Good Vibrations at The Place: 5f
My ears are still ringing as I write this. The newest club to hit The Place, 5f, might be better described if this so-called prose was blasted through what might very well be the loudest sound system to ever grace a Beijing dance floor. I don’t know why on earth I anticipated that a night at 5f might include donning a skin-tight dress and high heels, ordering a classic RMB 60-80 cocktail from attentive bartenders, and carrying a conversation that wasn’t: “I THINK I’M HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS. AM I GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS?!”
Save for the speakers, 5f is not a bad destination if you’ve reserved one too many tables in Gongti. There’s something decidedly glamorous about, for once, climbing up instead of descending underground. This time it’s towards The Place’s famed sky screen in a glitzy glass elevator. If that’s not enough, 5f is getting a handful of high ranking DJs this summer (Sander van Doorn, Ferry Corsten), and they have incredible bathrooms. Within, they are a spacious maze of mirrors, lasers and fancy hanging faucets that could keep you entertained even if you aren’t hoarding bottles of champagne and bowls of fruit.
Back on the roomy dance floor, you might find violet-mohawked, banana-headphoned, leopard print-jacketed DJ Noodles. DJ director Noodles’ namesake pulsates and twirls on an IMAX-sized screen behind him, one which can majestically open up to a live stage. As if DJ Noodles in all her glory wasn’t enough. We can’t wait to see what that stage will bring in coming months.
5f
Daily 9pm-late. 5/F, Tower A, 9 Guanghua Lu, The Place, Chaoyang District (186 1817 0076)
朝阳区光华路9号世贸天阶A座5层
900m south of Dongdaqiao station (Line 6)
Photos: Mitchell Masilun
