Beijing Pub Crawl Puts the Fun Back Into Fridays, or in the Case of This Weekend, Saturday

The pub crawl is an ancient and noble tradition, but one often associated with competitive drinking and messy outcomes. The Beijing Pub Crawl, says founder Steve Abdi, is different.

“People don’t really get drunk,” he told us. “We’re not promoting getting wasted. We’re promoting mingling, sharing ideas, and exchanging life stories.”

In fact, Abdi’s goal is no less than the revitalization of Beijing’s expat scene. Originally from Canada, he has been in Beijing for six years, and has seen a notable change in the city's nightlife in that time.

“Over the last two or three years people feel that it’s died off,” he said. “We’re trying to create a friendly cultural exchange. People come to a pub crawl not knowing each other, but by the end of three or four hours it’s like they’ve known each other forever.”

After a couple of recent incidents in which certain expats did their best to give the community a bad name, Abdi hopes to build bridges with local people too.

“They see a big group of us and ask ‘what are all these people doing?’ Then, when we tell them, they ask if they can join. And they do. We have about 80 percent foreigners, 20 percent locals. Some people speak great English, others don’t, but at the end of the night they’ve all had a great time.”

Local businesses love them too.

“Most of the bars we go to are very friendly,” Abdi said. “They give 50 to 60 percent discounts, free shots – we get a lot of freebies.”

Best yet, there’s no charge to take part.

“We meet every Friday at the Sanlitun Youth Hostel,” Abdi tells us, “so we can bring together tourists with expats and locals. We go to three bars then a club. We play games along the way, icebreakers, drinking games, beer pong … As our strapline says, our goal is ‘creating laughs, memories, and friends wherever we go.’”

For May Day weekend, Beijing Pub Crawl takes place on Saturday, Apr 28, but then will return to its regular Friday slot. If you’d like to get involved, or just find out more, then scan the QR code below, contact stevekarim via WeChat, or check the Beijinger’s event listings for details of the next meeting.

Photos courtesy of Pub Crawl Beijing