I sat staring through a thick haze, which was comprised in equal measure of the effect of several hours drinking and the cheap cigar that was slowly burning out between my fingers. It was late and our around our table at the Den.

It had been a long night, or at least it felt as such. At that moment it was somewhere in the vicinity of 2:30, yet despite our dishevelled states, we had only ventured four or five hours before. We had begun with grand plans of conquering Beijing, but had over-exerted ourselves before getting even remotely close to assault on Beijing’s nightlife was reaching a sedate and fatigued end as the three of us sat weeping the city. Thus we were sat in a semi-deserted Den having one final night-cap before heading home to the hangovers that would manifest themselves a few hours later.

The Friday evening—the culmination of which I describe above—was a somewhat atypical visit in terms of the Den. Ordinarily I would have been there far earlier to take in happy-hour, when the already reasonably priced drinks come at half-price. Prior to 10pm there is precious little space available as hordes expats crowd around the tables enjoying chilled beers by the 12RMB pint. After 10 the prices rise, but the crowds remain. Attention generally switches to the corners of the room where soccer or rugby are shown on massive flat-screen TVs

Saturday and Sunday evenings watching the football in the Den is one of my personal favorites in terms of nights out in Beijing. The only drawback with the Den is that whilst it does have a very homely feel, it is still a bar aimed at ex-pats in Asia. Accordingly it does often play host to not just sports fans and revellers, but the odd call-girl as well.