The Great Wall Aircraft Carrier Party is one of two big out-of-town attractions this weekend. El-Mar, Suki and friends including Patrick Yu, Blackie, Ou Yang, Oshi and Tnem are once again taking over a Tianjin-stationed Soviet warship for China's only all-night rave combining both ship and DJ decks. Tickets are RMB 300 (includes transport to and from venue) and available at Clubzone.cn and venues around town; for more information, call 136 8126 3981. For those with tickets, buses will leave from Chaoyang Park South Gate at 5.30pm and from Huaqing Jiayuan West Gate in Wudaokou at 5pm.

Meet some of the hottest men in Beijing. Nine contestants sat down for a meal with more heat than Beijing's summer. The Canada Day hot pepper eating contest saw reigning champion Gabriel Monroe hold on to his crown - and kill his sense of taste - after gobbling up 60 chilies.

It’s Canada Day tomorrow (as far as Beijing is concerned, anyway) and that means but one thing – it’s the Annual Hot Chilli Pepper Eating Contest at the Canadian International School. We’re giving five lucky readers the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Canada Day event (worth RMB 160 each). Those brave enough can enter the Chilli Pepper eating competition too. Just to spice things up, we’re also giving away free chilli peppers to the winners; we've got every type of hot pepper available in Beijing, and it’s a lucky dip as to which of the following you’ll get. Read on to see Tom O’Malley’s upcoming Dining Feature on peppers and to answer the question to win the tickets. 

The second half of June is set to be a bumper month for fans of competitive eating (we believe there are some), with Nathan's Famous hunting down China's hot dog-eating champion with a wurst-munching contest on June 18, and the 2011 edition of the Beijinger Hot Chilli Pepper Eating Contest the following Saturday, June 25.

Think your life needs some spicin’ up? Look no further than the Beijinger’s annual Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest, back this Saturday as part of the Canada Day celebrations at the Canadian International School. We’re currently looking for 10 contestants to take on the two-time champion Gabriel Monroe, who set a still unbeaten record in 2006, by downing 85 peppers to take the crown. Having repeated his success in 2008, Gabe plans to defend his title at this weekend’s showdown.

We spoke to Gabe about his experiences participating in the contest and how to cope with the heat.