Olympic Nightlife: Battle of the Beers and a chance to win tickets to Club Bud

Come the Games, come the parties. They dubbed it the "No-fun Olympics,” but after waking up this morning with a couple of snow leopards, a mariachi band and a Cadillac parked in my front room, I beg to differ. Beijing is awash with parties, events and more beer than I can get my clammy little hands on – no wonder there are so many empty seats at the Olympic venues. But before my liver quits and I’m lost to an August of indignity and iniquity, I’ll give you an update of the goings on and ongoings at some of Beijing’s hottest Olympic party spots. Well, two of Beijing's hottest party spots – The Heineken House and Club Bud. These two places have two things in common: a hop-based beverage and location. But other than this, they're very different venues.

Heineken House

For those who don't know, the Heineken House have set up shop in the Agricultural Exhibition Hall (Nongzhanguan) on the Third Ring Road. Entry is free, but you should bring your passport and download an invite from their site. When things get real busy, don't be offended if security give priority to people with Heineken House passes and Dutch passport holders, it is their national hospitality venue. And ultimately, it's our fault for not coming from a more fun country. (I'm British, urgh). Any one who's familiar with the interior of the Agricultural Exhibition Hall will appreciate just how big the venue is. On entering, there is a restaurant serving European fare to the left (pricey), though most punters will prefer to bear right – through the shops selling all manner of Dutch (orange) stash as well as a few interactive sites provided by affiliated sponsors – to a most pleasant outdoor venue, resplendent with (Dutch) food stalls, a Dutch radio station’s temporary studio, and comfortable outdoor seating. The real fun, however, lies in the adjoining hall, decked out with more orange, bars, and more bars. The bars serve Heineken (duh), a half-pint of which can be bought for RMB 30. Expensive, maybe, but it’s a good pour. However, to purchase drinks, food, or anything in the Heineken House, you need to buy a special Heineken card (RMB 50 deposit) onto which you put cash, which in turn can be exchanged for goods and services. Clever, eh? If you don’t spend all the cash you put on the card, you’ll be refunded, along with your deposit, on its return.

Events

Let's just say the organizers and the majority of the clientele aren't bothered when Phelps, Guo Jingjing, Ben Ainslie, or any one who isn’t Dutch wins a medal. They’re all about all things Dutch. However, like the Venga Boys, the Dutch like to party and it's worth timing your visit with events that the Dutch are competing in, since the athletes are likely to turn up and all manner of Dutch revelry will ensue.

Verdict

Great-looking, airy venue, with BIG screens. Beer tastes nice and the 170 volunteer staff from Holland who have been flown out to serve the stuff are very nice to look at. The venue is open during the day and has a nice family atmosphere. However, as you may have guessed, it is very Dutch, which is no bad thing, but part of the fun of the Olympics being in Beijing is that the Olympics are in Beijing! For the first time ever! I don’t think I saw one Chinese person there on my second visit. You can take a look what others thought of Holland House here and take virtual tour here.

Club Bud

Just south of the Heineken House is the 3,7000 sqm Club Bud (16 Dongsanhuan ). Unlike the Dutch venue, Club Bud is in no way officially affiliated with its Olympic delegation, most of who are holed up in some university somewhere wishing they had better gymnasts and table tennis players. It also differs from HH in that it is a club (thus Club Bud) and doesn’t offer the same daytime options.

Club Bud is a club for drinking, partying dancing, etc. Doors open at 9pm, but there's a catch: the door policy is invite only. D'oh! However, fear not, we're giving away tickets to the place (see below), so our wonderful readers can go and gorge themselves on Budweiser (don’t worry, it’s the real deal, imported from the US). So, assuming you do get in, you'll have the option of three rooms – a pumping club with a huge dance floor graced by scantily clad podium dancers and the occasional kungfu act, which is pretty cool. Across the way is a lounge area, boasting another DJ, plush sofas and, don't worry, a bar – huzzah! Through here guests can reach outdoor terrace, complete with pool, another DJ, another bar and little red lanterns (to remind us where we are). Lastly, there are huge screens at every turn, showing the best of the day’s events. As I say, Club Bud isn’t affiliated with the US Olympic delegation, but on my visit we saw a bunch of US wrestlers and John Drummond. At least, I think it was John Drummond. Either way, I was excited.

Events

Perhaps taking inspiration from the Olympic driving regulations, Club Bud is open on every odd day of the month. Now, when I say odd, I don't mean strange or kooky, rather off-numbered. More likely than not, there’ll be a party. I visited on Monday and it was packed. No-fun Olympics? Whatever.

Verdict

Bud has never been my favorite beer, but I certainly have got a taste for it thanks the venue's fantastic layout, international crowd and a great Olympic vibe.

Prize: We're offering free tickets to Club Bud's Red Dragon party that's taking place tomorrow night. If you'd like to brush shoulders with both current and former Olympians, simply send an e-mail to 7days@thebeijinger.com telling us why you want to go. We'll choose the best answers and give you details on how to claim your prize by noon tomorrow. It would be helpful if you could include a contact phone number too.

