Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Andy72]

2 entrances: one on the ring, and one on Jinzhai lu side of the road, below the ring.

the guy that was there as manager is quite young and i think chinese (my gf did not mentioned anything about his chinese or origin!) with some limited english skills..

he said they had opened at most 2 months ago, so maybe he took the place over..

i liked the place!

[Patrick]

Andy,

I took a taxi to the Chinese address that you had stated was "On the Way" bar. I ended up in a remote residential area and, after wandering around for a bit and asking people (to no avail) where this bar was, I caught another taxi to the pinyin address that was given for "Madison's" bar on this site. I did a thorough search of the entire area and could not find the bar. A little frustrated at this point, I noticed a bar down one of the side streets off Suzhou Lu. It turned out to be a bar called "2008," a dimly lit cocktail lounge with ambient house music and a decent drink selection. I stayed for an hour or so, during which time I was the only customer there. After wandering around for a bit more, I found a bar called "Benjamin 15," an even dimmer cocktail lounge with a dark mahogany bar and Persian carpets adorning the walls. I had a good German beer there (about 50 rmb) and listened to some some cool 60's tracks, including the theme to "James Bond." I considered ordering a martini (shaken, not stirred, of course) but, instead, continued my search for an expat bar. After walking for awhile, I was on the verge of giving up and just calling it a night when I noticed a big bar called "NightHawk." This looked promising, so I gave it a go. The first thing I noticed upon walking in was that this place is not so much a bar as it is a cabaret. A group of Chinese girls were on stage dancing like Britney Spears. They were actually quite good. Then several girls in tightly clad red dresses did a cat walk up and down the stage. There were a couple of singers as well. The beer was reasonably priced, so I stayed for a bit. All in all, I liked it. Next weekend I will search for "Knights Bar." And though I may not find it, perhaps I will find other interesting places...

[Aussie Mike]

The nighthawk bar is in the AnHui Hotel on MeiShan Lu, a typical performance bar with lots of hostesses.   hmmm
The knight Bar is 3 crossroads further down JinZhai Lu, actually it's next lights past HuangShan Lu.

Update
NightHawk Bar is currently closed as of the end og 2011. I have no conclusive idea if it will reopen but I'm sure another one will take over at least.

[Andy72]

Patrick,

Thanks for the post.. sorry I mislead you with my info..

Benjiamin 15 is one of may favorite places!
you ended up in Lao Bao Guan area..

i am not sure which place you wanted to go first, Madison or Happiness?

I can take you to both very easily, but address in China are an utopia...  

Very interest to see NightHawk!!

Madison: Google Map
before Nanhanshan lu there is a little bridge for crossing the road (not present in google maps pictures!)

i'm away in the weekend, but if you want to go there during the week, let me know!
don't expect any great entertainment.. it's a relaxing place good to go with friends for a chat..
not many pretty girls..

[rgeczi]

A thread about food, what else, has sparked my interest in this clubs and bars section on this site.  WHERE THE HECK IS CHARLIE'S BAR? 

I mean, before (his name alludes me at the moment) posted various specials that Charlie's Bar was offering, but now he has went silent, for a LONG long time.  The reason why I mentioned a "thread about food" at the beginning, is because Charlie's had a great special for burgers, and I wanted to see if it's been resurrected.

Anyone with info, please post.  Thanks. 

[Andy72]

from a previous post in this blog:

  Holiday Inn Hefei  ( Gujing Jia Ri Jiu Dian)
                      5th floor Charlie’s bar
                        1104 Chang Jiang Dong Lu, Hefei 230011, Anhui P. R. China

never been there.. no idea if still there or not..
others laowai will know better..

[Aussie Mike]

It's in the original Holiday Inn (GuJing). It was on the 4th floor and was a popular place to go. We had some great parties there. They moved it to the 5th floor and turned it into a typical chinese style bar.

Everyone lost interest quickly.

[rgeczi]

Mike, truly heartbreaking news.

I was holding out hope that they would resurrect the burger special.  There goes that idea.   

Thanks for the info.

[Aussie Mike]

It was heartbreaking 6 months ago, now it's routine.

[jtflies]

Hey me and a colleague are in town and have a few down days.  Anyone care to meet up with a couple of Yanks for some cocktails/beers?  We're at the Hilton which essentially has no nightlife and we're going stir crazy trying to find a good place to go and socialize (non-mandarin speaking).

