In the middle of the holidays but we had still 19 participants, who took their time for a long lunch and chat. At Morel’s Restaurant as usual, with the direct supervision of Chef Renaat.
Some of the participants got lost however, looks like they went to another Morel’s. Sorry guys, no palm trees here.

Next lunch will be 7 November.
See you!

It was the start of the intense month of September, so, many Old China Hands were busy with meetings but we were far over twenty anyway, with some special guests such as the Belgian and Swedish ambassadors, as well as a former Polish ambassador who beats us all as “Old China Hand”: he came here like in 1955. Remarkable!

Next round: 3 October, right in the middle of the holidays, for those who prefer a quiet Beijing. No meetings or traffic jams will be accepted as an excuse!

On Friday 1 August, another pleasant lunch with around 20 of the hard-core Old China Hands who are sticking it out in Beijing during the oppressing months of July and August. I was just back in time from my Xinjiang trip (more on that later).

This time Renaat and Susan were back to make sure we were served in an absolute record time. Sigh, our Chinese friends left on their own are still so behind in organizing things, they simply can’t think ahead. Must be the step-by-step syndrome.
Next lunch at Morel’s: Friday 5 September.

In Beijing, a lot is possible and going on. You simply have to know. You want to eat Kosher? Uzbekistan? South-African? Belgian? No problem. Anything.
For the nightlife, a LOT goes on, some of it being for the well-informed insiders (and unprintable here).
I have the privilege to live on the “Gongti Strip”, aka as Gongti Xi Lu (Worker’s Stadium West Road). Quiet till 10 pm till all the Ferrari, Lamborghini etc. arrive, the girls with mini-miniskirts, boys smoking and being extra noisy, all on their mobiles and nobody giving a damn about where to walk, park, whatever. Often pretty chaotic as a result. The street, as well as the north door of the Stadium, are full with discos, bars, restaurants. KTV. Even Spas.

The map of the Strip is pretty well done, though venues come and go.
One old-timer is Destination. Over the years it has expanded tremendously to now occupy the whole two floors of the corner building. It is the largest gay bar in town, 99% are local Chinese. Girls are few but welcome. And the place is simply packed, packed, especially the “dance floor” where dancing is not the idea; topless is in, and go-go dancers give some shows. There several separate areas and bars over the two floors, more quiet than the dance floor.
The place is friendly, of course one has to behave as, well, as a bit gay. Or? In the toilets, Lei Feng welcomes you. I said Hi.
Funny to hear that still some Chinese say that “gays are a Western thing, Chinese do not know this”. Yeah, right. Even the emperors had some fun with it. In the past I also was able to visit the lesbian mega-evenings, but the bar moved away from Gongti (and so did the manager who allowed me in!).
In the run-up to the Olympics I had strongly suggested to the authorities NOT to close Destination for whatever lousy reason, to show Beijing’s openness. It did stay open the whole time.

The advantage of our home is that it is next to Worker’s Stadium and Gymnasium where many of world-famous artists come to perform.
On 28 June 2014 I went to the concert of Akon in the Gymnasium next door. Ticket was RMB 580 for a “cheap” seat. I saw very few foreigners in the enthusiastic audience.

[Show as slideshow]

I just love Akon, the American hip hop megastar. Many of his songs are my favorite ones, such as “Right Now (NA NA NA)”, “Beautiful”, “Freedom”, among others. I have his CD “Freedom”, as well as the lyrics printed so I can sing along (when no one is around).
Akon and his band gave value for money and the Chinese audience was ecstatic. So was I…
He is a multi-platinum R&B Superstar with 40 Billboard Top 100 songs and guest appearances with over 300 megastars from Michael Jackson to Lady Gaga, Eminem, Whitney Houston, David Guetta and many more. Known for his West African-styled vocals with East Coast and Southern-styled hip hop beats.
See here one of the segments where “showering” was the topic… (Youtube!) Can also be see in one of the pictures. He had ample supplies of water bottles… I guess all the audio equipment must be waterproof!

I managed to make some video of my favorite songs… Still need to find a way to post those…