Beijing Boyce

If only I had a pop-up map...

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I regularly get asked about how to find a particular bar or restaurant (note: I prefer those types of calls before midnight on weekdays). Given the new pop-up map feature on this site, I’ll run a couple of posts about some of the harder to find places in town.

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Where is Chocolate?

Two parts LAN (décor), two parts Treasure Island (entertainment and clientele), one dash CJW (ascending seating areas), and a handful of potential trouble (those vodka shots can catch up on you), this over-the-top, put-you-under-the-table club is here.

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Where is Ichikura?

This cozy Japanese whiskey and cocktail joint, with room for 12 along the bar, a couple of small private rooms, about 100 single malts, and a get-away-from-it-all vibe, is here.

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Where is Ginkgo?

Formerly known as Room 101 and currently the beachhead for drinkers in Andingmen, this place, with a decent range of beers, a bar downstairs and a restaurant upstairs, and regular live music, is here.

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Where is Chuan Ban?

This typically packed Sichuan restaurant, with reasonable prices and more than enough pepper power for the vast majority of spicy food fans, is here.

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Where is Obiwan?

This three-story joint with a dance floor, bars, lounge spaces, and a rooftop deck, not to mention the honor of nearly causing Mr. Brau’s shaved head to freeze solid when we spent an hour circling Houhai in an attempt to find it late one winter night, is here.

I popped into Shanghai Dumpings & Noodles, just around the corner from Apertivio, with NC last night for a bite to eat. The chicken, mushroom, and rice combo was tasty except, well, there were no mushrooms and RMB18 is a bit pricey for such basic fare. We also ordered two trays of dumplings – pork (RMB16) and shrimp (RMB21). While the fillings were OK, the wraps were too dry and hung in my stomach like half-cooked French fries. As for drinks, a Coke runs RMB5, while Tsingtao is RMB10. On the value scale, it didn’t quite cut it, given that a burrito and soda at Side Saddle is RMB50 or a sandwich and soda at Le Petit Gourmand is RMB47 and up.

What made the place memorable is that its lone TV showed… curling. Yes, that fast-paced sport where a player – between smoke breaks – throws “rocks” down a sheet of ice, while his or her teammates “sweep” with brooms, all an attempt to get their marker closest to the bull’s eye.

First hockey at Goose and Duck, and now curling (Sweden versus Canada) at Shanghai Dumplings and Noodles. It’s enough to warm a Canadian’s heart…

I go out quite a bit but usually display enough self-control to avoid hangovers. The problem is events where the booze is free and flowing – an all-you-can-drink Japanese joint, a wine tasting with unlimited pours, a wedding or business dinner where “ganbei” is the rule.

A few of those converged over a thirty-hour period at the tail end of last week and gave me the worst brain-pounding, I-will-never-drink-again hangover of the millennium. The key event: my best friend’s wedding, which involved a few too many baijiu shots. An unexpected follow-up: I had a first date afterward and, having forewarned the poor woman ahead of time of the state of my condition, showed up to find out her preferred cocktail was… milk.

A few notes on some places visited during a two-night spree:

- Hong Kong Jockey Club: Near the Legendale Hotel, this spacious and luxurious venue has a large lobby, high ceilings, and plenty of marble and plush carpets. I attended an event for Louis Roderer wines, organized by Links Concept, and downed a few glasses of Kristal (a bottle in a restaurant would cost about as much as, uh, the rent on my apartment for a month, so, yes, I indulged).

- Chocolate: The best combination of over-the-top fun, good service, reasonably priced drinks, and decor in town. We ordered the Russian Standard vodka, which is great value at RMB238 per bottle (mixers cost extra), and enjoyed the floor show, the general wildness, and a few shots. (Apparently, I became engaged in a dispute about my country’s virtues but it, fortunately for me, turned into hugs all around.)

- Punk: I know people who love this place, so we will have to agree to disagree. I find the drinks are overpriced (RMB50 for a Rum and Coke), the layout mundane, and the place to have as much charm as a school auditorium.

- Golden [Something]: I can’t remember the full name, which is fine, since I won’t be back. This is one of those hostess bars where half-bored female employees feed patrons pieces of fruit on sticks, keep the Johnnie Walker and Heineken flowing, occasionally say “ganbei”, and grimace as people take turns slaughtering songs KTV-style. I just don’t get the appeal of these places. Next…

- Suzie Wong: This old standby remains among the “must see” bars when I take visitors on a Beijing bar crawl. We had a bottle of Jose Cuervo 1800, which people at my table, when they weren’t dancing, mixed with… cranberry juice? I’ll have mine straight, please.

