The Club & Music Scene

Live Music--Most of the bars on San Li Tun North Bar Street offer nightly live "music" performances by cover bands, usually of scant talent and almost invariably Filipino in origin. But there are several small venues, most of them in Chaoyang, which host an increasingly varied lineup of musical acts. Performers range from traditional folk instrumentalists to jazz ensembles and rock outfits, and are usually interesting, if not always good. Most venues are bars open nightly from around 5pm to 1 or 2am, although few offer live acts every night. There is usually a small cover charge on performance nights (¥5-¥50/$1-$6), depending on the number of acts and their prestige. Time Out and that's Beijing maintain somewhat accurate listings of what is playing where and when.

Clubs & Discos--The average Chinese will lump all dancing establishments into a single category -- tiaowudian (dancing place), or, if they try it in English, "dee-si-ko." But while the distinction between a Beijing disco and a Beijing dance club is lost on most locals, it is readily apparent to any foreigner. Discos are typically old and cavernous, with exaggerated decor, horrible music, and a wholly Chinese clientele whose attempts to imitate Western modes of style and dance will send shivers down your spine. Clubs, by contrast, are newer, smaller, and more stylish, with a DJ-dominated atmosphere closer in feel to what you'd find in the United States or Europe. The club clientele is wealthier, more diverse (featuring both Chinese and foreigners), and not quite as clueless.

Both discos and dance clubs charge high covers (anywhere from ¥50-¥150/$6-$19). Both tend to get crowded on weekends around 10pm and empty around 3am, although a few clubs will host special parties that last until dawn. There is some activity on Thursday nights, but the rest of the week is slow. Discos pre-date the days of the drinking district and hence are scattered randomly around the city. Clubs tend to be situated next to bars, in foreigner-heavy areas like San Li Tun and Chaoyang Park.

Karaoke: Down that Drink and Pop in Those Ear Plugs, Ma, It's Time to Sing--No one knows why Asian cultures have embraced karaoke (pronounced "kala okay" in Mandarin) with such red-faced gusto, or why so many foreigners adopt the enthusiasm once they're on Eastern soil. Maybe the food lacks some amino acid crucial to the brain's shame function. Or maybe it's just fun to get soused and pretend you have talent thousands of miles from anyone who cares. It doesn't matter either way. Spend enough time in Beijing and sooner or later you'll find yourself standing before a TV screen, beer and microphone in hand, with a crowd of drunkards insisting you sing to the Muzak version of a Beatles hit. Refuse and your Chinese host loses face; comply and you receive applause. Resistance is futile. Most karaoke venues in Beijing are seedy and given over to less-than-legal side entertainment, so if you have any choice in the matter head to Party World, also known as the Cash Box (Qian Gui; tel. 010/6588-3333; open 24 hr.), the city's classiest and best-equipped do-it-yourself concert venue. Located southeast of the Full Link Plaza, at the corner of Chaowai Shichang Jie and Chaowai Nan Jie, Cash Box boasts a hotel-like lobby, pleasantly decorated private rooms, and a wide selection of Western songs, some even released in the last decade. Prices range from ¥39 to ¥365 ($5-$46) per hour, depending on size of the room and night of the week. There's usually a line, so you'll have to give them your name early. You wouldn't want to embarrass yourself anywhere else.