Beijing Boyce

Happy Year of the Rat to readers of this blog!

When people ask me about “must see” attractions in Beijing, I include the Chinese New Year fireworks. Last year, I made this minute-long video of dozens of fireworks displays going off at midnight. The dark structure at right is Workers Stadium, the site of soccer matches for the Olympics. (Click the photo to get the video.)

The second video shows fireworks exploding about five meters in front of my apartment’s windows. The clip is a bit long, but then again, the fireworks are unrelenting, and it gives you an idea of the evening’s intensity.

Happy Chinese New Year!

See also: Let the fireworks begin (2007); I got your Olympics opening act! (2006)

As we sipped Horse Necks in Q Bar on Monday, Beijing newbie The Lab Rat said he’d like to get out and meet some people. The Cellar Rat suggested checking out the local scene and, along with Special K, we soon found ourselves at nearby YES Club where a dating extravaganza was in full play on stage. Guess which two of the following games we witnessed:

a) A woman and man were given a huge peeled banana – the woman put one end in her mouth and the man put the other end in his mouth, and they tried to eat the fruit without any spillage.

b) A woman piggybacked on a man and, to show his endurance, he did as many squats as possible while the emcee counted off repetitions.

c) Bib-less male contestants raced to see who could finish an entire baby bottle filled with beer.

d) A female contestant tried to move an uncooked egg up one pant of a male contestant, across the crotch, and down the other pant without breaking it.

The answer: b) and c). I witness the bride and groom perform d) at a Chinese wedding I recently attended. As for d), I’m putting it into the YES suggestion box, if the place has one.

His mind as active as a hamster on a treadmill, The Cellar Rat said that Chinese New Year is traditionally a time that guys take girlfriends home to meet the family and wondered if we were witnessing last-minute Year of the Rat hookups.

In any case, the games engaged the crowd and ended when some contestants did some “sexy dancing” that inspired patrons to swamp the floor, at which point we scurried off to a more sedate drinking hole.