- Centro: Another old standby, the place was packed to the max on Saturday night, with every table full and plenty of people standing about. Despite this being a pretty pricey place, there was no sign of an economic recession here.

An Xiang Fu Dong: A Hubei restaurant across from the Kuntai Hotel. Though I was saturated with baijiu (this would be at the wedding), the food stood out as tasty and extremely good value.

When The Rickshaw picked up a handful of prizes at the then-that’s Beijing (now The Beijinger) bar and clubs awards in 2007, I suggested that a reality TV would be perfect to capture the antics of the three main personalities at the place: (from left to right) Chad lager, Kris Ryan, and Luga. To quote that post:

The Rickshaw’s Chad, Kris and Luge [Luga] need their own reality show. It’d be hard to find three guys who have a better time but differ more in personality and looks. An American, an Aussie and a Chinese – they could be packaged as a young Harry Morgan [later changed to Bruce Willis], the Crocodile Dundee of Beijing and China’s Fonz (heyyy!), teaming up to run a bar with all the craziness that comes from happy hours, drunk patrons and cultural misunderstandings among a diverse clientele. Just stick a few cameras on the first floor, second fl0or and deck, and one in that public bathroom around the side (none in the kitchen - the wings recipe needs protection). Seriously, three fun characters in a funky spot called The Rickshaw in a city with global attention in the run-up to the Olympics – you wouldn’t watch this?

Too bad it didn’t happen. At that time, the empire consisted of The Rickshaw and The Saddle. Since then?

The Rickshaw guys went on to open The Saddle Cantina, then DIY burrito joint Side Saddle, and now a cafe in the Volkswagen building on Sanlitun North.

Luga grabbed hold of The Saddle and turned it into Luga’s, then opened Luga’s Villa, with a bar downstairs and a restaurant upstairs, and will soon expand Lug’as by taking over the apartment above (complete with a balcony).

And Lager left and then managed TUN, which has exploded in popularity due to its Friday ladies night and Tuesday open mic night, among other things, and plans to soon open a new place.

These guys have collectively had a major impact on the Sanlitun bar scene over the past few years and now – or, rather, will soon – account for 7.5 places (I’m giving .5 for Luga’s expansion). About the only Beijing equivalent that comes to mind is how Alameda eventually spun off SALT and Mosto, all good places in their own rights.

By the way, look for The Saddle Cantina to officially open its deck this Thursday with half-price Margaritas and five-kuai beers.

Room: Look for this much-anticipated venue from chef Brian McKenna (ex-Blu Lobster) to open in early July in the Yintai building. Word is that Room will have meals at ~RMB200, a cocktail bar, and a few surprises for the dining scene.

The Meat & Wine Co. has opened in the Legation Quarter, in the corner between Maison Boulud and Sadler. Meanwhile, Fez, the rooftop venue above Agua, is readying for the spring season.

El Fognicito has reopened in the Wanda Plaza area, though the branch across from The Place looks as though it will not get off the ground. Meanwhile in The Place, Song is undergoing renovations and expected to reopen in a few weeks.

Duck de Chine, in the 1949: The Hidden City complex, is offering half-price dim sum, from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM daily. Prices start at RMB11 for duck spring rolls, steamed spare ribs, and pan-fried turnip cake.

A branch of Ganges has opened in Sanlitun Village – sharing third-floor space with Blue Frog, Union Bar & Grille, Va Va Voom, Herbal Cafe, and Element Fresh – and offers the RMB38 lunch buffet for which it is known elsewhere. Next door, in new Nali Studio, Mughal is offering a RMB45 lunch special.

(Aside: I had a dream last night that City Weekend would run a graphic of Shiva holding a business card in each hand from an Indian restaurant in Beijing. Why do I feel this will actually happen?)

Bubble fans: www.yangjiu.com features two good deals, from today to next Thursday, on sparkling wine:

• Heidsieck Monopole Blue Top Brut Champagne, which typically sells for over RMB300, is RMB200 (for those into scores, according to wine.com, it received 93 points from Wine Enthusiast and 91 points from Wine Spectator, with the latter listing it as one of the 100 best wines of 2007).

• Henkell rose or dry sparkling wine at RMB50, half of the regular price.

You can order these wines via the Web site or by contacting customerservice@yangjiu.com / 800-988-0725.

