Beijing Boyce

Part 3 of a series on where Beijing residents enjoy a beverage (or two). This round is with regular bar hound Chandler Jurinka, founder of localnoodles.com.

There are no surprises in my five picks. Originally a wine drinker, I moved to Beijing and it destroyed my palate. I turned to Yanjing for solace. I love whisky but when the right labels aren’t in attendance I’ll settle quite comfortably for a dirty vodka martini – shaken.

Ichikura: To quench my Whisky whistle there is simply no bar in Beijing that parallels Ichikura. Walking into the bar is like walking onto a James Bond set. This is where Ted Turner would go to discuss offing Jane Fonda. The bar manager, with his bow tie and vest, is a man that approaches life with the precision of a true artist. Expect hand-shaved ice, theatrical lighting, and perfect drinks every time.

D-22: The first music venue I ever was introduced to ended up being my favorite music bar. This place is raw and uncensored. On the evenings when the local / foreign mix is just right there is a palpable energy coming from the crowd and the stage. The same acts sound and feel stale elsewhere. The bathrooms are horribly uncomfortable but the graffiti is skillfully done and makes one want to suck down a few more RMB15 beers in order to go back and study it more.

Q Bar: Add one part pierced sexy bartender, one part rooftop balcony, two parts George and Echo, and mix together Beijing’s best crowd, and you have the making of a kick-ass martini bar. It’s even better now that Beijing’s riffraff have been deported. I am a loyal fan although my Sunday mornings hate this place.

Yin Bar (The Emperor Hotel): As rooftop bars go, this one has got it nailed. Looking west over the Forbidden City at sunset is about as posh as it gets. There are times when it’s easy to forget we are living in Beijing. Sitting on that deck it’s hard to ignore all that has happened in China up to that moment.

Jianghu Jiuba: Character is what upgrades a crappy bar to the status of “dive”. I love dive bars. Other requirements include good music and a good pour to frequent patrons. This is one located in my neighborhood.

Previously:
Kevin Shen, T3 Terminal
Steven Schwankert, SinoScuba

Oh, traffic jam got more cars than a beach got sand.
- “Too Much”, Dave Matthews Band

Look for a new four-foot-high lane divider on Sanlitun Bar Street to slow traffic to a snail’s place. The divider, which separates the Swire complex from the neon-lit bar strip, offers only two openings - a crosswalk near the 3.3 Building and a turning lane near new Nali Studio. This means pedestrians will be crowded into a few bottlenecks, parking will be much more difficult, and cars will be unable to pass each other - expect traffic to back up EVERY time someone enters or exits a cab.

I’m guessing the first three slides of the “Sanlitun traffic options” Powerpoint presentation somehow got lost: 1) leave things as they are; 2) make the street pedestrian-only, or 3) take some of the Swire sidewalk and widen the road. Instead, it went directly to slide 4: Erect a metal barrier to make things worse for drivers and pedestrians. Hopefully, there is no slide 5: Add a speed bump every five meters.

Despite all this, getting a cab in Sanlitun should still be easier than at The Place. Over the past month, I have been a regular at Pacific Coffee there and it seems that getting a Z visa is easier than hailing a cab at The Place after 5 PM.

Consider a recent weekday, when I tried to catch a cab at 9:40 PM. I waited: 1) near the entrance, 2) 200 meters north, hoping a cab would round the corner from Ritan Park, 3) 200 meters north of the back end of The Place, hoping a cab would come out of Central Park, 4) the back end of The Place, and 5) 200 meters north of there (again). I finally caught at taxi at 10:35 PM, at which point we had to drive past the back end of The Place, along its southern flank, and past its entrance, thereby unfairly exciting dozens of people still hoping to catch a ride by midnight.

Isolated incident? Other recent adventures include: 1) waiting so long for a cab that I gave up, went back into The Place, ate, and returned an hour later in the hope that the queue had shortened; 2) giving up and walking south to Guanghua Road to grab a cab; and 3) walking home.