And I'm doing timeline form. My favorite.
Backstory: This particular evening, I was going out on the town with my new friend, who I will call D, that was also a guest in the same hotel. We were heading to an area called Sanlitun. Known for its main bar street and backallies of smaller dance joints and cheesy pubs, it is popular with a fun international crowd.
10:30 PM: We head to a little hidden restaurant that I discovered called The Tree. They have awesomely greasy pizza and also some great beer brands you wouldn't expect to find in China. I was drinkin' some Strongbow this evening. Good times were being had.
11:30 PM: We somehow strike up a convo with this older, cougar-esque woman sitting at the bar by herself. She is actually hilarious, and we find out that she is Mongolian....hence the nickname. From here on out, since for the life of me I can't remember what her real name was, she will be referred to as CML (Crazy Mongolian Lady).
Love the fact that she is wearing her sunglasses in the bar....
12:30 AM: As I was noting CML's very intent interest in hanging out with us, she suggests that we follow her to another bar nearby that had a band. Although, in the back of my head, I was thinking she wanted to...ahem..."Ride the tricycle" (random How I met your Mother reference), she definitely seemed harmless enough and we agreed to go.
12:45 AM: While walking, I hear the faint sound of It's Gonna Be Me wafting into the street. Of course we can't just pass by a bar playing N'Sync, and not stop and get down. So, enroute, we make a short detour to this other club for a beer or two. I recall dancing with some Dutch students at this point.
1:15 AM: The 3 of us get to a bar that I believe was called Studio 65 to hear CML's recommended band. And they were FANTASTIC. It was this Chinese total rock cover band. So very fun.
This band had a great chick lead singer. Here we are with her.
I was dancing like an idiot to the great Nirvana and Areosmith tunes they were kickin'.
I also may or may not have been headbanging a little. My neck was hurting a lot the next day, so I think it was "may have".
By far my favorite band I have seen since coming to China. Thumbs up to CML's musical taste.
2:45 AM: The band finishes and the bar closes. By now, we have made friends with some Chinese guys who were also at the bar, and all of us were hanging outside and snappin' pics of ourselves with the band.
At some point, and I'm not sure how they came on the scene, we added these 2 Austrian guys, one's name was Dan, into our group. Well, CML now suggests that we hit a late night place called Maggie's.
Here's where I get suspicious.
I had heard of Maggie's. One of the hotel contacts had mentioned it to me before because it is near the hotel, and apparently an establishment popular with those seeking ladies of the night, if you will.
I share this tidbit with CML, and she just laughs it off. When I mention something to D, he says, and I quote..."She steered us right to this bar, let's trust her on the next place." So, I play along.
3:00 AM: CML, the 2 new Austrian guys, D, and myself all stuff in a taxi on our way to Maggie's. I am sprawled out sitting across everyone in the backseat. I think my legs were literally hanging out a window.
3:20 AM: We tumbled out at our destination and stumble into Maggie's.
Let me give you a visual: The place is very dark, and decorated with cheesy velvet chairs and tall booth couches. It is full of old Western men, most of which were in suits, or at least jackets. The only girls in the joint were very scantily clad young Chinese girls.
I was sooo right....it was a hooker bar!
3:23 AM: I totally realize that I had been wrong about CML. She wasn't just a cougar looking to possibly third wheel, She was a madame. This was confirmed when, right after we walked in, she went to talk to all these young ladies that she apparently knew.
Like a light bulb turning on, it all came together. She was bringing the guys here to hook them up. Now the question in my head was, how was she planning to get rid of me?
3:30 AM: Being the curious and adventurous person I am, I start walking around this bar taking it all in. The place really was hilarious. I was the ONLY nonChinese girl in there. Everyone was staring at me. Luckily, we were so overserved by this point, I just decided to go with it.
The first 45 minutes here were actually fun. I was lovin' the people watching. And they had a dance floor where the DJ was totally playing stuff like Beyonce. Awesome. I recall doing a performance of the Carlton dance. And I know I slapped the floor at least 4 times. We owned that dance floor!
4:15 AM: O.K. This next part is very fuzzy. At some point, this large guy who I think was Russian, but know was creepy, tried to talk to me when I was on my way back from the bathroom. I believe there to have been a boob graze.
....And that was my cue. As much fun as the dancing was at this place, it was time. I said a quick goodbye to CML, who looked very disappointed that we, or at least D, was leaving. Thought about saying goodbye to the Austrian guys (but their attentions were engaged with some new female..ahem...friends of CML's), and we walked back to the hotel, laughing the entire time about what all had transpired in the last 6 hours.
All in all, definitely a very entertaining night in Beijing.
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