not so those of the woman who brought me kicking and screaming into the world and made my early years happy ones by including a shot of Johnnie Walker Blue in those baby bottles – just kidding, the Blue was off limits, I had to make due with the Black.

Her visit to our fair city a few months ago included trips to the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Great Wall and, of course, The Rickshaw. At the latter, she declared the wings tasty but added that a much better experience would be had if only there were wetnaps with which to wipe that Buffalo sauce from one’s fingers. Mom spoke and The Rickshaw – in the true spirit of respecting one’s elders – listened.

The wings now come with wetnaps.

Thanks, Mom.

China Doll picked up numerous bar and club awards this year, but it sounds like playtime is over. Ai Wan, the face of this place, and a new investor have parted ways.

This might be a blessing in disguise for Ai Wan. Whether she is involved or not, China Doll seemed destined for decline. The designers did an admirable job but this space appears too limited to go any further and didn’t seem a particularly good fit for Tongli.

With her ties to Cloud Nine, and a following from China Doll, it’ll be interesting to see what she does next. Hopefully, it means no end to the Ai Wan Jamaica and the 42 Below (with a grapefruit slice, not an orange or lime one) cocktails.

Expect more than a few people to mosey on down to The Saddle tomorrow as the place rides into the sunset. Skyrocketing rent appears to be the key culprit for this spot begun by Kris Ryan and Nick Ma that became known for its burritos and margaritas. It spun off Cox, which closed a few months back, and The Rickshaw, doing a thriving business.

What is to become of the Saddle? Given trends on the street, namely, the opening of four Pure Girl bars, this strip may soon see a quintuplet of chaste ladies.

Browns, which went from bar of the year to bust of the year in the space of, uh, a year will reopen in two months, says an industry insider. One of the original investors is renovating the place and adding a restaurant in back.

As evidenced last night, the redesign is already underway, as workers touted rubbish outside. Inside, the wall enclosing the bar proper is gone, creating a massive open space. The room upstairs and at the back – once planned as a sake and vodka bar – has also been opened up and made accessible by a second staircase.

More on this to come…

See here for previous Browns stories.

PS. I’ve tried to contact the former managing partner of Browns about the circumstances of its closing, but have received no response.

Popular pizza joint The Tree is branching out. An email from the place says that Nearby The Tree will open on October 21, just a hop, skip and jump away (see map below).

“The new venue is on two floors and the concept is different – downstairs will still be a bar with a similar drinks menu to The Tree (De Koninck and Hoegaarden on tap) but more spacious. Upstairs (when open as phase two) will be serving fresh pasta and an excellent wine list,” states the email. “The upstairs is child-friendly and the Belgian emphasis returns with waffles to please those with a sweet tooth.”

Children with waffles or adults with Belgian beer – who’s going to be the rowdier bunch?

Here’s the map:

Spencer Grey Group, which runs Alfa, Muse, Café St. Laurent and Le Hugo, among other Beijing establishments, will soon open Project H, a one-thousand-square-meter bar, restaurant, lounge, and patio complex on Sanlitun North. I spoke to company bigwig Blane Kieng about current and upcoming projects.

Why did you get into the bar business and why Alfa?
I started Muse [a Chaoyang West restaurant] in May 2003, during SARS. It was doing well and we constantly had people eating there and then asking us if they could leave their car so they could pop down to Suzie Wong‘s for a drink. I thought that if I could get them for dinner, why not for drinks?

I looked for a location and checked out the space that is now Purple Haze (across from Gongti North). It had a very shi shi design by a well-known artist. I didn’t want to throw out the design, but it wasn’t working. We went to the next hutong for a drink, to a bar called Emergency Room, and someone said, “Why not buy this place?” I took it over and started to do my own thing.

Why did you call the place Alfa?
I wanted a name that easily translated into English and Chinese – I wanted both crowds (foreigners and locals). In terms of the logo, Alpha means first and I also thought that since it started with “a”, it would be listed near the beginning of most directories. I used Alfa instead of Alpha, because graphically it looked better.

What were some of the milestones in Alfa?
Six months in we started the 80s nights. It was not that successful at first – we drew a lot of expats but not many locals. Three years later, many people have heard those 80s songs many times and know how to dance to them.

The following March we redesigned the patio and changed it from an open space to a designed space. We added beds and running water, gave it a Southeast Asia resort feel, and it took off.

We redesigned the interior the next fall. Before it was like a cave. We improved the layout and extended the upper floor, so that the place would carry us over the winter periods.

