Not its real name, but to me it seems so appropriate.
Treehouse is one of a number of little bars and cafés (and a tattoo parlour!) that have sprouted up over the past year or so on the pokey little alleyway that is the Xiao Ju'er hutong. It might be worth having a little crawl down there sometime - except that only Treehouse and the tattoo parlour ever seem to be open.
Treehouse was perhaps one of the earliest of these ventures, launching itself during the Olympics last year. I don't think anyone noticed it back then, save, perhaps, for a few of the 'locals' from the adjacent foreigner ghetto in Ju'er Hutong. However, over the past 7 or 8 months, several people have mentioned it to me as a worthwhile place to check out, and I finally got around to doing so last month.
On first view, it lacks any obvious appeal. Like most Chinese bars, it comes across more as a lounge/café, with low chairs and tables, soft furnishings, a clutter of homely bric-a-brac on shelves around the white walls (mostly forgettable junk, but there are a few rather fine books of art photography to browse), and a little too much light. It does have a tree growing through the middle of the room (hence the name), but for me this generates concerns about draughts and possible ant invasions rather than any great charm; rather than being a compelling 'feature' attraction, it is a bizarre irrelevance that is easily overlooked or ignored.
However, this little place clearly has potential as a cosy networking centre - and as a dirt-cheap alternative to our usual bars in the area: a sloppily generous pour of JD is a tempting 25rmb, and stubbies of Harbin beer are a steal at only 10rmb. This is the least expensive place to drink in the neighbourhood (well, the cheapest safe place to drink - unlike the 10 kuai bar, the booze is not all poisonously fake). Moreover, they have a hookah pipe, the only one in the Nanluoguxiang area, I think (Dr Manhattan was sold, right there). At present, they only have one variety of tobacco for it, a rather-too-sweet-for-my-taste cherry flavour; but I imagine one of those pipe shops on NLGX might carry other suitable types.
Chief attraction, though, is not the clean nicotine hit or the wallet-saving prices, but the warmth of the welcome. The owners are a pair of attractive young Chinese ladies who speak excellent English, and they really seem to be concerned with creating a welcoming, artsy neighbourhood salon rather than making money (hence those crazy prices!). Indeed, the place is evolving into a collective - with 5 or 6 other friends and regulars having been entrusted with keys so that they can use the space for their own projects during the daytime... or fill in for the owners in attempting to 'run' the bar when they fancy a night off. One near-permanent resident is a mercurial Tibetan who uses the place as a headquarters for the charity school he's just established nearby (providing free English lessons to fuwuyuan from bars and restaurants in the area; expect to be recruited as a teacher if you become any sort of a regular there!).
Good times in the hutong! But only for those who live in the neighbourhood - no 'tourists', please.
Treehouse is one of a number of little bars and cafés (and a tattoo parlour!) that have sprouted up over the past year or so on the pokey little alleyway that is the Xiao Ju'er hutong. It might be worth having a little crawl down there sometime - except that only Treehouse and the tattoo parlour ever seem to be open.
Treehouse was perhaps one of the earliest of these ventures, launching itself during the Olympics last year. I don't think anyone noticed it back then, save, perhaps, for a few of the 'locals' from the adjacent foreigner ghetto in Ju'er Hutong. However, over the past 7 or 8 months, several people have mentioned it to me as a worthwhile place to check out, and I finally got around to doing so last month.
On first view, it lacks any obvious appeal. Like most Chinese bars, it comes across more as a lounge/café, with low chairs and tables, soft furnishings, a clutter of homely bric-a-brac on shelves around the white walls (mostly forgettable junk, but there are a few rather fine books of art photography to browse), and a little too much light. It does have a tree growing through the middle of the room (hence the name), but for me this generates concerns about draughts and possible ant invasions rather than any great charm; rather than being a compelling 'feature' attraction, it is a bizarre irrelevance that is easily overlooked or ignored.
However, this little place clearly has potential as a cosy networking centre - and as a dirt-cheap alternative to our usual bars in the area: a sloppily generous pour of JD is a tempting 25rmb, and stubbies of Harbin beer are a steal at only 10rmb. This is the least expensive place to drink in the neighbourhood (well, the cheapest safe place to drink - unlike the 10 kuai bar, the booze is not all poisonously fake). Moreover, they have a hookah pipe, the only one in the Nanluoguxiang area, I think (Dr Manhattan was sold, right there). At present, they only have one variety of tobacco for it, a rather-too-sweet-for-my-taste cherry flavour; but I imagine one of those pipe shops on NLGX might carry other suitable types.
Chief attraction, though, is not the clean nicotine hit or the wallet-saving prices, but the warmth of the welcome. The owners are a pair of attractive young Chinese ladies who speak excellent English, and they really seem to be concerned with creating a welcoming, artsy neighbourhood salon rather than making money (hence those crazy prices!). Indeed, the place is evolving into a collective - with 5 or 6 other friends and regulars having been entrusted with keys so that they can use the space for their own projects during the daytime... or fill in for the owners in attempting to 'run' the bar when they fancy a night off. One near-permanent resident is a mercurial Tibetan who uses the place as a headquarters for the charity school he's just established nearby (providing free English lessons to fuwuyuan from bars and restaurants in the area; expect to be recruited as a teacher if you become any sort of a regular there!).
Good times in the hutong! But only for those who live in the neighbourhood - no 'tourists', please.
2 comments:
Listen, I've learnt from hard experience that if you really want to keep a place nice in Beijing, you must NEVER EVER TELL ANYBODY ABOUT IT EVER. Unless you're really trying to sabotage the place, you may want to take out specific location info. Treehouse wasn't the first to set up shop there -- a few places relocated there last spring, including Zheli, which always seemed like it should be a nicer place to work than it actually was.
Treehouse sounds nice, but in order to visit I'd have to set foot in Nan Luogu Xiang again, and every time I do that it just depresses me so.
No, there's no necessity to sully your shoes on the street of boutiques - you can access it from the JDK end of the street. Or from the Amilal alley, I suspect.
And the day that any place gets spoiled because of all the truckloads of tourists I've diverted its way, you can buy me a hat to eat. Only 6 people read this blog, and we're 2 of them.
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