New Openings: China Doll

China Doll
Daily 9pm-late. 5/F, 3.3 Dasha, 33 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District (8776 6271)
朝阳区三里屯路3.3大厦33号2层 www.chinadollclub.cn

Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the acrimonious split between Ai Wan's founding team and what is now Club China Doll in the Tongli Studios, China Doll takes two thousand square meters on the fifth floor of the 3.3 shopping mall and turns them into consummate hedonistic excess. Decorated with a cornucopia of color, Chinese furniture and specially commissioned pieces by Chinese artists (which are also for sale), the club is 100 percent made in China, yet is in no way conventional.

The main room has ample seating for those tired of shaking their money-makers on the dance floor, which promises to be filled by lavish events and big-name disc jockeys. The eight VIP rooms are even more extravagantly decorated than the rest of the club, and include karaoke as well as video art to satisfy the champagne classes. The smaller lounge room is a world away from the dance floor, offering respite from the throngs to enjoy the excellent service and sit on a gin and tonic (RMB 55) or one of the house special cocktails (RMB 65-90). Irksome downsides stem from the shopping mall location: Access is limited to elevators and the toilets are outside of the club. Overall it still feels more Hong Kong than Beijing, but as more and more venues of this caliber open, that sentiment will be confined to the past. China Doll could well signal the future of the capital's higher end of clubbing.