Logos was opened by Chinese rock singer Zheng Jun but when I dropped in, it was about as rock 'n' roll as Bryan Adams with a ukulele.
Perhaps it is because of its location among the tired neon lights of Super Bar Street near Nuren Jie. Or maybe it was because we were served warm Tsingtao (20 yuan) after we had rejected chilled Corona at 30 yuan and were asked to pay the bill immediately despite being the only customers. I suppose the littered lake that flanks the bar's outdoor terrace does provide a ready-made escape route.
Our lakeside balcony was being disrobed of week-old cobwebs as soon as we sat down. Perhaps this is the desired effect of the establishment, to give off an air of indifference and prevent me taking a photograph inside.
While outside, you can watch people scurrying silently home from work around the tree-lined lake edge. Across the water sits a crumbling square block underneath a forlorn DISCO sign and its poorer neighbour-a building called Veranda, which had no such thing.
The interior of the bar is a red drape affair with strings of silver tubes hanging down from the ceiling. The light is reddened further by an illuminated step leading to a small music stage. Live music happens on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays and I would return just out of curiosity.
There is a decent wine list, but frighteningly expensive at 350 yuan for one of the cheapest bottles, but there is the welcome presence of table football in the corner.
If it's real rock that you want, then check out the two-storey electrical warehouse opposite. If the sound systems and mini-recording studios aren't of interest, then remote control helicopters are 130 yuan.
Logos
Location: Super Bar Street, Nuren Jie, Liangmahe Lu, Chaoyang District
Opening time: 2pm-2am
Tel: 010-84480880
By Chris O'Brien (China Daily)