(Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2006-03-15 10:37

It's not much to look at, but glitz and glamour are not what the What? Bar is selling. The What? name has long been synonymous with live music in Beijing. And the north side version of this cornerstone of the city's bar scene certainly makes up for its uninspiring dcor with volume and variety.

The Yuan Dynasty bar strip, a riot of neon stretching along a stagnant canal just south of the University of International Business and Economics, has always looked promising but for some reason has never seemed to have actually caught on with Beijing's night owls. Perhaps personality is part of the problem: many of the bars along this strip look nice, and a lot of money has obviously been poured into developing the district, but most Friday nights the area is little more than a motley collection of empty bars blasting canned Chinese pop music over the lantern-lined waterway it faces. Not exactly the right ingredients for a wild night out on the town, unfortunately.

The new What? Bar, however, more than picks up the slack. While lacking the grit of the tiny original, which still hosts performances from its low-key location on a quiet, tree-lined street near the Forbidden City, this second venue regularly features local and expat bands covering a wide range of musical styles.

With cheap drinks, reasonable door charges (usually with a free drink thrown in), regular and varied gigs, and the venue's brand name recognition, the (Yuan Dynasty Street) What? Bar is the perfect place to kick back, relax, and sample some of the interesting sounds that the nation's capital has to offer.

Brian Publicover

Daily, 2pm-late, What? Bar (2nd location), 2 Xijie, Yuandadu Bar Street, Yinghua Dongjie, north of the Third Ring Rd, Chaoyang District. 139-1020-9249. 2