[jtflies]

Already on it.  Heading to pick up our tickets very shortly.  Also thanks for the suggestion for Knights Bar - excellent hang out last night, great band, although the owner sent way too many tequila shots my way :-x

[TY]

I am keen to reach out too. Let me know if there's group activity and I'll join.

[martin]

I went to SoHo with some friends a while ago, it was quite nice. Has anybody else gone there, or going there regularly? The work schedule of my friends has exploded in the last weeks, and I have plenty of evenings available.

[zap]

This thread has been dead for a while. I haven't been going out so much this semester but recently, with some scheduling reduction and a few reasons to party, I was surprised to see some new places in the usual locations.

There was ( I say was because the first time I went there it was an open and functioning place and then two nights later, it wasn't) a new music/bar right behind phebe down the alleyway. It served drinks at a REALLY affordable price compared to the clubs right next to it. I think the cheapest beer was 15 rmb. Kinda reminded me of Bacchus but a lot less nicely done. It wasn't open during the dragon boat festival which I think means it has already closed down. Will double check this weekend probably.

There also appeared to be a new club further down the Fever club street, with a motorcycle theme. Seemed a bit smaller than the rest. Again, it wasn't open for the dragon boat festival which makes me believe that it too has already shut down (flash in the pan lately for all these new bars).

To the person directly above my comment, SoHo seems to be the best one in the area if you just want to chill out. As far as dancing and acting like an idiot, it is definitely last place in my book. And lets face it, sometimes we need that.

There is also a bar/restaurant not far from Bittburger (sorta behind it but you have to pass Ben's old bar to the next road to get there). It is loaded with foreigners, so you might already know about it, just posting about on the boards for those not in the know. They serve decent western food (though not everything is so good...) and have some really good drink deals, special nights (a ladies night. An actual ladies night in a chinese bar. I never thought i'd see the day) Also student discounts and deals for foreigners. I was really surprised by the overwhelming percentage of foreigners in the bar (85% at least) which makes it way more of an expat type place than Knight bar (IMO). I actually can't remember the name but will put it in the post when I figure it out/go back/ ask someone I was with.

The cool thing about it is it's located right next to a Texas Hold 'em poker hall. I checked it out, and seems legit. They don't allow a cash return for your chips, but offer 'prizes' for your chips. I think the buy in was 200 rmb but couldn't communicate with the people inside if it was no limit or not.

Last things last. There is a new bar at the University City area very close to On The Way bar (the old one). More comfortable, but just getting set up, so not a lot of patronage right now. On the second floor.

[x0vash0x]

"There is also a bar/restaurant not far from Bittburger (sorta behind it but you have to pass Ben's old bar to the next road to get there). It is loaded with foreigners, so you might already know about it, just posting about on the boards for those not in the know. They serve decent western food (though not everything is so good...) and have some really good drink deals, special nights (a ladies night. An actual ladies night in a chinese bar. I never thought i'd see the day) Also student discounts and deals for foreigners. I was really surprised by the overwhelming percentage of foreigners in the bar (85% at least) which makes it way more of an expat type place than Knight bar (IMO). I actually can't remember the name but will put it in the post when I figure it out/go back/ ask someone I was with.

The cool thing about it is it's located right next to a Texas Hold 'em poker hall. I checked it out, and seems legit. They don't allow a cash return for your chips, but offer 'prizes' for your chips. I think the buy in was 200 rmb but couldn't communicate with the people inside if it was no limit or not. "

The bar is Stone and Wood. It tends to be mostly students rather than teachers or workers. If you're looking for a younger crowd and students, Stone and Wood is the place to be.

Also, the Texas Hold 'em place is nice. The buy in is 500 RMB and it's no limit. I've played once, but friends of mine have played a few times there. The Chinese players are friendly, but be ready to either win big or lose big. One friend lost 4,000RMB on an all in! Too rich for my blood!

Also, the Texas Hold 'em place is a bit strange. Technically, gambling is illegal in China, but they found a way around it. You can cash out whenever, but you cannot directly convert your chips to cash. Instead, you will be credited on a VIP card which you can then use to get your money. So, the first thin you need to do is sign up for a VIP card or use someone else VIP Card.