We’ve already compared the restaurant-related results of City Weekend’s Readers’ Choice Awards (announced last Wednesday, May 23) with the Beijinger Reader Restaurant Awards we gave out way back in March – click here for that. But what of nightlife? City Weekend also gave out awards in 11 nightlife categories, so how did they compare with the results of our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards? Let’s crack open a bottle of Yanjing and find out.

We know, the awards fatigue must be through the roof by now. But all you eaters, drinkers and voters are about to have a rest, so we’ll wave you off into the sunset once we’ve properly compared the City Weekend results with those that you, dear readers, picked for our awards in March. (For a comparison of TBJ’s Readers’ Choice with the Time Out Awards, go here.)

With all the results announced on Saturday at our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards party, now it's time to take a closer look at who won, who narrowly missed out and what it all means.

Yesterday we looked at the "Club of the Year" winners, so today we'll move on and look at the other one that everyone wants to win: Bar of the Year.

With all the results announced on Saturday at our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards party, now it's time to take a closer look at who won, who narrowly missed out and what it all means.

Let's start with one of the big ones. Traditionally, we've given a single "Bar of the Year" award marking one venue out above all others. In 2004, the very first year of the Bar & Club Awards, a nightclub (Cloud Nine) actually won the top award, but since then the Bar of the Year award has been dominated by cocktail bars (Centro, Q Bar, Mesh), all-rounders (Fubar, First Floor, Browns) and a sole rock venue (D-22). This year, we decided to give the clubs more room by creating a "Club of the Year" award to parallel the "Bar of the Year" contest. So what of the "Club of the Year" winners?

If you were one of the approximately 1,200 guests who came along at some point to our 2012 Reader Bar & Club Awards party at Sanlitun Soho on Saturday, we hope you had a good time. The numbers suggest that you must have - collectively, we managed to get through around 700 liters of beer, not to mention countless bottles of spirits and cans of wine spritzer. We're also pretty sure some of your memories of the day might be hazy at best, but isn't that what the photo galleries on this website are for?

(This is part 2 of 2 ... for the first batch of awards, see this post here)

If you've been lounging around at home all afternoon you might well have happened upon our first 2012 Reader Bar & Club award winners post. We could only let you know the winners in the first 18 categories at that stage - we had to save some excitement for the people who came down to the event itself - but now that all the award cats are out of their proverbial bags, we can fill you in on the second half of the winners' roll call. Here they come ...

(This is part 1 of 2 ... for the second batch of awards, see this post here)

Just a reminder that if you are coming to the Beijinger's Ninth Annual Reader Bar & Club Awards  today then you will be best off  if you bring the following things:

If you are coming to the Beijinger's Ninth Annual Reader Bar & Club Awards at Sanlitun Soho tomorrow, now's the time to get your paperwork in order.

Because Sanlitun is one of the top spots in the current crackdown on foreigners, there's a good chance that you may be checked on your way to or from the party. If you are legally here in China, it's a good idea to carry around solid proof of that fact. Preempt any investigations by having photocopies of the ID page of your passport (the page with your photograph), your current visa and your Form of Temporary Residence (the slip you get when you register where you're living). If you've got a smartphone, taking photos of all three is recommended.

There's nothing to worry about so long as you are legal. True Run Towers was checked yesterday and found to be fully legit. If you aren't legit, maybe partying shouldn't be the foremost thing on your mind this weekend.

There are many people who might have a claim to being the "best bartender in the world," but with the 2010 Diageo Reserve World Class title (the World Cup of bartending) under his belt, Erik Lorincz of the American Bar at London's Savoy hotel, has to be in with a shout. So when you get the chance to make a drink with Lorincz, or simply sip one of his creations, you're hardly going to pass it up, are you?