Thanks to Adam Steinberg, who is now working at yangjiu.com, for the heads up.

Note: This is the first post on this blog to include pop-up maps (click the word “map” listed beside each place) and the ability to forward bar addresses to your mobile phone (see here for details).

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In the latest installment of the Top Five Watering Holes series, Andrew Schorr and Ellis Rahhal of Mobile Native give their top picks for drinks in the city, including a convenience store, a pizza joint, and a Bar That Shall Not Be Named.

The Wudaokou 7-ELEVEN (map)

Ellis: Amazing people-watching. There’s always dozens of people hovering inside and outside regardless of season because of the proximity to the dance club Propaganda. Students from every corner of the world, lurkers, beggars, can collectors, chuanr stand workers, police, and locals from all over the city stand out front either taking a breather from mad hip hop exercise or spending most of the evening drinking relatively cheap foreign beers purchased in the store. There’s always a story developing here. Best hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 11 PM to 4 AM.

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Lugar (map)

Andrew: The cocktail menu is an interesting read – he’s really doing some creative things with his alcohol. Look behind the bar and you’ll catch various herbs steeping in alcohol bottles like a project for the adult science fair. The place is rarely busy which means the nice pool table and big screen TV are usually up for the taking. The complimentary bar snacks and the Vietnamese / Taiwanese menu are also unique. I miss the original entrance,: an unmarked steel door down the alley on the side of the building. It had much more character than walking through the store in front of the bar.

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B _ _ _ _ _ s
Ellis: I won’t reveal the name of this place because it’s small and no one knows about it, and I don’t want to ruin it. Anyway it’s a Japanese-run bar on the 12th floor of an office building, and the front door has no obvious signage. It’s black and loungey with a great view and consistently made designer cocktails.

Andrew: Ellis told me, but I swore I would keep it a secret. But I’ll give you a hint: the office building is in Haidian and the name of the bar rhymes with klarphlips.

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Kro’s Nest (map)

Andrew: Something magical happens when pizza and beer get together.  Kro’s has always had some of the best deals in town on great imported beers, including Thirsty Thursday buckets of five beers for 80 RMB. While this deal has not been offered lately, it will hopefully return once a new batch of beer arrives.  This place is also getting some great Australian beers: Crown, Redback, VB, and Boags.  Those and the Brooklyn beers are all 30RMB normally, and I was told recently they have a new joint China-Oz beer called Lucky coming in soon for 20RMB/bottle.

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Salud (map)

Ellis: I seem to come to this place with a different group of people every time. The warm reddish and brown tones and intimate seating along with good music at a reasonable volume always lead to interesting conversations. The wooden loft gives the setting a more immediate feel, and people are often dancing downstairs in front of the bar.

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Top fives:

• Andrew Schorr & Ellis Rahhal
• Pete Demola
• Shane Crombie
• Ben Shaw
• Kaiser Kuo
• Bjorn Stabell
• Phoebe Wong
• Diane Fermin
• Badr Benjelloun
• Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff & Katrina Arndt
• Paul Adkins
• Chandler Jurinka
• Kevin Shen
• Steven Schwankert

Readers regularly ask: Why don’t you make it easier to find the bars you write about?

Thanks to Mobile Native, I am about to do that. With future postings, you  will be able to click the name of a bar and get an embedded pop-up map of its location. Even better, using the buttons on the map, you can can:

- Click to get the bar’s address sent in English or Chinese to your mobile phone – for free.

- Click to see nearby venues.

- Click to get a satellite map.

On top of this, you can click the map and use your mouse pad to “move” north, south, east, and west to see what is in the surrounding area. The map also has a zoom function.

The first post to use this function will feature the top five watering holes of Mobile Native’s  Ellis Rahhal and Andrew Schorr.

The mid-week hump means another hospitality night at Loong Bar and this one brings a few changes. First, there will be Australian and American beers provided by Dxcelpartners, with the choices including Crown and Redback. Second, there will be Graham ports from Torres, paired with cheeses from JW Marriott’s Pinot restaurant. The event is aimed at people in the bar, restaurant, wine, hotel and related business, with the RMB100 entrance fee translating into two drinks. Things get started at 9 PM.

Judges check out the whites after the tasting.

On March 13, a dozen expert and consumer judges met in Beijing for the Grape Wall Challenge and tasted 23 red wines that retail for less than RMB100 in China (see gallery). Here are the first-place wines of the consumer, expert, and overall panels (click the links at the bottom for lists of the “top ten” whites and reds).

