A while back, the Radar reviewed the White Rabbit club in Beijing. White Rabbit was an alternative to the usual Beijing club fare (we’re looking at you Coco Bananas and Cargo (top100) and you Vics, Mix and Bling (hip-pop)) with a concentration on the harder side of the dancefloor. White Rabbit rarely kicked off before 1am and there was a permanent cover charge in place no matter what was happening that night that was controversial at best. You can read what we had to say about it HERE. Sadly the Rabbit is no more. A couple of things to note about the closure.
- the Chinese authorities are cracking down hard on illicit substance abuses. There have been regular stories recently of people, including foreigners, that have been hoovered up from particularly late night, repetitive beat parties. Even more alarming is the way these people are being hoovered – undercover police take likely suspects outside, search them, and then ask them who else is under the influence. They return inside to finger the new person/ people and so it goes on. We understand that this was one of the reasons behind the Rabbit’s demise
- 50RMB covers every night of the week is tough on customers. See the complaints (and the compliments) HERE.
- China is still struggling to accommodate specialist music clubs. The Shelter in Shanghai being the obvious exception.
- Beijing (with the exception of Acupuncture), is a city for bands
- You really need to secure a venue with fire permits, or the authorities can get you whenever they feel like it
The demise of White Rabbit has consequences for China’s alternative electronic scene generally. Promoters across the dubstep, alt-electronica, experimental scenes were using the White Rabbit and the Shelter to provide two decent nights to traveling artists, and with White Rabbit gone, there are no real alternatives in Beijing. According to Gareth Williams (co-founder of the Shelter) this will make booking international guests more difficult and expensive – artists don’t want to come for a single show, and those that will, will incur higher costs (flights etc.) which will most likely be handed on to the consumer. Which is a massive shame. The original investors in the venue are looking for another venue as we write. We wish them a speedy resolution! 