Beijing Boyce

Just kidding…

The former Room 101 is slated to re-open in early November with the name - and it appears my suggestion of Lady Bar did not resound with the owners - Ginkgo*. The place is isolated in Andingmen, so the name makes some sense given this Wikipedia entry:

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese 銀杏, pinyin romanization, yín xìng), frequently misspelled as “Gingko”, and also known as the Maidenhair Tree after Adiantum, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives. The ginkgo is classified in its own division…

By the way, won’t a name that is “frequently misspelled” cause search engine issues? Just wondering…

The entry adds that the Ginkgo tree is among the best known examples of a living fossil, that is, relatively unchanged over several hundred million years. I guess we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see how closely the Gingko bar resembles its ancestor, Room 101, but if you want a piece of the latter, the bench seats are for sale at RMB100 each.

Finally, remember the contest to rename Room 101? No winner. The owners came up with this name.

-

* Can we nickname the upper floor The Tree House (assuming that groovy curved staircase remains)?

Saturday started with a wine lunch near the Summer Palace that lasted so long it matured into a wine dinner in Wudaokou. Even better, the random bottles brought covered six continents - South American (Chile), North American (United States), Asia (China), Africa (South Africa), Europe (France), and Australia. Plus, I had my first Lebanese wine. Good times! And more than enough reason to head out to celebrate. A brief wrap-up on the night that followed:

Room 101: Despite the rain, the closing party drew a sizable crowd, at least that’s the scene I found at 11 PM. The DJ dropped some funky tunes, the owners hustled behind the bar, and everyone raised a few final glasses. It is slated to be back in November with a new name, a restaurant upstairs, and a bar / café downstairs.

Maggie’s: Someone at Room 101 asked if this Ritan Park hot spot had reopened, so we scrounged up a copy of the Russian-language Yabao Ru magazine, found the Maggie’s listing, called the number, heard the guy who answered say “open”, and headed off. Alack and alas, we found the door shut tighter than a clam.

Swing: This is the only spot I visit on the Sanlitun North strip and things are touch and go at that. Even forgetting the incredibly annoying “lady bar” tout outside, the 40-kuai Gin Tonics lack punch and there is a lone toilet, a squatter, which means a constant lineup. Also, on this night I ended up losing an argument with the bartender about whether I had been shortchanged, though we later received free tequila shooters. Fair enough.

This place draws a big crowd, and numerous regulars, and a big reason is the house band in residence for more than a year. The two singers and guitarist do use preprogrammed music, notably drums, but also display personality and humor as they play sing-along standards - think John Cougar - that keep the vast majority of patrons happy. They did an interesting a capella version of Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out of My Mind and covered a Korean and a Chinese song. (I learned that fellow beverage research scholar Ping Pong not only can sing, but also is willing to brave the limelight at Swing and jump on to the stage. Who knew!?)

The Rickshaw: We found ourselves on the street, in the chill and rain, seeking comfort food. Hello medium wings! The first to smart my tongue in months, they hit the spot before we hit the road.

I’m mining my in-box and found a few events slated for this weekend (I’ll omit the many music festivals as they have been heavily covered by the English-language lifestyle magazines).

To celebrate its third anniversary, The Pomegranate will open a free self-serve keg of beer every Friday at 5 PM this month.

DJ BB and DJ Carlo will be at Obiwan from 10 PM tonight spinning rock tunes. “Anything rock from the last five decades is fair game,” states the invite.

Room 101 bids farewell this Saturday with a closing party that includes 101 free Beijing drafts. The place will reopen in November as… well, we’ll have to wait and see (more details).

The Saddle Cantina will hold its monthly Cinco de Drinko on Sunday, which means half-price beverages all day and evening until midnight, at which point sibling bar The Rickshaw starts its Hair of the Dog event with the same deal.

Tun, in honor of the late Paul Newman, will screen his hockey classic Slapshot at 6 PM on Sunday - look out for those Hanson brothers!

Room 101 will host a “blow-out closing party” this Saturday as it prepares to reincarnate in November as a mix of restaurant upstairs and bar and cafe downstairs. Expect this Andingmen spot (see map) to offer a night of general revelry, DJs, and 101 free Beijing drafts - I guess Dalmatians are too much hassle.*

There is also a contest to name the new spot - leave your suggestions in the comments section here. Frankly, isn’t it time someone finally opened a place named, at least figuratively tongue-in-cheek, “Lady Bar“?

-

* But that doesn’t mean the place can’t show the movie and play the “drink every time you hear a bark” game. I suggest using this Dead Dog recipe and replacing the Crown Royal with 101-proof Wild Turkey.