At that time, there were no Taikooli Square and 3.3 building in Sanlitun.
Sanlitun was famous for its bar street at that time, but there was more than one bar street in Sanlitun. At first, Cai Xia and I only played in Qianjie.
At that time, both of us had just arrived in Beijing and admired the legendary Sanlitun for a long time. We drove to Sanlitun and only saw the most prosperous one, with a row of bars side by side, which we could not imagine from a third-tier city. All kinds of neon signs flashed, and the singer's voice was faintly heard. We parked the car and looked at the charming but strange bar street. We don't know which way to go. At that time, there was no mobile phone Baidu, and there were no posts to recommend, so I had to walk from one end to the other along the bar street before making a decision.
After I came to Beijing, I met so many foreigners outside Tiananmen for the first time. I always felt that the foreigners here were more exotic and different from them in front of Tiananmen. After all, that is the identity of tourists. Even if they come from a developed country, they look confused and stupid. But the outsiders in Sanlitun feel at home.
There are people selling small boxes of cigarettes on the roadside, all in English. I only know Marlboro, and occasionally I feel ashamed to see young girls buy cigarettes, especially a box of foreign cigarettes.
Cai Xia and I walked into the Grand View Garden like Granny Liu, and everything was fresh. Finally, we were called into the bar behind a good-looking little brother. Sorry, I forgot my name.
Cai Xia and I were arranged at a table for two by my brother. The younger brother approached us and asked, what would you like to drink? At that time, our knowledge of wine was limited to beer and white wine, so I asked, what beer is there? My brother said many beer brands that I had never heard of, but I heard of one of them, so we ordered two bottles of Corona and one bottle of 35. We all think it's expensive, but we take it for granted.
The bar was dimly lit and almost full. There are foreigners, mostly from China. I thought many people should be young people, but they are not. There are also many uncles in their forties who are talking and laughing with friends or business partners with gentle eyes, although they always have to lean forward to hear them. There are also many people chatting or rolling dice at will and occasionally taking a sip of wine, which is very different from standing on a box in a restaurant.
The female singer on the stage and her band are the background of sound and taste. I finally heard the live broadcast. The female singer has long curly hair and is very thin. She is singing an English song with great rhythm. Unfortunately, I don't know what it is. But in the chorus part, many people will sing along and become a female singer in a bar. This was my biggest dream at that time. Later, I learned that this song is called Country Road, Take me home? It was a very popular English song in the bar at that time.
Cai Xia and I are drinking beer and trying to pretend to be skilled, but we can't hide our curiosity and observe everyone here. At that time, I should feel that this really started the nightlife in Beijing.
Once you taste the sweetness, you will inevitably become addicted. For a while, we both became frequent visitors to Sanlitun. Drinking has also changed from Corona Heineken to Jack, Danny and Rhett.
It was not until later that we found the back street of Sanlitun. Compared with Qianjie, it feels really real and advanced. The bars on both sides of the back street are obviously higher than those on the front street. Probably many of them are newly renovated shops, so the style is more fashionable. Unlike singers in Qian Jie, many of them are in the style of light bars or nightclubs. The most special thing is that there are foreigners playing wild boxing in the street at night, and there are food stalls where aunts put incense. On summer nights, many girls and boys in twos and threes are chatting in the street with a few bottles of beer. Elements of different cultures and styles are mixed together. This is the charm of Sanlitun backstreet.
In the backstreet, we often go to the youth bar. Many people know the "youth" of backstreet. There is a big tree at the door, and "youth" is looming. On weekend nights, ladies can send a cup of Long Island iced tea. The first time I went, I was drunk by the free Long Island iced tea. The taste is many times better than that of sour beer, and the stamina is too many times. So that when I heard Miriam Yeung sing "Bring me Long Island iced tea and let me have a good sleep", I would feel the same way.
The youth bar has upstairs and downstairs. Once, I watched a girl get drunk in a bar, twisted all the way from upstairs along the stairs, jumped on the stage downstairs, and danced all over Beyonce. The whole bar heard the whistles of men, and many of them gathered in front of the stage to watch. Frankly speaking, it's really nice for a girl to jump with all her energy. If you put it today, the video should be posted online. I don't know how a girl will feel when she sobers up. Sure, just be happy.
Cai Xia and I went to the bar, sat down to drink and watch the fun. The two girls are inevitably sultry in the bar, and men often come over, but it's nothing, just chatting or buying us a drink. We have a good control of the scale. Once, a boy in his twenties came downstairs to see me and asked if we wanted to sit upstairs together. He pointed to the upstairs, where about three boys were sitting, and there were many beer bottles on the table. I smiled slightly and said to the boy, if you talk, you can come down and talk. We don't like walking up. The boy went back a little unhappy. Cai Xia and I touched the cup gently, which didn't affect our mood at all.
What impressed me the most was that when we were young, two people had a cup of iced tea in Long Island, but in the bar, a crooked nut in a long trench coat and a China man under 30 invited us to drink two more tequila. In fact, drinking here is already a critical line, but Cai Xia and I are like two female soldiers shattered by gunfire that day, dragging their residual limbs to the enemy. They are indomitable and determined not to give up.
When the youth came out, it was about 2 o'clock. We were both hungry. Seeing the string of incense in the street, we both sat down and ordered a bottle of beer. Until now, I wonder how we drank so much wine that day and didn't throw up.
While eating kebabs, we chatted with the male boss who sold kebabs and asked him when it usually became noisy here, because it was already two o'clock, but the backstreet was still crowded and lively. The boss said that many people here would stay up all night until dawn. Cai Xia and I looked at each other, okay! Let's spend the night in Sanlitun tonight. Each of us drank two more bottles of beer at the stall, and in this way, we chatted and drank slowly until we were all sleepy and the people in the backstreet gradually dispersed. ...
At dawn, after paying the bill, we walked to the side of the road where the car was parked. Sitting in the car, watching the sun grow stronger and stronger, I squinted and told Cai Xia that there were many people in Sanlitun, but the number of people who could see the sunrise in Sanlitun for one night should be limited. We laughed in the car, as if we had done something particularly awesome.
It seems that since then, we seldom go to Sanlitun. Maybe it was that night that I overdrawn all my enthusiasm for Sanlitun Bar. Perhaps it was in the years when I went in and out of Sanlitun that we unconsciously aged a few years. When I feel young, my heart stirred by hormones because of curiosity and excitement becomes more and more calm and less enthusiastic.
From the beginning, I was ignorant and curious, and wanted a glass of red, double! Later, I learned that clubbing is nothing more than seeking a casual, preferably comfortable. For Cai Xia and me, Sanlitun faithfully recorded our changes in those years.
Sanlitun is not what it used to be. When we look back, it is like a dream, but we still want to try our best to leave the bitterness and sweetness in the dream in the years.
I wanted to match some pictures, but I couldn't find the scenery and people I used to have. Everyone has his own Sanlitun in his heart, no matter how it is torn down, it is all in your heart)