Win Tickets: All You Can Drink as VICS Turns 11!

In the cut-and-thrust world of Beijing nightlife, any bar clocking up one year in business can consider itself a success. (On that note, a happy first birthday to George's – one this Saturday!) Five years? Indicative of near-legendary status. Ten years? Virtually unprecedented. Which Beijing bars have been around for ten years or more? The Den. Frank's Place (and in name only, as long as John Harkness holds off on his threat of changing the name to Johnny Duck's – Frank's has changed location and proprietor on more than one occasion). Mix. Jazz-Ya. Charlie's in the Jianguo Hotel. The Tree (OK, another one that moved – it was once The Hidden Tree, on the old Sanlitun South Street). Hard Rock Cafe. A few of the bars on the "ladybar" Sanlitun Bar Street – and that's about it. (If you know of any more worth mentioning, drop a note at the bottom of this post.)

And then there's VICS, which celebrates its 11th birthday this weekend. Read on for a fantastic ticket giveaway!

Who doesn't have a VICS memory they keep hidden away somewhere in the recesses of their Tsingtao-addled mind? We asked around the Beijinger's office and found that pretty much everyone on our staff had a story to tell – tales of love and loss, joy and despair, calamity and farce and vomit on the stairs, waking up on top of a QQ at 60km/hr on the Third Ring Road ... So what were the Beijinger team's favorite VICS memories?

"I met my girlfriend there"
"The fruit’s nice"
"Dancing all night to Akon"
"A girl went up to my boyfriend, bent down, hit the floor and did a booty shake. It was about 10pm."
"My mate lost his shirt. Hilarity ensued"
"Having a hotdog after VICS"
"The best part is when you're leaving VICS and it's daylight. Your eyes hurt with the sunlight, and you realize it's 7am! And of course, then there's breakfast in The Den!"
"I danced on stage"
"My friends used to call it 'The Church'"
"Leaving some other club or bar, thinking you're tired and want to go home. Suddenly you remember – VICS is still open! And the best"

And of course, they weren't all happy - so what were the downers?

"It probably involves a tall Norwegian guy ..."
"I think we only went in and then went back out"
"I remember a lot of youngsters and not much else"
"Everything seemed pretty magical the first time. And then we went for a second time, and it seemed kind of expensive"
"A drunk friend ended up hanging with some dodgy types only to find himself RMB 3,000 kuai lighter the next morning. He was a student"
"A lad we were with tried to seduce a bouncer. It didn’t go well"

This Saturday's party should be pretty massive, with free drinks for everyone until midnight. Expect carnage. There'll also be prize giveaways, including tickets for a very exciting show in July by a guest hip-hop star from the US – we know who it is, but they've asked us not to give the name away just yet.

Considering drinks are flowing free, RMB 50 isn't a bad cover charge, but we've gone one better – we've teamed with VICS to give away a few pairs of tickets (one for you, one for a guest) to readers who can tell us: Which stadium is VICS located next to? Email your answers to iainshaw@thebeijinger.com

Good luck, and good night – have a good weekend. And a happy birthday to VICS – thanks for the memories (and the memory loss)!

Photos: Gogobot