The next year, we made steady progress, and then in the third year [this year] we redid the patio [which included enclosing it]. It has been a runway success. Café St. Laurent [which uses the Alfa space for Sunday brunches] has helped expand the market and the 80s nights this summer have come into their own.

What does the Alfa crowd drink?
Mostly cocktails – it’s a casual and relaxed atmosphere from Sunday to Thursday, and raucous on the weekends. Expats tend to go on Fridays and locals on Saturdays.

Your new effort, Project H, sounds a lot like Block 8.
It’s pretty much the same concept. We will have a restaurant, a bar, a club, and a patio and rooftop garden in one venue. We’re shooting for an atmosphere where people know each other. It’s a place you will go to see and be seen and also to meet people you know.

We’re shooting for a crowd that wants nice food, nice drinks and good service. Cocktails will be 50 to 60 kuai. Where Alfa is now – we want to move it up a notch.

What would you say to those who think Sanlitun is too seedy?
That’s the old Sanlitun. The new Sanlitun, on the north and south sides, will be different. It will have five-star hotels, Armani and LV shops – we’re going along with the development.

Even though Sanlitun is seedy now, the area surrounding it and the people living there are not. They are looking for a good meal, good drinks and a good patio. We’ll have the best patio in Sanlitun. It will have good views of Chaoyang Park and all the way south to Q Bar.

When will Project H open?
We’ll open the fifth floor [restaurant, bar and lounge] the first week of January. From January until spring festival will be the soft opening. The full launch will come afterward and the rooftop will open mid-April.

Providing good service in Beijing is a major challenge. How will you deal with this?
A large percent of our effort is having better staff and training, training, training. You have staff focused on the short-tem, looking for a higher salary next month. The best we can do is offer good salaries, treat the staff well, and provide benefits like a good atmosphere. Our staff will work somewhat on a commission basis in order to provide incentives.

What are your favorite drinks and watering holes in Beijing?
I’m a big martini drinker and I judge a place by how well it makes them - I like a dirty gin martini with three olives. Q Bar, Centro, Red Moon Bar, they make good drinks.

Note: Spencer Grey Group has a strip of four to five bars, also to be located in Sanlitun, in the works. I’ll have more on this later.

Plan A: Sedate Saturday Night quickly became Plan B: Unscheduled Pub Crawl to Later Regret after I hooked up with Special K, Miss P and The Cellar Rat last weekend. I posted live about our stops to Hooters and The Den. Here’s how the rest of the night played out…

Q Bar: Twas bustling, but not uncomfortably crowded, although the music was too loud. To numb myself to it, I ordered an Alfonso Special. This drink’s advantage is its absence on the menu: this means one of the Q’s two bartenders extraordinaire, George and Echo, will get involved, apply their mixology skills and ensure a quality beverage.

Our crew started on the sofas but the arrival of numerous acquaintances required a move to the coveted “bed” section by the bar. The area is elevated, triangular and populated with a table and a dozen pillows. It also necessitates removing your shoes, something that I’m not keen about doing in public save for a few crucial places (a hot tub, for example).

A man is emasculated when revealing his socks. He faces the olfactory risk of sharing space with “bed sitters” who have less than satisfactory pedary hygiene. And in my case, sitting cross-legged or sidesaddle for an hour is as enjoyable as eyeball acupuncture (note to self: cut down on those carbs).

I sat next to a Shanghai-based photographer and we compared drinking holes in our two cites. The general conclusion: Shanghai wins on service and quality, while Beijing is earthier and, I argue, more fun due to a diverse expatriate population. (Case in point, our group included diplomats, journalists, businesspeople and NGO employees.)

Nanjie: Loud and crowded and hot and sweaty downstairs, so we headed for the balcony, which requires climbing through a second-floor window (there’s that Beijing earthiness). The balcony is relatively quiet, with great views of the street action, though I have a tip for management – the coniferous trees out there with razor-sharp needles don’t a fun bar experience make (except in the case of that very limited S&M niche).

By the time I removed a half-dozen barbs from my hand, Special K was talking to a young hyperactive Australian woman. Having established everyone’s nationalities, the woman became increasingly, uh, explicit with her opinions and questions. She informed us that she would only “defile” her body with alcohol and thought smoking to be utterly vile. She asked us in more graphic terms than I’ll share here if we’d had any gay – and I don’t mean happy – experiences. To be fair, she doubled my knowledge or orifice-related sexual terminology. (Again, can you get this in Shanghai? If so, can you get it for free?)

