"God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, ‘I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.’”
In Beijing, our flood myth tracks along the same lines – except it was government officials regretting that they’d allowed a bunch of bars to spring up over the city, and then they flooded the streets with bricks. While most of us responded to the brickings by whining and taking Tinder dates to malls, Pancake Lee built an ark. He filled that ark with a pair of turntables and a bunch of your favorite local DJs. He landed that ark in Sanlitun Back Street, on Kokomo Mountain (Tongli Studios, technically).
There’s an RMB80 cover on weekends, but it’s free on weekdays and drinks are reasonable (RMB25-50). Is it, like Noah’s Ark, three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high? Probably? Maybe not? We have no idea. But this smoker-friendly sweatbox is big enough to provide the kind of low-ceiling basement dance club vibe that’s been missing from Sanlitun proper for at least a year now.
With a rotating cast of DJs playing different styles of music every night (special props to Funk night on Thursdays) along with guest DJs, Aurora is gunning to be the spot you show up to after a drunk dinner and leave from with someone to be fruitful and multiply. The club plans on mostly playing various styles of house music and nudisco, along with regular helpings of funk. As far as vibe goes, think more Lantern and Dada than Sirteen or Kokomo.
And, oh, Aurora also has a kitchen with burgers, steaks, and Mexican food provided by Chen Wen Cai, formerly of Luga’s. We can confirm that our chips and salsa had ‘good bar salsa.’ But hey – you’re not going for the food. In this post-flood Beijing, it’s genuinely exciting to see new places open up and provide some hope that the city hasn’t been irrevocably drowned. In these uncertain times, it’s hard to maintain hope that anything can last, but we won’t be surprised if future expat generations are heard saying: “Oh, you weren’t here when Aurora was still around? You missed the good old days.”
See a listing for Aurora and read more Beijing Bar & Restaurant Reviews
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