过年How?: Lean Into the New Year With Musical Barman Tavey Lean
We quiz some long-term Beijingers on how they intend to spend this year's Chinese New Year and hopefully uncover some horror stories along the way. 过年 How, y'all?
For locals, the Chinese New Year is a time to be with family, but for many people whose family does not reside in China, the time off can be spent traveling and, of course, partying. As co-owner of 4corners bar and the titular member of the trendsetting band Tavey Lean and The Solid Gold Dream Machine, if there is anyone who knows how to have a fun Chinese New Year in Beijing, it's Tavey Lean (pictured above right).
What's your full name and where are you from?
My name is Tavey Ted Lin and I’m from Houston, Texas. Sometimes I go by Tavey Lean. I recently performed with the Mala Girls as Lil Tee.
What does your average CNY entail? