Beijing Techno Union

The PENG crew, which consisted of X.L.F., Jackson Li, Huang Weiwei, and Pancake Lee, rebranded itself as Acupuncture Records last fall, bringing four other local DJs (Weng Weng, Elvis T, Terry Tu, and Xiao Feng) under its umbrella. Their goal: save techno. Six months later, even if techno's not saved, at least we all know it's around. Other electronica crews speak in hushed tones of awe of the Acupuncture marketing. One DJ said to me, "Where did they come from? ... They're making us all step up our game."

Starting from April, the Acupuncture umbrella just got a lot bigger. In addition to regular bilingual EP (electronic primer) Sessions designed to educate enthusiasts about DJing and different genres, Acupuncture is launching the Beijing Techno Union. "We are trying to get everyone together to make bigger noise and eventually a bigger scene," says Acupuncture manager and techno missionary Miao Wong. "The idea is to bring everyone together, establish a union."

The Beijing Techno Union is throwing parties every Friday and Saturday of April, sometimes with two parties in different venues on the same night. Collaborating groups include Shanghai's Udance, SOS, Blink Events, and BaiCai. A monthly membership card will gain entrance to all of the Union's April parties, held mostly at Club Camp above Coco Banana, with a handful of events at Block 8.

The card goes on sale for RMB 200 this Friday night at Acupuncture's Shi party in iSpace (a venue by Block 8's elevator), with half-off for students and members of Acupuncture's Facebook group. Alternatively, the card can be ordered by e-mailing miao.acupuncturerecords@gmail.com, or calling 138 1034 7555.