The City Animal Visited Lotus Lane (什剎海), the Bar Zone in BeijingAgain.

The Bar Zone in Lotus Lane - Performer
Originally uploaded by taigerwan.

This is my forth times to visit the Lotus Lane (Shichahai / 什剎海), where is my favorite traveling spot all around Beijing. This area is actually a bar, or pub, zone where the construction of those seductive bars delicately consolidate into the ancient architectures and the picturesque lakes, including Qianhai(前海) and Houhai (後海). Once you get in this area, you can always easily notice those tourists with different skin color from yours. Shichahai is particularly popular among foreigners, prompting the price for everything here to boost. Last year when I came here with my two female ex-colleagues, each small bottle of beer costs RMB 80. However, the performance of the live band was poor and the skills of those bartenders were embarrassing, who are using some fake wood bottles to practice some acrobatic action right in front of us.

I always enjoy strolling on the lanes in shichahai and streets near Drum Tower (Gulou / 鼓樓), because the surroundings remind me of many busy streets in Shanghai, such as Xintiandi(新天地), one of my favorite places there. Olive treated Henry and me again to have a dinner in a British style restaurant. The cuisine is OK, but I do enjoy the atmosphere there. We sat on the second-floor terrace, where I found that Henry and I were the merely two Asian faces on this particular space, making me have the illusion that we were enjoying our time somewhere in Europe.

With Olive's help, Henry just got an intern in Paris. Hence, Olive asked me whether I have time to travel with them to Europe later. I can not help raising my tone to repeat his question again. This invitation is very alluring for me. I do have plenty of time. However, I might not have enough money to visit Europe again. They will let me know their schedule once they set it down. We will see!