T plus 15
I was curious – what does the “cool” crowd in Lhasa do for nocturnal merriment? We asked a local and was given a simple answer: “we drink!” Hmm, sounds like some people I know back home.
We requested to be taken to a properly local establishment to partake in this revelry. And I really didn’t know what to expect. Joy of joys, I was to discover a side of Lhasa which few outsiders hear of, much less experience. Ask one’s hotel manager for a good night spot and he’ll probably point you to People’s Square for the nightly light and water fountain show, or at best, one of two tourist bars in Lhasa with ESPN blaring on big screens.
The venue we were taken to is auspiciously named Golden Horse (translated from Tibetan), and is a massive club/bar/live entertainment centre founded and managed by a village co-op. Really. And it was properly local – not a single DSLR wielding tourist in sight. Well, except for us.
Just a couple of differences in Tibetan drinking culture which I observed:
1. They serve beer at room temperature. It took several attempts before we managed to wrangle a tub filled with ice to chill our beverages.
2. They drink beer from shot glasses. Now, this sounds like child’s play, but not if the expectation is to down your glass every other minute!
3. There may be a cover charge – RMB300 (USD50) for a table on weekends. Here’s the thing – RMB300 gets you a crate of 24 beers with change to spare. And they'll bring the entire crate to build a massive pyramid of beer cans on one’s table.
Tibetans take their entertainment seriously. Before the extravaganza started, we were shown a documentary on how their dancers are trained, with personal video messages from the Manager and key performers.
And amidst a flurry of lights, smoke and pulsating Tibetan pop, we were treated to an evening of impressively choreographed dancing, by dancers in impressively elaborate attire. Seriously, this is like the Tibetan Vegas. Minus the strippers, and the gambling, and the drugs. But wait, there’s more!
Once everyone is sufficiently inebriated, the communal dancing begins. This is when everyone goes up on stage to join a hoe-down of sorts. Think a circular conga, combined with cha cha moves. Apparently this goes on from midnight until the break of dawn, but I did not have the lung capacity to continue after a couple of revolutions of the basketball court-sized stage.
Here are some pictures to illustrate:
I was curious – what does the “cool” crowd in Lhasa do for nocturnal merriment? We asked a local and was given a simple answer: “we drink!” Hmm, sounds like some people I know back home.
We requested to be taken to a properly local establishment to partake in this revelry. And I really didn’t know what to expect. Joy of joys, I was to discover a side of Lhasa which few outsiders hear of, much less experience. Ask one’s hotel manager for a good night spot and he’ll probably point you to People’s Square for the nightly light and water fountain show, or at best, one of two tourist bars in Lhasa with ESPN blaring on big screens.
The venue we were taken to is auspiciously named Golden Horse (translated from Tibetan), and is a massive club/bar/live entertainment centre founded and managed by a village co-op. Really. And it was properly local – not a single DSLR wielding tourist in sight. Well, except for us.
Just a couple of differences in Tibetan drinking culture which I observed:
1. They serve beer at room temperature. It took several attempts before we managed to wrangle a tub filled with ice to chill our beverages.
2. They drink beer from shot glasses. Now, this sounds like child’s play, but not if the expectation is to down your glass every other minute!
3. There may be a cover charge – RMB300 (USD50) for a table on weekends. Here’s the thing – RMB300 gets you a crate of 24 beers with change to spare. And they'll bring the entire crate to build a massive pyramid of beer cans on one’s table.
Tibetans take their entertainment seriously. Before the extravaganza started, we were shown a documentary on how their dancers are trained, with personal video messages from the Manager and key performers.
And amidst a flurry of lights, smoke and pulsating Tibetan pop, we were treated to an evening of impressively choreographed dancing, by dancers in impressively elaborate attire. Seriously, this is like the Tibetan Vegas. Minus the strippers, and the gambling, and the drugs. But wait, there’s more!
Once everyone is sufficiently inebriated, the communal dancing begins. This is when everyone goes up on stage to join a hoe-down of sorts. Think a circular conga, combined with cha cha moves. Apparently this goes on from midnight until the break of dawn, but I did not have the lung capacity to continue after a couple of revolutions of the basketball court-sized stage.
Here are some pictures to illustrate:
The performances. Industrial quantities of light and smoke. Why the shovels? I believe they are representing a tribe from the Eastern region of Tibet.
The communal hoe-down. Hey, at least I'm facing the right direction!