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Red: Overall

Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92

Red: Experts

Cedar Creek (Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon) 2008, Australia / Top Cellar, RMB92

Red: Consumers (tie)

Foot of Africa (Pinotage) 2006, South Africa / Torres, RMB99

Paso del Sol (Merlot) 2007, Chile / DT Asia, RMB95

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White: overall

Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96

White: Experts (tie)

Concha y Toro Frontera (Sauvignon Blanc) 2007, Chile / Summergate, RMB79
Bushman’s Gully (Semillon, Chardonnay) 2008, Australia / Links, RMB92

White: consumers

Zonin Terre Palladiane Soave DOC (Garganega, Trebbiano) 2007, Italy / Torres, RMB96

The wines hailed from Chile (8), France (4), Italy (4), Australia (3), Argentina (1) and Spain (1), as submitted by 14 China-based importers.

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See also:

• Grape Wall Challenge: Top white wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Top red wines in China under RMB100
• Grape Wall Challenge: Expert panel
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – white wine
• Grape Wall Challenge: Consumer panel – red wine
• Grape Wall Challenge: Photo gallery
• Grape Wall Challenge: List of posts

Chad Lager, formerly of The Rickshaw and The Saddle Cantina, has left as manager of TUN. Lager introduced the insanely popular Friday ladies nights, the open mic night, and the 40-kuai mega drinks, thus helping to transform TUN into one of the city’s most popular bars. He is planning to soon open his own place.

Tsingtao Beer Palace is closed in Solana. The place charged RMB68 kuai for a mug of freshly made lager, and while it often had two-for-one specials, my visits found only only a handful of patrons, hardly enough for a place that has the size (and appearance) of a large three-star hotel lobby.

Almost equally expensive beer spot Drei Kronen 1308 still has a two-for-one happy hour, which means a pair of pints for RMB58. It also has started a RMB45 lunch special that features eight choices of mains (schnitzel, chicken leg, and some less German offerings),  including salad bar and soup (said Mr. Brau: “It is the best potato soup I have ever had, except for my grandma’s”). Patrons may add a small homebrew  (RMB25) or soft drink (RMB10) to their lunch.

Chopsticks' Richard Robinson loves Lucky Charms

Tuesday is Saint Patrick’s Day and that means wearing green clothes, drinking green beer, and feeling green the next day.

The obvious spots to soak up the Irish spirit(s) are Paddy O’Shea’s (with homeland band Quintet Tarantino – if the bar is covering the food for these guys, they best take out a loan, because I ran into them at The Den mid-week and they pretty much cleaned out the kitchen), The Stumble Inn (Irish cocktails, free green shots, and a Guinness deal – buy six pints and get a free T-shirt or hat), and Durty Nellie’s (not sure what is up here as the Web site address forwards to another company).

The Pavillion also has the Guinness special, while Gingko will have fiddle, guitar and squeeze box outfit “The Dublingers” playing Irish folk music – and Guinness at RMB40 per pint.

Those seeking something more subtle can soak up some Irish whiskey at Ichikura, Er, or Glen.

For the Canadian readers, a little trivia: According to Wikipedia, the longest continually running St. Patrick’s Day parade in North America is in Montreal. (More Canadian trivia: hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs were once known as the Toronto St. Patricks and wore, no surprise, green jerseys.)

According to this site, a survey sponsored by Jameson ranks Beijing’s very own LAN as number 7 on a list of the world’s top 100 bars, with Centro coming in at number 46.

This surprises me because I wouldn’t rank Lan as among the top seven bars in Beijing, let alone on the planet. Consider that Chocolate Club is, so to speak, a better LAN than LAN, blending an equally over-the-top decor with the kind of clientele, entertainment, and drinks that make a place fun. Or consider – love it or hate it – The World of Suzie Wong, which not only evokes Beijing, but is night in, night out one of the city’s success stories both with locals and expatriates.

Anyway, this survey reminds me of the praise heaped by Wall Street Journal, Conde Nast, and the like on the former RBL, which included the blues bar Icehouse, a few years ago even as the place steered a steady course for the dustbin of history. I’m not saying Lan is heading that way, or that some people do not like the place, but number seven in the world? Only if I’m ranked as one of the world’s ten sexiest men. (In other words: no.)

(Thanks to A Modern Day Leifong for the heads up.)

