A couple of days ago I had one of those total burn-outs (is as regular as the pollution). Felt so empty I couldn’t even drag me to my favorite sauna & massage club, now, that is a real bad sign I tell you.
So, I took Sun to have a drink in the closest bar to us, The Pavilion, just next door.
Nice place, in principle, and quite popular with foreigners. Problem is, you get eaten alive by fierce mosquitoes. I was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, Sun had brought repellant but I forgot my arms in the beginning. So, ended up with 5 big ugly bites.
Conclusion: Sun and me won’t go there much again, unless we have a repellant shower first.
Mosquitoes, pollution, hot sticky air, foreigners all love it. Any place in Beijing where you can sit outside and have a drink or eat is in high demand. Like The Olive (Gongti Beilu), Bar Blu, etc.
Chinese don’t understand that really. They prefer to be in the air conditioning.
I really miss Europe for that. Aaah. Sitting on a Belgian “terrasse”, with a good Belgian beer, a waffle or a coffee and looking at people passing by. Or on the Champs Elysées.
In Beijing, where can you enjoy that? A bit in Houhai, but still not the same.
You have to be Belgian, French, Italian or something to understand that. Or Brazilian. Hmmm, reminds me of my many years there living on the beach…
OK, I’ll go to Maggies next time. Good music, good beer. And something to look at.