I've climbed about 5 floors of what seems to be a falling-down building. There are four Very Tall Men in security uniforms lined up on either side of the entrance. An amazing sight here in China. They all chorus the ubiquitous Chinese welcome, "Huan Ying Guan Lin" as I give them my ticket and run the gauntlet of them plus the big walk-through metal detector.
I head for the bar and this time don't make the mistake of ordering from the bartender. I take my seat near the bar and lean across to a waiter and shout "gin toni - mai you gin" (gin tonic - no gin) at him. Somehow, asking for tonic by itself doesn't work...He nods and takes my money. Goes to the cashier and gets my change and then he goes to the other end of the bar to get the tonic from the bartender. Then he brings it over to me with a glass of ice and a slice of lemon. Which reminds me, I must find out where they get their lemons.
The music is pumping and the lights are flashing and the whole place is pretty dark. I look over at 5 girls in a row (everyone is in rows) holding onto the rail around the sprung (like a trampoline!) dance floor. They are swinging their heads to and fro in time with the beat - hair flying. This seems to be The Latest Dance Move. Like manic horses swinging their heads, manes flying. Maybe it's got something to do with having long hair, but I think it is mostly got to do with the drugs they've taken.
I turn back to the rest of the crowd. All are nicely lined up (kind of reminds me of line dancing except that these people are standing WAY CLOSE) facing the 'stage'. And the DJ (who is behind the stage) keeps shouting out "sank you!" Wrecks my concentration, but the crowd loves him.
Every second song it seems, we are treated to the "Mei Nu" (beautiful girl) dancers - who are wearing pretty much nothing and who dance up on the narrow stage. THIS is probably why all are facing the front. Sometimes we even stop dancing for someone to do a karaoke number.
The best part (for me) is when the regular patrons get to go up on the stage - one beautiful and serious boy is doing what looks like 80's aerobics. Another looks like a very cool dude from a music video. I laugh and go back to concentrating on not getting hit by the violently-swaying guy behind me.
There are security guards patrolling the club and one at each corner of the dance floor - one even stands at the edge of the stage to get a better view. They seem friendly and when there is a dance-accident near me (a couple of guys thought they were in a mosh pit) the guard just comes down calmly and whispers something to them. They leave the floor quietly and the rest of us get about our dancing.
After two hours of dancing I leave and get a polite goodnight from the eight front door guards and I head out to the taxi rank, my ears ringing and vowing to bring earplugs next time. No hassles except for a hushed "wai guo ren" ("foreigner!") whenever anyone sees me. I'm definitely going back as the tonic is good and cold (hard to get cold drinks here... it is bad for the constitution or something) and the music is great and the exercise needed.
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