Suspended Belief

Flying-man Club
One can’t say the newly developing Dadu Bar Street is yet “hot” in the accepted sense, though it has already become popular among some night revelers. In truth, it is still in its infancy in comparison with the likes of Sanlitun, Houhai and the west gate area of Chaoyang Park.

No matter. Intrepid that I am, I went out of my way to visit Dadu, more specifically the Flying-man Club because I had heard it is dedicated to people who love everything about soaring aloft in the guise of human birds. Which makes it different to the usual run of Beijing bars, thus worth writing about.

Enter the place and you can easily be gobsmacked by the assembled paraglider in the centre of the room. The bar is owned by a sports flying club that wanted a retreat where its members could get together while on terra firma – a meeting point for courageous derring-do birdmen and women who, on a bad day, might compare broken limbs and near-escapes over a drink or three.

They are nice people here, especially coach Alex, a very tall and personable fellow all round. I asked him if his height caused him any problems while he is soaring between the clouds. Hardly. He has proved himself a champion for two consecutive years. He says he can teach you to fly and let you discover why birds sing. That would be a tweet for any naturalist.

Although paragliding qualifies as an extreme sport (ES), its enthusiasts regard it as a hobby. Not for me, thanks. Knitting is safer. I can only urge you to have a go at suspending yourself above the huge nothingness that exists between heaven and earth.  I’m just happy to find that drink prices here are reasonable.

Address: 5 East Dadu Bar Street, Chaoyang District

Tel: + 86 10 6234 4230, 8461 6573.

WWW: http://www.flying-man.com