By Oliver Robinson (That's Shanghai)
Updated: 2007-07-17 10:25

As far as bars are concerned, the individual who named Lucky Street either had a wicked sense of irony, or was just crap at naming places. Since its conception in 2005, the street hasn't exactly been a beehive of activity, as Beijing bar-goers have preferred taking their liquid refreshment a stone's throw to the south (providing you're really good at throwing stones) at Chaoyang Park West Gate, or around Sanlitun. However, the more bars that join the area's longest surviving bar, Nashville, the luckier Lucky Street will become. At least, in theory...

On first appearances, Master doesn't look the most enticing venue. Set in a two-floored basement, its subterranean darkness isn't particularly conducive to summer revelry. However, owner Tom Fu hopes that his hip-hop-themed bar will be enough to attract a good proportion of Beijing's aspiring Diddies and Doggs. "We want to capture something in between Mix and Vics, and the smaller bars in Sanlitun," he says.

And thus the top level of the club is devoted to comfortable seating, a bar and a private room that can hold up to 30 people. Downstairs is dedicated to the dance floor, where booty will be shaken to the DJ's strictly hip-hop playlist. The furnishings throughout are styled in the spirit of (cheap) urban chic-chandeliers, exposed brick walls and a smattering of graffiti-and while there's no Krystal on the drink list, Dom Perignon and Hennessy XO (RMB 1,680) do their best to support the tenuous illusion that Master is, after all, a gangsta's paradise.

Master
Location: Haoyunjie, 29 Zaoying Lu, Chaoyang District
Tel: 010-58670213
Open: Daily 8pm-late.