The life cycle of entertainment districts is
predictable. A low-rent part of town today becomes tomorrow's buzzy
dining and drinking destination. Serious investors show up, as do
smarter restaurants, and before long the area is overrun with bistros
and martini bars. Scenemakers then latch on to another low-rent part of
townand the cycle begins again. Visitors to Beijing will notice that
the Chinese capital seems to have gone through just this of late, with
formerly trendy Sanlitun giving way to the lakeside neighborhood of
Houhai as the city's favored leisure zone. While Sanlitun degenerates
into a graceless quarter of leather-jacketed touts and identical bars,
Houhai is luring yuppie dollars with rather more modish venues.
Forerunner of this hot zone is the No Name bar, tel: (86-10) 6401 8541.
Rather aptly, it has no front signage. But it is impossible to miss the
tree-fronted, single-story structure if you find its neighbor Nuage,
tel: (86-10) 6402 1663. Both bars were conceived by the scene's
godfather, 34-year-old Bai Feng. The ex-concert cellist from Shanxi
province says they came about unintentionally when he rented a house in
the district. "When friends visited they really liked the setting. I
then had the idea to turn [the house] into the No Name bar and café,"
says Bai. There are now more than 70 small bars and restaurants in the
lanes of Houhai, with more opening all the time. Some, such as Buffalo,
tel: (86-10) 6617 2146, are among Beijing's funkiest. Of course, the
area's popularity may well end up destroying the very qualities that
led Bai Feng and others to the district in the first place. Houhai has
now hit its sweet spot, busy enough to generate real buzz but not so
overrun that you would avoid itvisit before it's too late. As for
Beijing's next district of the month, watch this space.
Any clothes as long as tidy and not like a tramp Theme: NightclubAddress: Hou HaiDirections: Hou Hai is an old Imperial Lake, north of Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City
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