Places to go for Jan 1st New Year

[Brian US]

What is there to do in Beijing for tomorrow night's new year? I know all the bars and clubs will be full, but do they have fireworks at Tiananmen? Can you even get into Tiananmen? My first new year in Beijing, so I didn't know how big it is with Chinese new year around the corner.

[zhouhaochen]

I heard there is no cover and happy hour before 12pm at Fu Bar, so we will go there.

But then...I heard it from someone on a flight from Vienna to Beijing, so no guarantees ;)

[smithsonians]

this is also my 1st year experiencing new year in beijing.will china celebrate it as huge as their independence day?

or well at least less huge....cause i dont feel like its xmas and new year here,too bad.

[Brian US]

I heard there is no cover and happy hour before 12pm at Fu Bar

Every bar I have passed have all had really good drink specials, but I wanted to stay away from the clubs/bars. I think I might just take the subway to Tiananmen around 9/10 just to see what's up.

[Brian US]

Just stopped by Tiananmen and it's dead. Nothing going on and the main square is closed with the signs saying due to the flag raising. My cousin said she is going to see fireworks in Shanghai and I saw on the TV that Hong Kong is also going to have them. It's a bummer Beijing isn't welcoming the new decade.

[skylee]

The fireworks here at the harbour in HK look great.

Happy new year everyone.

[smithsonians]

yeah couldnt agree more,i just having a fireworks with some of my friends at my dormitory.

its boring.

i think there's an event at lama temple because my japanese friend is going there.

[Meng Lelan]

I don't think you'll see much going on in Beijing for 元旦 because I know that final exams are coming up right before 春节, I've got a friend in Beijing who is very busy now reviewing for exams at the engineering school.

[greenarcher]

I went to The Place to celebrate the countdown. It was the most lackluster and meaningless countdown I have ever had. The place was packed with locals but Place management didn't bother to prepare something special for New Year's Eve. The same old shows were shown on their LED screen with just an addition of the countdown from 10 to 0. Not even a tiny bunch of fireworks. When the countdown reached 0, the locals didn't even shout or cheer. It was as if nothing happened. And the song they chose for New Year? Mo Li Hua with matching flowers on the screen. What's even worse was that it was practically impossible to get a taxi in the vicinity right after the countdown. We got our taxi at around 3am already. Had we known this would happen, we would have just gone straight to VICS or MIX.

I know they didn't celebrate western New Year but the sheer number of locals made me think otherwise and the fact that they are slowly imitating how the west celebrates (Xmas, New Year, Valentine's) I thought maybe this year would be different from the past. Boy was I wrong.

[gougou]

I went to the rock show at the Village. Things got a little out of hand after the second band, which finished around 11.30, at which point they displayed "Technical maintenance" on the screen for half an hour, did the countdown and then sent everybody home. Happy new year to you too...

[adrianlondon]

I stayed at home with my partner and some bottles of champagne, watching films then the TV which showed Big Ben chiming midnight followed by the fireworks. If the reference didn't give it away I'm in London ;)

A couple of years ago I hosted a party and we al walked down to the river to watch the fireworks live, but unless you get there before 9pm - and hence stand there doing nothing but get cold for 3 hours - you don't get a good view. Then you need to walk with thousands of drunk peopleout of the area and back home again. Now I'm lazy and whether I host a party or not we just stay in my apartment.

When I was younger we'd go to a club and younger still (mid teens) we'd try to look older and hit a bar in Leicester Square. Nowadays it's hard to get into a pub/bar unless you have a ticket or get there very early. As for clubs ... the better the club the worse the NY seems to be in them, as they don't like to change their formula. So we'd go to GAY (at the Astoria) and camp it up for a few hours. Unfortunately (or not, depending on your view of a place which seems to play ABBA and Steps all night), the Astoria has been demolished.

When I spent NY in Beijing, about 30 of us got together and held an impromptu party in a communal area in our BNU dorm. Lots and lots of alcohol, and it ended up with a food fight. Luckily, we weren't hasled by any security/staff and the cleaners cleaned it all away the next day. Luxury!

[Brian US]

I assume this New Year's in Beijing will be just as dead as last year's. Besides bars and clubs it doesn't seem like anything special. Anyone know why Shanghai and Hong Kong put out fireworks and not Beijing? Is it just because of all the foreigners in those cities? As Menglelan said last year, many of my friends are in the middle of exams right now.

Anyway, Happy New Year!

[Meng Lelan]

As Menglelan said last year, many of my friends are in the middle of exams right now.

Are the exams from last year still going on right now? Dang those Chinese exams are so freaking long.

[greenarcher]

Spent New Year's Eve in The Place, it was such an EPIC FAIL. So many locals but they never cheered after the countdown; all they did was make us wait hours before we could get a cab.

[Lu]

Spent New Year's eve at Migas, I had never heard of the place before but it proved to be a great party. It helped that pretty much everyone I know in Beijing was there, but music, location, drinks and countdown were also all great. I heard there were also some parties at 798, perhaps that's an idea for next year?

[Brian US]

Are the exams from last year still going on right now? Dang those Chinese exams are so freaking long.

Just one standardized test after another. This may not surprise you, but my friend had a copy of one of his final a few days before the exam.

I was in Xidan around 10pm trying to get a cab and they started at 120 kuai for a ride that normally costs 20 kuai. Is it like that on every holiday?

I feel like I'm the only one who has yet to go to 798.

[tintin]

I almost flew out to Beijing before New Year, guessing its a good job I didnt, could have been quite dissapointing by the sounds of it.

[roddy]

Unless you actually know people you want to spend New Year with, yes. Even if there is a big event on somewhere, the joined-up thinking - crowd control, traffic measures, extra public transport - just aren't there. You're more likely to see subway stations close down due to an excess of passengers than stay open late to get everyone home.

[Lu]

I feel like I'm the only one who has yet to go to 798.

Nope, I also haven't been yet. (Well, I went 8 years ago, but back then it wasn't even called 798 yet, or not that I knew.)

[Brian US]

Unless you actually know people you want to spend New Year with, yes.

This seems true for all major holidays. I have yet to stay in China for the Spring Festival, but it seems only practical if a Chinese friend invites you to their home.