The Grape Wall Challenge last Friday in Beijing brought together 18 judges to taste wines that retail in China for under RMB100 (see this gallery). The challenge was a first in that it was organized by a blog, saw half of the judging done by consumers, and included Chinese citizens as 16 of 18 judges. (They hailed from Anhui, Beijing, Hebei, Hubei, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Sichuan, and Tianjin.) It aimed to find good but affordable wines and to involve consumers in the process.

The results of the white wine panels will be released on Grape Wall of China at ~1 PM today, with the results of the red wine panels coming at ~3 PM. During the week, the top three picks of each judge will be released.

Last Friday morning, the expert and consumer panels judged 21 whites wines; the afternoon saw a fresh panel of consumers join the experts to try 23 red wines. The wines hailed from Italy, France, Spain, Argentina, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the United States, as submitted by 14 wine importers and distributors in China. The distributors were ASC, Aussino, BJ Winestore, DCT, DT Asia, East Meets West, French Wine Paradox, Gelipu, Label France, Links, Palette, Summergate, Top Cellar, and Torres.

The sponsors of the Grape Wall Challenge are Maxim’s Solana, Pro-Wine Consulting, and Winpact, which provided gifts for the judges. Special mention goes to the following who either gave or pledged their time or money (RMB200 each) to help support the event: Steven Schwankert (SinoScuba), KS, Paul Adkins, Badr Benjalloun, Chandler Jurinka (Local Noodles), Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff, and Tim Zhang.

Last but not least, the following judges gave their time for the event (click the links for more details):

• Expert panel: Demei LI, Huiqin MA, Yiftach BAR, Yang JIN, Carol GAO, and Alex ZHAO
• Consumer panel (white wine): Huihui ‘Grace’ SUN, Guomei ‘Natalie’ LIANG, Yu WANG, Chuan LEI, Ying ‘Jane’ ZHANG, Leo ZENG, and Tao ‘Mario’ YUAN.
• Consumer panel (red wine): Brian YAO, Frank SIEGEL, Ivy LIU, Weiguo KONG, Yu WANG, and Miao WONG.

The Grape Wall Challenge directors were Nicolas Carre, Frankie Zhao, and Jim Boyce. They jointly tabulated the scores.

Look for future posts on Grape Wall about the biggest challenges of putting on such a contest, about what went right and what could be improved, and about an upcoming Challenge (boutique Chinese wines anyone?). We will also work with interested participating distributors to hold a public tasting of these same wines. We plan to call it “You be the judge.“

Tied up with the Grape Wall wine challenge for most of the day, but will have a list of St. Patrick’s Day parties tomorrow. I’ll also be on CRI’s Beyond Beijing program today around 4:30 PM with some of the options in Beijing as well as a bit of Canadian St. Patrick’s day trivia.

The judges are confirmed, the bottles are ready, and the 24-hour countdown is on for the Grape Wall Challenge, a contest to be held tomorrow to judge wines that retail in China for less than RMB100.

We’ll have two groups of judges – experts and consumers – sniffing, sipping, savoring, and scoring during the day to help find inexpensive but good wines, an especially worthy endeavor given the economic crisis.

This is NOT a public event – it is limited to the judges, staff at Maxim’s Solana, and the media. But we will work with interested participating wine distributors to hold a public tasting of these same wines in April.

I will post the list of consumer judges tomorrow on www.grapewallofchina.com just before they head to the tasting room. I will also – Internet connection willing – provide updates during the day via my twitter account. And we will release lists of the top-scoring white and red wines, as picked by experts and consumers, on Monday.

I have organized this event with Nicolas Carre (Maxim’s Solana) and Frankie Zhao (Pro-Wine Consulting). Special thanks to Winpact for providing gifts for the judges. Thanks also to those readers who have given RMB200 each to cover the costs of posters, design, and so on for this contest. I will have a full list of these contributors on Monday (we’re looking for a few more, so if interested, please email me at beijingboyce (a) yahoo.com. Due to conflict of interest issues, we cannot accept contributions from wine distributors or bar or restaurant owners).

The Pavilion offers soothing lighting, a comfy three-sided bar (with nice grooved arm rests) and overstuffed leather chairs, one of the city’s best patios (official opening: May 1), and plenty of screens to keep sports fans happy.

It also has lower prices. The lineup includes Tsingtao draft at RMB15, Carlsberg at RMB15, Guinness, Kilkenny,  and so on at RMB50, and house spirits at RMB30. The wine special is Santa Rita 120 – Sauvignon Blanc or Cabernet Sauvignon – at RMB168 per bottle.

