Last night, I got to experience China's franchise karaoke bar: KTV. China has them all over the place, and they're unlike anything American. I also don't think that we'll be seeing them in America any time soon. At the end of our busy day wandering around Tianjin -- highlights included Old Culture Street marketplace, Chinese Italian food (great carbonara), and skating on a weird miniature chair thing (impossible to describe) -- we were able to enjoy our 8pm reservation at KTV.
I'll try to describe it. The inside was black and gold with dozens of private booths for patrons to reserve. Each booth has its own TV, a couple microphones, a couple percussion instruments (tambourine and maracas), and touchscreen DJ controls. The controls are pretty elaborate-looking, and the fact that they're entirely in Chinese doesn't much help. Our group was small, and I think that our Chinese friends were troubled by our lack of talent with plenty of awkward feigned smiles to each other; the Chinese language is inherently musical, so the locals seem to be universally good at singing. I was legitimately impressed at one of the girls in our group, who could perform spot-on Whitney Houston. They also probably have much more practice, but each local was a tough act to follow. Despite the ridiculous contrast in going back and forth between talented practiced singing and slightly awkward and unintentionally jarring off-key howling, everyone had a great time. Also, the Chinese love Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.
We followed KTV with a visit to "Soul Bar," where foreigners supposedly get free Jack Daniels, but it was unfortunately 40 RMB per beer, which equates to approximately $8. Expensive even by American standards! The bar doubled as a dance club, and the DJ did a great job at mixing up American and European music. It was all like a notch better than what I'd hear in the US, and the DJ would often sing over tracks in flawless English. It was a late night and I was out until 5 in the morning.
Today I've been recovering and have been writing this off and on while watching Trainspotting. Neither here nor there, but it's actually way better than I remember when I watched it when I was 15. Anyway, just now, I've come to realize that I've had a very full vacation already. I've climbed The Great Wall, seen Tienanmen Square, celebrated Chinese New Year in Beijing (F'ing nuts, I attached a photo of a firework that I managed to capture), visited The Forbidden City, eaten non-stop authentic Chinese food (weird but I'm actually starting to really enjoy some of the dishes), and participated in a culture completely unlike anything American.
At 3:30am tomorrow morning, we'll catch a bus back to Beijing Airport, and fly out to Harbin in order to experience Ice Lantern Festival.
