(That's Beijing)
Updated: 2007-10-22 14:22

Warm Mountain may be the most dichotomous nightspot in town. Hidden in a Haidian office building, at first glance it feels like the garden-variety corporate cafe. But the boss is a Mongolian sweetheart, a veteran restaurateur who knows all the Mongolians in Beijing.

The nightly performance is led by a beautiful girl who sings American country-pop tunes, backed up by a synthesizer. But she’s Mongolian too, and her set includes Mongolian songs, crooned in her native tongue to a jazzy beat.

What’s more, the synthesizer is accompanied by string and throat virtuoso Mandeh, formerly of the Sulede band. He sings and bows sweet, lilting grassland melodies while videos of pillaging Mongolian horsemen fill the wall behind him.

Mandeh studied throat-singing in the country of Mongolia. His elemental growl and otherworldly whistle dance and harmonize with his horse-head fiddle – a genuine spectacle. Whiling away the hours just to hear three minutes of his solo is time well-spent. Judging by the opening night, a free-for-all with rumbling throat-rapping and a small crowd that included celebrities, shady businessmen and chumps like me, Warm Mountain is worth a visit. The owner plans to bring jerky and other nomad snacks from the steppe in coming weeks. Nightly performance begins at 9.30pm.

Warm Mountain
Location: 2/F, Haojing Bldg, 108 Zhichun Lu, Haidian District
Opening hours: Daily 9am-2am
Tel: 010-6210-5119