The only thing that seems out of whack is the music. I much preferred the days when, say, Jackson Browne’s “Somebody’s Baby” featured rather than Tatu’s “All the Things She Said”, Red Nexx’s “Cotton-eyed Joe”, and their kin, as heard last night. To each his or her own, I guess.

By the way, the Pavillion will have a St. Patrick’s Day special: purchase six Guinness and get a free T-shirt or hat.

I asked Pete Demola, best known as a weliveinbeijing.com dude and a dedicated follower of the live music scene, for his top five watering holes in our fair city. Says Pete: “For the most part, I’m a minimalist when it comes to drinking—usually only whiskey or beer—so I tend to drink in locales based on the venue’s cost, character, and crowd.” Here is his top five.

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D-22: I like my whiskey with heaping sides of The Stooges and 1970s-era punk. This Wudaokou venue is the epicenter of the city’s independent music scene, so it’s the premier spot for me to drop in to glean info about what’s going on in the community. The crowd ranges from local musicians tossing back drinks from the no-frills menu on weekdays, to larger, mixed groups when bigger acts pack the house on the weekends.

Er: A relaxing and womb-like Japanese whiskey bar with tasty eats (recommendation: 8-inch sausage and herb pizza), a laid-back feel, detail-oriented mixologists (they’ll whip up a tailored concoction based on what flavors you’re in the mood for) and a pleasant crowd (primarily beaming groups of Japanese white-collar workers). I’m sold on their cucumber gin and tonics and ginger-infused vodka—and hot grog in the wintertime.

Red House: My office is located in Wudaokou, so this relatively new pub offers a welcome alternative to the more established smarmy student locales. A carbon copy of The Tree with its brick walls, wood-fired pizza oven and Belgian brews (thank God for the first Wudaokou venue where one can enjoy a Duvel or Chimay), it’s a comfortable place to have a quick drink before I catch the subway home. Beyond that, it’s hard to ignore the 5 RMB Tsingdao drafts and soundtrack, which ranges from 1980s thrash metal to downtempo. And the douchebag factor is surprisingly-low for the area, with a nice blend of cheerful Korean students and the occasional well-mannered older gent coexisting amicably.

Stone Age: Unassuming Shuangjing restaurant with a prehistoric motif, replete with tacky murals of cavemen, swinging wicker chairs and a menu selection with a heavy emphasis on eating meat from sticks. I go for the 10 RMB homebrew drafts (both black and yellow), fried jiaozi with tangy hot sauce, and impressive selection of skewered snacks, which range from hot wax peppers to silkworms. Crowd consists of a blend of native hipsters and working-class folks.

Tun: There’s not much to say much about Tun that hasn’t already been said. You can’t beat the fantastic value, and I always run into a friendly face—or a dozen—whenever I drop by for one of their massive 40 RMB cocktails. Forget about finding your pals on a Friday night—you’ll have better odds finding Chinese Waldo on Tiananmen Square during Golden Week.

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Top fives:

• Andrew Schorr & Ellis Rahhal
• Pete Demola
• Shane Crombie
• Ben Shaw
• Kaiser Kuo
• Bjorn Stabell
• Phoebe Wong
• Diane Fermin
• Badr Benjelloun
• Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff & Katrina Arndt
• Paul Adkins
• Chandler Jurinka
• Kevin Shen
• Steven Schwankert

Tun is getting into the student party action tonight with a tequila and beer fiesta. Named “Student Union”, the event is aimed at getting new foreign-language  students to check out Sanlitun, though, of course, it is open to all and sundry, given we are all “students of life.”

The party starts at 9 PM and features 10-kuai Tiger beer, two-for-one shot racks at RMB100, and DJ Shane C spinning vinyl.

The first 200 shots of Jose Cuervo tequila are free.

The Bookworm is featuring a “corkage only” deal during March. In short, six bottles are on offer, each carrying a flat corkage fee, with the general idea being that the markup on expensive wines is equal to that on cheaper ones and thus provides an incentive to “trade up.”

The deal includes three whites and three reds, all from The Wine Republic, ranging from Wild River Chardonnay (RMB110 per bottle) to Xanada Cabernet Sauvignon (RMB230) to Hewitson “Gun Metal” Riesling (RMB220; I’m guessing this one tastes a bit of flint).

See sibling site Grape Wall of China for more on the local wine scene.