Having forsaken my mental note to go home after Q Bar, and acquiring a headache from trying to grasp the logistics of the acts this woman described, I decided to make my move (as Miss P had smartly done 20 minutes earlier):

“That’s it for me guys,” I said.
“One more drink,” said Special K.
“No, seriously, that’s it. I want to watch baseball tomorrow morning.”

This caused The Cellar Rat to bring out the secret weapon: “Hey, look at that place across the street, with the skull and crossbones above it. It’s new – you can write about it.”

True, a bar called Heat simmered there, although the “crossbones”, as Special K helpfully noted, looked more like four sets of crude male genitalia.

Here is a short review of Heat: We entered, we found a dance floor the size of Nanjie’s and holding a dozen people (most seemingly staggeringly drunk), we found a bar in back with a few patrons and we found a wait staff with an eager “please, just buy ONE drink” glint in their eyes. Before guilt overtook us, Special K and I caught The Cellar Rat mid-order and we hustled out. (Note: this doesn’t mean that Heat will not be popular, it’s just that it wasn’t hot on this night. It wasn’t cooking. It was on the back burner. It was… let’s just go on.)

We headed next door to Caribe, a cavernous club packed with gyrating and mostly fit bodies. We parked on the second floor and watched dancers of all shapes and sizes and nationalities sweat buckets. Occasionally, about two-thirds of them engaged in a kind of mass line dance.

Directly below a 75-year-old man with the foot speed of someone half his age showed his moves and drank Johnnie Walker Red on the rocks.

Ten feet away, a brunette and a blond competed for some guy on the dance floor. The blond grabbed and kissed him so hard I though she might suck out a lung. This caused the brunette to grab his buddy and do the same, in the hope, I guess, of inspiring jealousy. It didn’t happen, so the brunette interrupted the Hoover-like vacuum betwixt the couple under the pretext that they should all dance together.

This scene made me feel dirty all over. Or maybe it was because I hadn’t been home since 10 AM that morning, having gone seamlessly from working to partying.

“That’s it for me, guys,” I said.
“One more drink,” said Special K.

The man is evil, but they say you can do a deal with the devil (or is it vice versa?). So we made a compromise: we would go to Rickshaw, not to drink, but to eat and rehydrate.

With the England-France rugby game on, fans were flank to shank in the place, so we braved the cool and sat outside on the balcony. Special K mocked me for ordering apple juice or at least I think he did: it sounded something like “youse guys arnt reee-yall men. I’m ordrin’ beee-yeer.” A few minutes later came poetic justice – he began tearing up because the wings were “too hot”. And those were the medium ones…

Ah, a Beijing Saturday night…

9:15 PM, The Den, second floor

Blogging live with Special K and Miss P from the brand new second floor of The Den, which the staff inform us – with some arm twisting – we are the first to patronize. Special K had the first Carlsberg poured. Unfortunately, no one else is upstairs to celebrate with us, but the first floor is packed. Susan, the lone employee up here, is incredibly friendly, in case anyone from The Den’s management is reading. She informs us that more people will soon be up here and, lo and behold, customers four and five just showed up.

By the way, we just left Hooters, which was also packed.

The crowd was diverse, with plenty of younger Chinese and numerous families, and had a good vibe. I think this place is easier to grasp if you consider the Hooters girls simply as cheerleaders who occasionally smack into one other when they do their collective dances. By the way, they almost have “Mickey” down.

We stuck to beer, although you get ten free wings if you order a bottle of Dom Perignon – we recommend the crispy-skinned ones for your champers. We watched televised sports included women’s softball, women’s nine-ball, and guys racing cars with trailers attached to them.

All in all, better than I expected, though Special K was upset about something that we can currently and possibly never ever talk about (more details later).

As reported in early 2006, Browns opened as a near knockoff of Taipei bar Carnegie’s – the layout, color scheme, decorations and drinks menu were similar. Then-managing partner Philip Cheung said he wanted to open a Carnegie’s branch- othere are found in Hong Kong, Perth and Kuala Lumpur – but the franchise fee was too high.

Carnegie’s celebrates its sixth anniversary tonight and is arguably Taipei’s best bar since 2007, with a good wine and drinks selection, efficient service, a fun vibe for partying with friends, and a massive and tasty breakfast.

In other words, everything Browns might be offering us now. Instead, the place remains closed after Philip – and apparently all of the Browns’ furniture, kitchen equipment et al – disappeared.

Rumors has it the place will reopen, the remaining partners seeing a potential Olympics payoff. If so, let’s hope that they reignite the Carnegie’s spirit that Browns had during its first six months and avoid the costly marketing, quality and human resource moves that ultimately led to this place’s demise.