Finally, for more on places to go and party during the Olympics keep reading below for Adriane Quinlan's round up of places to go that appeared under the heading Crashing the House Party in the August issue of the Beijinger magazine:

High times in Athens, the club scene in Barcelona, the drinks imbibed by athletes post-victory in Torino … but "China's coming-out party" might surpass them all. Though some Embassy-sponsored houses – like Korea House, Japan House, and Germany's "Deutches Haus" in the glitzy Kempinski Hotel – are for canoodling VIPs only, others are full-blown public spectacles designed to spread the love. For those Beijingers who aren’t accultured “"lympic Tourists," here's a rundown of what to crash.

The Heineken House

Since its start at the 1992 games until Torino, when it entertained around 100,000, the Heineken House has been a consistent medal winner on the Olympic party circuit. And it’s certainly the main contender this year, when 3,000 Dutch nationals vied for 150 unpaid slots to man the house in Beijing that will occupy a space intended not for sweating dancers but for expositions of industrial proportions – the enormous, neglected Agricultural Exhibition Center. Plans are to drape the main gate, most walls, and the halls of Chinese paper lanterns in swaths of Dutch orange. The space is huge, and the large outdoor mezzanine will be crowded with tents offering hefty Dutch delicacies (nothing to reward a good marathon like a bucket of miniature poffertje pancakes). Inside, a sleek bar, gourmet brasserie, and a circular round-the-clock dance floor will let revelers forget the Olympics are about sports at all. But when a Dutch Olympian comes back toting a medal, you’ll remember where you are.

The Swiss House

Oh, the Swiss. The Swiss are classy. In one of the converted “sawtooth” factory spaces of the artsy, hip, elegant, airy – whatever pretty little adjective you see fit – 798 gallery compound at Dashanzi, Swiss designers have planted a gourmet restaurant – choose from items such as “Crostini with duck liver and cumquat chutney” or “Siedfleisch terrine with horseradish foam” – a cinema, a VIP zone, a lounge featuring folksy musical acts such as the accordion huffing SpaÅNtzünder and even a “master kitchen” where chocolatiers Lindt and Sprüngli will offer “demonstrations.” (I imagine some ripped wrestler, post-match, downing a tub of nougat crème.)

London 2012 House

A recent poll conducted by British company Myprotien, which was interested in advertising during the Olympics, found that three-quarters of the 1,795 Brits asked would rather watch reality TV than the Beijing Games! The poll found that those same Brits are only concerned with their own Olympics, four years later.

As such, the British-sponsored tent a huge advertisement for London 2012. The pavilion’s lavish digs in Ritan Park were scrapped due to the safety concerns of Beijing authorities (organizers are still looking for another site), but wherever it is, it’s going to be good.

When London’s new Conservative mayor recently grumbled about spending, he slashed a mere GBP 1.2 million a 6.8 million budget, cutting first class flight seats for the entire crew, the hiring of 18 gourmet chefs, and an exhibition drive from London to Beijing. It only gives us a taste of the hush-hushed marvels we can expect at the final paltry 4.6 million pound tent, wherever it will be, whatever non-gourmet food it will serve us. Update: London House is located on Qianhai Nanyan in the Houhai area, however, entrance is limited to pass holders only.

The Canada House

Open since May, the Canada House in Qianmen’s Planning and Exhibition Hall is gearing up for bigger crowds come August. It’s a lavish outpouring: the two-story 20,000 square foot hall holds a silicone-based skating rink that lets Beijingers see the country’s real sporting strengths during 90-degree days, a 4.55 ton jade carving quarried from a mine in Northwestern British Columbia, and even a real Mountie.

The place is open to any who can afford the 30-kuai tickets, but unlike other houses, it comes without the strong possibility of a run-in with athletes, who are more likely to be up near the Olympic Park where they will be housed in a less flashy Canada House, capacity 250. Just as with London’s House, all this goes to promote the Vancouver 2010 games.

Russia House

Bloggers ranked the Russia House at Torino right near the top for its “unlimited supplies of free Vodka, buckets of caviar and the occasional drunken matroshka.”

Update: Located at the end of Houhai's Lotus Lane, Bosco House is open to all Russian passport holders.

Casa Brasil
Jianguo Garden Hotel 17 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6532 2881)
朝阳区建国门外大街17号

Casa Italia
Daily 10am-6pm. Haidian Exhibition Center (135 2087 8452)
海淀展览馆

Jamaica Lounge
CJW at the Place - see earlier post here.

South Africa House
Westin Chaoyang (5922 8888)

Links and Sources
Heineken House
Club Bud
The Beijinger: Public Olympic Party Pavillions?
The Beijinger: Gossip Games and House Parties Galore
Shooting Blanks: Holland Heineken House Crowd Surfing in Beijing