Beijing nightlife

Going from nightlife in Beijing to partying in Aarhus ( Denmark), is quite different. Here there are no night clubs, only bars and bars with a small dancing floor. Going out here is also of course much more expensive than Beijing, but not if you only drink beer (and Danes loooves beer). 

I actually miss partying in Beijing. Drinking in Helen´s or La Bamba and then heading towards to Sanlitun, or just staying in Wudakou- it will always be a great night. And if you don´t have time to go somewhere for pre drinks, but still wanna be in a good mood before hittin the big clubs, Soju+beer or Soju+Redbull is always a good choice.. :) However, if the club has open bar, DO NOT DRINK BEFORE GOING!! You would be pretty wasted if you did. And would probably end up doing something stupid. (But you would still do that just by drinking during open bar..) 

When I wrote my last post about nightlife, which was 1st of December, I had not been to many bars/clubs at all. In Wudaokou I had only been to Sensation and Propaganda, La Bamba and Helens and in Sanlitun/Chaoyang I had only been to VICS, MIX, Kokomo (and all the clubs in the same building), Salsa Caribe, Nanjie Bar, Juicy, Suzie Wong, and a place in 798 art district. 

Around December/Januar, a new club opened up in Wudakou: WU. I think we (or mostly my roomies) spent a few months going there all the time. The first few months WU gave out 5 free drinking tickets if you came before 00.00. And those 5 drinks had A LOT of alcohol in it. Two drinks and you would be feeling tipsy.. 5 drinks and you would be drunk. And I could never drink that much so I always gave away mine. And what do you do when you are drunk? Start buying shots and drinks. (So they do get some profit).

B52 at WU...

When people got bored of WU, they started going to Global. (Korean club). After they renovated the place it became really nice and people started going there more. I am proud to say that I have only been there once hehe.

The most fun clubs are definitely in Sanlitun though, and we always told our minivan chauffeur to drive us there, which was so much more convenient than waiting for cabs that never came and we could all sit together. Even though we had been to VICS so many times, and I have had some bad experiences with the club, I still enjoyed going there. I loved that there was so much dancing space ( not like sensation/propaganda/WU where everyone gets squeezed together), and I liked the designs, the clean toilets, and we almost always had fun there (even though the music did suck sometimes). However, the alcohol is still really bad and especially during Open bar nights.

VICS

Some new clubs we have been to in Sanlitun this year are G Element, Latte, and SPARK. 

I loved the stairs down to G Element, but the design inside was not that impressive. It was a fun place thought! Latte is a typical Chinese club, but with some foreigners. While SPARK.. well its one of the most expensive clubs, but so worth it!! When you get in, the first thing you see is lazerlight everywhere. Then when you walk down the stairs, you see the beautiful ceiling. And when you listen to the music, you will automatically start dancing. The bathroom was pretty impressive as well! The only negative thing was the two free drinks which we get, they were not good at all, and that they closed at 4 am??!!

G Element

Latte

SPARK! Pay 200yuan for men and 100 for women, and you will get to this place

Bathroom

I simply love going out in Beijing. (Going out in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhanjiang, Xi An and Guilin are not bad either!)

Christmas Eve

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

My mum and sister arrived on Christmas day and brought me a lot of Norwegian stuff. (''Knekkebrød'', smoked salmon, Norwegia cheese, Brelett BUTTER!!!, gingerbread++) I couldn't have asked for a better start on the day:)

On Christmas eve we ate dinner in a really nice Japanese restaurant, then we headed to Sanlitun to party.

Our mini Christmas tree

Too much good Japanese food

Left side: My mum, sister and me. Right side: Yilin's aunt, Yilin and Ricardo

Sister, mum and me

My other family

Starting out with shooters in Nanjie bar

Riding on a tuck tuck to VICS

Partying in Beijing

There are two main clubs in Wudaokou ( the area I live in), Sensation and Propaganda. Everyone goes there because it's cheap and close. Open bar on every wednesday cost 50 for guys and 30 for girls. Every thursday is ladies night, and we get 3 free drinks. (You will actually get 6 free drinks, 3 in Sensation and 3 in Propaganda). It doesn't cost anything to enter, and you can leave your clothes and bags there for free. Every Friday is shot night in sensation, 5yuan for kamikaze or tequila, and during the weekends is so packed, there won't be any space to dance! And I like to have some space when I dance, so it's actually much better to go there early in the night, during the weekdays. The clubs won't be so crowded, and you get free drinking tickets if you go there on a monday or tuesday.

My friends like to go to Sensation more than Propaganda, but it's the same for me. Both places looks the same, got the same prices of drinks and shots, same music, same events, and even the decorations inside are the same. 

Propaganda

Me and Ricardo in Propaganda

Pyros Pizza, La Bamba or Helens Cafe are good places for pre-drinks and having a fun time with friends before going to night clubs, or for just a chill night out.

La Bamba

45 yuan for 3 liters beer at Helen's

Helen's

If we don't want to party in Wudaokou, we go to Sanlitun in Chaoyang district. Sanlitun is the number one party place in Beijing. Usually we go to a club called VICS on thursdays, because it's open bar. 100 yuan for guys, and 60 for girls. There is one big dancefloor+ bar in one room, and a smaller dancefloor+ bar in another room. The music is quite good, toilets are really clean, and we always have fun there. However, the alcohol is really bad. Im gonna write an own post about that later. MIX is the club opposite to VICS, where all the Chinese people go. It is supposely more expensive than VICS, where all the foreigners party. MIX and VICS looks the same inside and outside, with the same music, but I think MIX is bigger.

MIX

On saturdays we like to go to a club called Juicy ( its in Chaoyang, but not in Sanlitun), if it is open bar. There it costs 30 for girls and 60 for guys if you have a Juicy card. If not, it costs 50 and 100. Every saturday there is a competition; bikini, wet t-shirt, best halloween outfit, best dancing competition and so on. The winner gets 1000 yuan and a bottle of wine or champagne.

Juicy, Wet t-shirt contest

Earlier in autumn, we used to go to a club called Kokomo, which is a rooftoop club. But it is too cold to go there now. In the same building which Kokomo is in, there are 4 other bars/clubs. I think two of them are gay bars, because one time me and Ricardo went into one of the bars, started dancing, and the guys there were looking weirdly at us. Two guys started to dance on the pole, and a few guys came up to Ricardo. We went into the next bar, and the same thing happened. This time we noticed that there were lots of guys, all dressed up, and then we figured it might be a gay bar..

Kokomo

Some saturdays we also go to Salsa Caribe, which is supposed to be the best place for salsa. There is a liveband which plays there for 1 hours every saturday, and that is the only salsa music they play. Usually it's just normal clubbing music and reggaeton. The drinks are also really expensive, so we like to go to Nanjie bar (the bar opposite to Salsa Caribe) to drink there first, and then go dancing. But I would not recommend Salsa Caribe for salsa dancing. In sanlitun there is soo many different bars and clubs, but I haven't been to that many yet.

The flower guy which is always outside of Salsa Caribe

Nanjie bar

Salsa Caribe: my latinos

Salsa Caribe. Elizabeth won the contest, and got a bottle of red wine. (The girl with long hair in black and white)

Every second Saturday there is a Latin Party at Pyro Pizza, so all the latinos go there. It's a night full of reggaeton, bachata, salsa, merengue and lots of Colombian music! (the DJ is Columbian).

Latin Party at Pyro Pizza