An Appetite for Adventure

From [08.10.18] Tsinghua and night out

Last weekend, a bunch of went out to Sanlitun, the epicenter of Beijing’s bar scene. It’s loud, messy, crowded and, well, drunken. I’ve only been twice since being here, since it’s not really my thing.

However, in Sanlitun, one thing is as pervasive as boozy expats and semester-abroad college types: chuanr. That’s pronounced “choo-aarrrr,” a moniker with mildly onomatopoetic associations to the action you perform upon said chuanr. Chuanr is to Beijing as a 4AM slice of Rays Famous Pizza is to New York: drunk food. Instead of mozzarella and tangerine grease, Beijingers nightcrawlers devour kebab skewers of a number of delicious tidbits, including the ever popular beef and lamb varieties to some more exotic eats such as squid and vegetables (yes, vegetables are exotic in Beijing’s mainly meat-based diet).

Like the food carts that set up shop on W28th St. in NYC, chuanr vendors flock to any venue that is sure to vomit out hoards of intoxicated, and therefore hungry, patrons come closing time. For example, we live above what is probably the most pumping club in Wudaokou, Propaganda, and on any given night, chuanr vendors sling their skewers from makeshift grilled. And we’re talking MAKESHI(F)T: a long gutter-like concrete bar — like something you’d see at a construction sight — lined with hot coals and set on two work horses. Beer goggles don’t just apply to potential mates, it seems, because despite the questionable cooking methods, bargoers crowd around the vendors, ripping meat from tiny wooden sticks with gritted teeth, most often accompanied by some grunting or other animalistic behavior.

Since Sanlitun is so packed with hungry drunks, the chuanr vendors in the area come prepared to feed the masses with clean, large booths and skewers twice as long — and twice as expensive — as the small timers. Emily had never eaten chuanr before our trip to Sanlitun, and the pics document our night.

Also, there’s a few pics in the beginning of Tsinghua University. I’ll save a discussion of Chinese universities for another day, but I wanted to point ou thte pic of my in front of the domed building. Apparently, Tsinghua was modeled after MIT. I had a weird meeting of the worlds when I first saw that building.

[08.10.18] Tsinghua and night out