Guest bbillybb Posted July 26, 2011 Share Posted July 26, 2011 Well I have included a trip to Beijing in mid April of next year.What might i be able to find in the way of the Gay Venue there. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fountainhall Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 The two biggest problems you encounter on a first visit to Beijing are language and traffic! I assume you don’t speak putonghua (Mandarin chinese). Whilst a lot of people speak some English, using English to find gay venues will not help much. But even once you have directions, getting to them can take an age in a taxi because the traffic really can be horrific. So, I’d attempt to learn at least a few Mandarin phrases and then get to know the underground system! Get your hotel to write the location of the place you will visit in Chinese, take a subway to a nearby station and then a taxi for the rest of the way. Getting back afterwards should be no problem as I have never found taxis difficult to find late at night. Last time I was there, Destination was the main gay bar. On Fridays, Saturday and holidays it was humming with handsome, young, mostly tall young guys, so packed in fact that it was quite difficult getting to the bar for a drink. But I’m told it’s pretty barren during weekdays. This seems to be true of most gay places. Mesh Bar in the ultra modern, expensive and strangely-designed The Opposite House Hotel in Sanlitun (the wooden lobby looks like a barn without the hay!) is a mixed bar, but with lots of gays and seems to be mostly gay on Thursdays. The bar features lots of linked metal chains, good music and some cute bar staff. Although it stays open till late, this is more an early evening venue with a long happy hour when they serve 2-for-1 great cocktails. But it’s basically an up-market venue for socialising. Unlikely you’ll find many single guys looking for hook-ups. Generally, Beijing guys go out in groups, and then groups merge in the bars/discos. If you don’t have friends in Beijing, it will take longer to start chatting with guys. But just hang around, enjoy the eye candy (which can be spectacular) and wait for things to happen. Utopia-asia has a lot more information and some interesting reading – http://www.utopia-asia.com/beijbars.htm On another page, it lists a gay-friendly licensed tour guide – Mango Tours. This customizes tours and on your first evening you might want to book a nightlife tour to get an idea of what’s on offer. I have no personal experience of the guide and am relying only on utopia’s comments. I did click on his blog link, though. He studied in London for a year and so is fluent in English. The blog also shows that he knows lots of places in the city which the average visitor will miss. I’d certainly check him out. http://www.utopia-asia.com/chinbeij.htm Be very careful of money boys in all major Chinese cities. These guys tend to be more initially friendly. The problem is that many are not Beijing residents and have come to the city without the proper paperwork. So they can’t get proper jobs and are on the game for what they can get. So they will start by quoting outrageous rates (US$400 or more is not uncommon). Some of these out-of town boys can be found lazing around Dongdan Park (west of the main railway station) where they will either smile at you or start to follow you if they think you are a likely customer. It’s an interesting park but don’t pick up guys and don’t go there after dark. Remember also that many chinese gays are not out of the closet. So you should also look at the social networking sites. Gayromeo has over 1,100 contacts in Beijing. You should also look at - http://www.fridae.com - which has many thousands of chinese guys from all the major cities. Even if you do not join the site, there is a search panel at the top right. Click on ‘Basic’, fill in the details and a bunch of profiles will come up. I just searched for Beijing guys from 18 – 28 with photos in their profiles and it lists the maximum of 500, so there are clearly tons more. The ‘sting’ is that you can’t read the profile details unless you are a member. What you might consider is joining for a month @ US$9.90 or 3 months @ US$19.90 to arrange some hook-ups. I’ve met several very nice guys from fridae. I’ll be in Beijing again in January and hope to give you a better update then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bbillybb Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 Wow what great information you took the time to write on. I really appreciate that. I will however have a Chinese friend with me so that will help out a lot too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fountainhall Posted July 27, 2011 Share Posted July 27, 2011 I will however have a Chinese friend with me so that will help out a lot too. That'll be a huge help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bbillybb Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 But damm!I found on Utopiaa place and e mailed to Kelvin twice and he has not replied to me yet. One of the reviews was good there on it so i dont know why no reply. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bbillybb Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 Ah I got the information...Kelvin is thinking about renting his places out on long term only but has not decided if he will do that finally. He will let me know. So thats good to know. But looking at the pricing of a reasonable hotel it sure is heavy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fountainhall Posted August 13, 2011 Share Posted August 13, 2011 The big hotels in central Beijing are certainly not cheap, but there are lots of hotels in the city and I am sure Kelvin will be able to help you find a nice smaller one to suit your budget. I checked a couple of sites this morning. Here's a Chinese-style one that get's really great reviews, is relatively central and has a rate of around US$125 per night in April including breakfast, wifi, service and taxes. http://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/beijing-double-happiness-courtyard.en.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
