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Kailash Calling

Folded into a little slice of Dongzhimennei Dajie (Dongzhimen Inner Street), this little gem of a bar is bursting with colour and atmosphere. Once inside, the trendy monotone facade gives way to a wealth of Tibetan art and stylish minimalism.

Open for just six months, the Beijing Kailash Company's十相自在 bar/cafe/gallery (Tenfold Powerful One Bar) is hoping to bring a little piece of Tibet to Beijing. The walls are elegantly covered with dazzling Tibetan Buddhist thangka paintings, depicting intricate Buddhas, deities and landscapes. Each painting is an explosion of bold colours and Buddhist imagery, which initially seems at odds with the otherwise plain tones of the interior. However, the juxtaposition seems to work, with the layout perching somewhere between rustic and zen. The odd well-placed prayer scarf and soft lighting serve to compliment the Buddhas painted in bright yellow that adorn the walls. The deity figures in the paintings rest serenely on greens and blues while glowing halos sprout multicoloured icons and lotus flowers.

The paintings serve as a guide for meditation or spiritual contemplation. A specific location in a thangka may form the setting for a meditative visualisation with each colour communicating a specific significance. I'm told a particular shade of green indicates effective activity, while white is a sign of peacefulness and unassailable compassion.

According to the bar's owners, "Our understanding of Kailash [the name of the Tibetan god of all mountains] and 'Tenfold Powerful One' is that they are combinations of majesty and subtlety, and generosity and uplift, and we hope that these meanings and significances could also be appreciated and understood by our dearest friends."

Escaping a 6 p.m. Friday chill, we ducked in to find the place alive with a multimedia presentation on Tibetan religion, culture and ceremonial rites. This was a low-key new year's affair of the bar's owners and the atmosphere was welcoming and friendly. The place is a joint venture among five friends, keen to promote Tibetan culture and art in the city. From the way they run about the place, it is clear that this bar/cafe has designs on becoming a focal point for casual Tibetan discourse. But, as it stands, the place is informal and cosy with an endless supply of authentic Tibetan tea.

Note the Chinese name for the bar, 十相自在, because Tenfold Powerful One does not appear on the restaurant's facade.

Beijing Kailash Company

十相自在 (Tenfold Powerful One Bar)

Address: 14-5 Dongzhimennei Dajie, Dongcheng District

Tel: +86 10 8407 0487

WWW: http://www.tibetale.com