The Bars

Beijing has 4 or 5 distinct bar areas(not that we went to all). The area we were in, had some great small bars. A bar called Huxleys (tiny) was a favourite. Huxley, the owner had a huge sign out the front stating " F...ing great Mojitos" (without the dots and maybe another lost in translation moment) and maybe that's what enticed us.....anyway they were not up to your standard Andy...yes of course we had one. The bar also had a great itunes playlist.

From that extreme to a bar called Lan, an upmarket Philippe Starck inspired expanse taking the 4th floor of a building, European "Masters' paintings on the ceilings and weird and wonderful collections, displays and furniture, and a ultra chic clientele. The girls on the door were a little underwhelmed by our Gortex jackets and hiking boots, but they let us in.

The night we went to Lan our itinerary included a number of stops, all on the other side of town, so maybe a 25min cab ride (for about $6). It was very cold, we got stuck in a godawful traffic jam and after an hour in the cold cab we decided to head straight for Lan. Frozen and frustrated we sat at the groovy bar and in a short time had racked up a bar bill that was over a $100 (easily done we can assure you)...a little over budget.

But fate intervenes in funny ways. A "kindly European gentleman" (you can read that anyway you want, but blogs are a public domain and Mandy did give this gentleman our card!) took quite a fancy to Mandy , even though he was entertaining a young Chinese girl at the time, and generously, or inadvertently, paid our entire bill.......we sort of wished we had drunk a little quicker!!!!

That night ended at a bar where you can pick up Mongolian girls and the planned candlelit dinner was a sweet roll, which we had bought for the next days trains journey, in our hostel room.

We need to explore a few more Beijing Bars!!