Previous posts re Browns
Off to a good start: No blues for Browns
Bar of the Year: And the TBJ bar awards winners are…
Warning signal!: On Browns
Browns: Love it…
Browns: … or hate it
Browns: Merry-go-Browns I
Browns: Merry-go-Browns II

The winter chill shall soon be upon us, so I met friend and fellow wine lover, The Cellar Rat (TCR), at Apertivo on Tuesday night to relax on the patio and fuel up before going on a walkabout. The Cappuccino (20 kuai) was tasty, the personal-size salami pizza (25 kuai) a decent snack, and the place moderately full, a good showing for a Tuesday after a weeklong vacation. (Note: I dropped into Apertivo last Friday with Eddie O and Jolly and also enjoyed a drink there, the only downside being the frequent beeping horns, shrieking car alarms and grumbling motorcycles on the facing street that would work so much better if it were pedestrian-only.)

TCR and I finished our beverages, tied our shoelaces, and headed out. Our first stop was L’Etage, around the side and on the second floor of Tongli Studio. It appears the place has changed hands, become a wine bar, and started selling bottles, mostly French labels, imported by its new owner, who we were told supplies numerous French restaurants. The bottle prices seem reasonable and the place is comfortable enough, especially the snug side balcony fitted with about a half-dozen tables for two, though the open window of Taniwha just above it means loud music is your likely companion as the night wears on.

The Smugglers, across from Kai and Butterfly and backing onto The Tree, is, like Shooters nearby, a step or two above the average cheap Qingdao dive. The decor is simple – stone floors, wooden tables and chairs, a basic wooden bar, and walls plastered with colorful posters and prints. The layout consists of numerous rectangular rooms designed for a dozen or so patrons, with the bar squeezed into a space near the center. It’s a bit of a labyrinth and might be a decent stop for friends seeking a few drinks, though the excess of hard surfaces suggests it will be noisy. According to the a sign, a bottle of Grolsch will cost you 15 kuai.

China Doll was empty, not surprisingly given it was early on a Tuesday, so we headed to the main Sanlitun drag, though not before TCR noticed a broad banner above Tongli’s entrance reading: “Severely blow to the drug-related crimes.” I haven’t been harassed by a single drug dealer in this area for more than four months. Is a criminal element running rampant beneath my nose because I look too square for them to make a pitch? Or is it hidden amid all those underage drinkers that infest the area on weekends?

Anyway, we continued our walkabout and passed that new white building south of 3.3, which will house Project H (more on this to come), and headed north to Bocata. This place looks cozy from the street and doesn’t disappoint up close. The large sand-and-stone patio is partly protected by shrubs, modestly lit, and furnished with 18 tables that each seat two to four people. An elevated and fairly wide deck provides good views of the street while inside there are ten small tables. This place shares the same owner as Tapas, though this menu is focused on soups, salads and sandwiches. The drinks list features cocktails at 30 to 45 kuai, including tomato and vodka lemon at 42 kuai and honey, rum and vanilla at 45 kuai. Coffees are 18 to 28 kuai and the place offers a few German beers I’ve not before seen (sorry, I forgot to write down the names).

We next headed north to Dine and Wine. Along the way, we passed Cappuccino. I’ve been once and think my lack of patronage might be linked to an allergy induced by the profusion of neon and lighting on this place’s façade.

We made a quick stop to check out progress on Paddy O’Shea’s, the bar being opened by Gleann Phealan From outside, it looks airy, has high ceilings (I’d guess 12 footers), features an L-shaped bar that would be even nicer if a few stools were pulled up to it (and I was on one of them), and includes in its décor… hmmm… shamrocks. Well, I was excited up to that point.

By the way, Paddy’s is beside A-Che, where I have thrice dined and thrice regretted it. Luckily, this place isn’t in some U.S. states where three crimes of a certain type will see one tossed in jail for life (I’m not sure if sub-par food and service is one of them, but it should be under consideration). Mind you, I have had a few okay Mojitos there. Perhaps the secret is to stick to the liquids.

Anyway, our goal was W Dine and Wine, and we finally made it. We parked at the small bar (seats three) and checked the wine menu, which lists about 80 different bottles as well as, by the glass, three red and white (30 to 60 kuai) and a sparkling (65 kuai) wine. The place is long and narrow, with a subdued décor of modern white and black furniture and grey curtains. It falls on the right side of the line dividing elegant and pretentious, though it is a bit tame for my tastes.

