a night in the hutongs

(March 20)

Tonight was my friend Suling's 22nd birthday. Since she is from Malaysia, we searched high and low for a Malaysian restaurant in the Beijing area and finally found a tiny restaurant called Cafe Sambal. When we made the reservations, we had no idea it was in a hutong (if you don't remember, hutongs are large residential compound structures with several alleyways and small house in them), so our cab driver had no clue how to get there. Some serious Chinese phone-calling later, we arrived at our destination and wound our way around the alley to find the Cafe. I had never eaten Malaysian food before, so it was definitely a new experience. I have to say, I think I may like Malaysian food better than Chinese food! It was delicious!

After that, we asked the waitresses (I don't think I've seen a single waiter in China...must be "women's work") if she knew any good places to hang out in the area, and she directed us to a place called "床巴" (literally, Bed Bar). So, after a bit of wandering around the alleyways of the hutongs, we stumbled upon the Bed Bar. (I think you can only stumble upon this place--there's no way you could ever find it if you were looking for it.) Inside was definitely something new--technically it was a "bar," but it felt like an old opium den. The hostess led us to a back room that originally was going to cost 1000 RMB to rent for the evening, but complained enough so she agreed to let us just stay for free (Sometimes, it pays to be a foreigner). Inside the room were benches, comfy chairs, three dressers, and a giant bed covered in pillows. It was a slightly odd concept, but overall it was a fun night just sitting and relaxing on that bed--definitely not something I would stumble across in the U.S. :-)