The Curse

One of the many great things about my favourite bar of the past couple of years, 12 Square Metres, is its location - at the south end of trendy shopping street, Nanluoguxiang.

It's a very touristy little locale, but not too obnoxiously so. And there's scads of inexpensive accommodation around there - on the street itself, or very nearby: everything from cheap'n'basic Chinese business hotels to Western-style backpacker hostels, and even a few more upmarket offerings like the Lusongyuan Hotel, a cosy traditional courtyard (just a stone's throw from the bar: we get a lot of people in from there).

Thus, there are a lot of English-speaking transients passing through the 'hood. And, since 12 Square Metres is one of only two Western-style bars on the street (and the smaller, cosier of the two, the only one that's something like a proper pub), quite a few of these people look in on the place.... and find a friendly welcome.

And a significant proportion of these random, one-off drop-ins are strikingly attractive single women (or women playing at being single, travelling without their partners). And it always seems to fall to me to make conversation with these ladies, to welcome them into the 12SQM 'family'.

And these conversations often go far too well. Unfortunately, the ladies are invariably leaving Beijing the next morning. It really is not good for my brittle heart.

Drive-by flirting - there really ought to be a law against it.