TCR and I each ordered a glass of wine (the staff quickly changed his after giving him the wrong pour) and enjoyed the free eats – a selection of salami paired with un-pitted black and green olives, onions and peppers that carried a salsa and, according to TCR, refried bean flavors. Though perhaps not the best match for wine, these snacks were gratefully received, as was a second helping provided without our asking. Nice.

Put on your cowboy hats and bid a fond farewell to Saddle, which will close on October 19. Skyrocketing rents and mafang landlords appear to be the culprit at the first jewel in the good-eats empire of Kris Ryan and Nick Ma – it spun off the former chicken wing haven COX and one of Sanlitun South’s busier bars, The Rickshaw. Don’t expect a long wait before these guys get another spot going.

Speaking of The Rickshaw, the winter menu will be available by month’s end and includes Shephard’s pie, chicken pot pie, beef stew and chicken noodle soup. It also seems to be drawing more baseball fans as the World Series progresses – sadly, without the Cubs – and shows Monday Night Football as well.

When I dropped into The Rickshaw last Friday morning to watch the Chicago Cubs – Arizona Diamondbacks game, I didn’t imagine that 24 hours later I would be blogging live about nearly 20 foreigner-driven three-wheeled “rickshaws” racing around the Houhai area on a pub crawl. (Then again, I didn’t imagine the Cubs would get swept and extend their failure to win the World Series to 99 years, but I digress.)

I blogged six times about the event on Saturday (see all of the posts here). Now that the event is a few days behind, my overwhelming memory is of the many locals, from bar owners and employees to bystanders, who seemed to have had nearly as much fun as the participants. From taking photos of and with the rickshaw racers, to watching a few of them go for a dip in Houhai, to sharing dance moves at the post-race bash, it was good times all-around.

In any case, I spent half of the day at Houhai Zoo and the other half touring the course with race marshal Alistair:

The racers took 90 minutes to three hours to finish, with only a few major incidents – one tipped over rickshaw at the beginning and three rickshaw-car scrapes (the owners of the autos were fully compensated).

Some of the more memorable moments:

- Befuddled racers trying to find The Reef or Drum & Bell or any other number of bars, but refusing – out of pride – to pay the one-drink penalty to the race marshal in exchange for directions.

- Racers busting moves on the deck of Houhai Zoo to the amusement of locals.

- What must have been a seventy-year-old man stopping his bike, parking it and showing some moves of his own.

- The further spread of pajama culture in Beijing.

- And couples taking wedding photos: what a contrast to see Chinese in Western wedding wear beside Westerners about to race Chinese rickshaws. Perhaps not globalization at its finest, but certainly in its explicitness.

As for the serious business, according to Mike Iannini for whom the race was his going away party, the winners seem to have been the team of Gary, Grace and Max, though  he adds that they may have played a trick or two on the other teams along the way.The following establishments participated and, noted the race marshal, did a superb job: No Name Bar, Hai Bar, Huxley’s (Shut Up Just Drink), Shui Gui Qi, Drum and Bell, Cafe Sambal, Ball House, Paper, Reef, Fish Nation, Pass By Bar, Houhai Zoo and, last but not least, the Xiao Mai Bu across from 20.

Props go to Mike Ianinni, Alistair, Chad Lager of The Rickshaw and Huxley of Houhai Zoo, where the race began and ended. Sadly, it coincided with the final weekend for the Zoo as Huxley will put more focus on the new Nanjie, which has done a rocking business since opening about a month ago. Good luck to Huxley and the Zoo staff, pictured here:

Hopefully, East meets West again…

… next year.

That’s the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it…

I checked out the third anniversary of Alfa’s eighties parties, held the Friday heading into vacation and it was… gnarly. Special K, who runs the brunch there every weekend as Alfa transforms into Café St. Laurent, made 800 Jell-O shots for the occasion. They were potent as only a drink concocted of three parts white Rum to two parts wiggly dessert would be.

The place was packed, a fun crowd, except for one guy, apparently working at Moet, who walked by our table, saw our Champagne bucket, picked up our bottle, saw it wasn’t from his firm, gave a disgusted look, put it down, and walked off. So fast I had no time to say, I love Moet! It’s the Budweiser of Champagnes!

Strangely enough, I’ve been to Alfa three times during the past month, but have yet to make it from the covered patio and into the bar.

