Halloween-the one night of the year when it's considered
cute for gangs of masked youths to intimidate their elderly neighbors, and
terrorize them into giving away free stuff.
While most of us have grown out of posting lit fireworks through widows'
mailboxes, Halloween is still a great excuse to disguise yourself as a
dominatrix, cross dress or assume a number of other slightly disturbing aliases
in the name of "fun". This year there will be more places than ever hosting
Halloween hoedowns, so in the spirit of the festival, here is some of the best
places in town to get freaky. Literally.
October 27
that's Beijing Halloween
Masquerade
No Halloween roundup would be
complete without a shameless plug for that's Beijing Halloween Masquerade! tbj
takes a leaf out of Lestat's book and aims to attract Beijing's classier creeps
to sleek 'n' sexy club Rui Fu. This isn't to say that we don't encourage guests
to come in all manner of costumes, from giant teddy bears to mandatory gimp
gear. Mandatory? Okay, maybe that's just me. To top it off there will be some
great giveaways and, just for good measure, some free booze.
Location: Club Rui Fu, Courtyare No.3 Zhangzizhonglu, Dongcheng
Tel:
010-64042711
October 28
Yen Fetish Party
Dust off your hotpants and welding goggles for one of
Beijing's oldest and most established Halloween parties. Zero Space at 798 is
the rendezvous point for this year's fetish freaks who'll bump, grind and gurn
to the sounds of usual Yen suspects Mickey Zhang, Yang Bing, Dio, Patrick Yu,
Usami and more.
Location: Zero Space,No.4 Jiuxianqiaolu
Tel: 010-84565809
Browns
The boys at Browns will make any excuse to
throw a party of gargantuan proportions and plan to do just this for Halloween.
Events manager Drew Grahame promises that Browns will be decked out with
suitably spooky paraphernalia, and drink and food specials are set to compliment
the ghoulish goings-on. This said, the weekly abandon of some of the more mature
patrons (think menopausal women gyrating on top of the bar) can make Browns a
pretty scary place at the best of times. On the following day, October 30,
there'll be a special event for the kiddies starting from 11am.
Location: 4 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang
District
Tel: 010-65912717
Bar Blu
The prospect
of a fancy dress party can be heaven to some, and hell to others. Fitting then
that Bar Blu is going with a heaven and hell theme that will see the devilish
divas and not-necessarily-nice angels fill the Sanlitun hotspot to quaff
promotional drinks and win prizes for the best costume. Prediction: a girl in a
short skirt-cum-belt will win.
Location: 4/F, 5/F Tongli Studio, Sanlitun Beijie
Tel: 010-64174124
Frank's Place
Letterman jackets and pom-poms galore at
Frank's, where Beijing's jocks and cheerleaders descend on the Lido to chug
beer, exchange high five and administer wedgies to nerds unlucky enough to be in
the area.
Location: Jiangtai Xi Lu, West of the Rosedale Hotel, Lido Area
Tel:
010-64378399 ext. 213
Pomegranate
Prim
and proper residents of Shunyi who don't fancy taking their bondage gear all the
way out to 798 for Yen's Fetish party, can enjoy Halloween from the comfort of
the newly renovated Pomegranate. The theme is The Rocky Horror Picture Show,
which will be screened throughout the evening and prizes will be distributed to
the eveningĄ¯s best-dressed Rocky Horror couple.
Location: 19 Kaifa Lu, Xibaixinzhuan, Houshayu
Tel: 010-80462558
October 31
Suzie
Wong's
The folks at Suzie's weren't planning on
having a particularly big event for Halloween, that is, until we asked them. "We
don't really go all out at Halloween, but seeing as you guys are giving us free
media coverage, we thought we'd make an effort this year!" How we laughed.
As a result, the Chaoyang behemoth plans a racy affair on October 31 (one of
the only midweek Halloween parties in town), which should see the Suzie's
regulars wear even skimpier costumes than usual.
Location: West Gate of Chaoyang Park, near Annies Italian Resturant and Jenny
Lous
Tel: 010-65936049
