Where 无限城 stands out is in its environment and staff. The two story building near 鼓楼(gǔlóu) is quaintly decorated, comfortable, and quiet. With one wall on the second floor being all glass, and considering the fact that it is the tallest building around (nothing but old 胡同(hútòng)s over there), the view is nice, and the sunlight that spills in makes for a great atmosphere.

Tired of Chinese food? In need of a taste of home? Below are a couple of recipes that are easy to make well and utilize inexpensive ingredients that are readily available in most Chinese markets.

The real gem here, though, is Rockland’s self-released (i.e. burned) albums, which are wrapped up in brown cardboard sleeves and stacked unobtrusively in the back left corner. Here you can find more obscure Chinese and Western indie bands, live albums, compilations, and lots and lots of Lou Reed. A lot of these come as a two-album set, meaning you can’t buy either album individually, but at fifteen kuai a pop, this is hardly anything to complain about.

The band seemed to possess a similar mindset, communicating with each other through their usual knowing glances and smiles. It’s nice to see a band that actually listens to themselves when playing live and enjoys the music that they’re producing.

Hot & Cold’s set often touched on minimal synth traditions of simple repeated melodies (when there is a melody to speak of), raw and bleak (or reverb-saturated) vocals, and stripped down rhythm compositions. However, Hot & Cold is definitely not another band of the Dead Luke/John Maus variety. There is no danger of inappropriate melodic lushness or oversanitized synths replacing vital shapeless noise, only an obvious lack of adherence to any one musical classification, an intelligently programmed drum machine, and post-apocalyptic lyrics.

Trailer: 自梳，就是已届婚龄的女子，自己把发辫盘在头上梳成髻子，表示终身不嫁，又称“梳起”。

This Saturday, June 19: a going away party for some of our friends and the Spring. Come by for veg-friendly food and drink, from 5pm til way late. La Loupe and others will perform. Bring some food so we don’t run out!

Two highlights: Zombies dedicated to Jay Reatard (“We’ve known him since he was 17. He was supposed to come here but… he fucked up”) and a Johnny Thunders cover that prompted an overenthusiastic Chinese fan to somehow short-circuit the guitar and cause a small delay.

Pen&ink: Geometric exercises

Located on a tree-lined hutong just north of Jingshan Gongyuan, Beijing Characteristics Dumpling House is unassuming, cozy, clean, and full of friendly jiaozi / 饺子 makers. The menu features every variety of dumpling you could ask for, and all of the dumplings are made from scratch as you order them.