In any case, I sat down with Alfa owner Blane the following Monday to ask him about a project known only as “H“. To sum up, he is taking over the top two floors of Nali studios, which will give him 500 meters of square space on one level – to be split between two restaurants and a club – and 500 meters of space on the roof. The latter should interest events organizers struggling to find decent downtown rooftop bars and restaurants that can hold more than 250 people.

Blane, who also runs several restaurants (including Muse) and has a discount card called Hedonist, aims to create what I can only describe as a “lifestyle empire.” I hope to post more about Project H as it comes along.

Finally, if you haven’t had the Café St. Laurent Asian Bloody Mary - with wasabi and soya sauce in the mix – it’s worth a try.

A meal in a glass

Tim Hortons coffee… oyster omelets… pancakes with maple syrup… Bloody Caesars (those would be with Clamato, rather than tomato, juice)… and (organ music) Hockey Night in Canada…

Canucks, hold onto your zambonis, because it appears Alfa / Café St. Laurent is about to make your dreams come true. I have been talking with Billy K, the brains behind the excellent CSL brunch, and plans are in the works to broadcast Hockey Night in Canada (Saturday night Canuck time, Sunday morning Beijing time) and throw down a breakfast to make those from the Great White North proud. It’ll be a kind of He shoots… he pours (the maple syrup) kind of thing.

Stay tuned for more details. And remember – keep your stick on the ice…

Note: A big shout to p3wong, who pitched this idea last year for ICEhouse (caps added due to hockey-related relevance).

5:30 PM, Houhai Zoo

Just realized I saved instead of published The Rickshaw Rally V. So here’s V and VII, and then I’m off… I’ll have more on the event, including some minor details – such as who won – in the very near future.

V

It’s hard not to smoke at a place called Paper…

Race Marshall Al keeping up with the racers

VII

Chilling out after the race…

… and explaining that this is Olympic training.

Showing the laowai how to groove Houhai-style

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

DJ Martin cranks out some tunes…

… While Rickshaw Rallyists bust some moves…

… and draw a crowd.

It ends where all Houhai events should… in pristine waters.

4:25 PM, Houhai Zoo

Okay, now is zee time in zee zoo ven vee drink… prost! Throbbing tunes, tasty pizza and plenty of celebratory drinks as I post these photos…

A theme for this race?

Totally lost…

Totally lost, part II

Totally lost, part 3: but they finally found The Reef.

The end of a long race

Do you think Chad had a good time?

3:45 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai

Returned to Houhai Zoo after about 25 drop-ins up and down the route – and no, those did not involve alcohol consumption on the part of yours truly. Teams are pouring in – some exhausted, some exhilirated, and there are more than a few curious locals watching.

Ready for Bed (the bar)

Ready, start…

Splashing out for shooters at The Reef

Race Marshall Al with a participating establishment

2:40 PM, Drum and Bell

The teams raced – well, some kind of wobbled as they got their cycling legs – from Houhai Zoo on the course. Here are some photos based on the past hour of popping in and out of venues on the way.

Okay… I guess I’m not going to post… the photos won’t upload. A few observations then:

- To say most of the Chinese bar owners and staff are amused with this event would be an understatement. They have that “those crazy foreigners” grin>

- Numerous tourists are straining to take photos of the Rickshaw Ralliers and especially Race Marshall Al in his somewhat classic semi-military outfit.

Gotta run…

1:20 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai Well, the race apparently starts at 1:30 PM, so a few more pictures – and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen this many people in pajamas. I’ll be riding with Race Marshall Al and hopefully will find some wireless along the way.

Proud pajama’d Mikey with his sign

Pre-race training

The race inspires a marriage (nice socks!)

12:50 PM, Houhai Zoo, Houhai

Call it the Great Houhai Race, The Rickshaw Rally, or the Saturday Morning Antics of a Bunch of Beijing Denizens Having a Hoot – at 1 PM some 25 rickshaws will take off from Houhai Zoo in, well, Houhai and cycle through the streets to visit pubs, chug drinks and generally compete to complete the circuit. Each team must hit nine of 13 thirteen bars – a stop at a Xiaomaibu for a Yanjing beer is mandatory. The teams do not know the route. Once they finish a drink at a given bar – and everyone on the team must finish first – the manager will give them an envelope indicating the next location.

The race represents the going away party of Mike Ianinni, who will soon leave our fair city and relocate to Bangalore, India (hey, it’s only a plane ride away).

Could this be a new Olympic event?

Yet another blue sky day in Houhai

Rickshaw’s Chad, Mikey, Race Marshall Al, The Zoo’s Huxley


A swimming component for next year’s race?

Patrol boats would be available for safety.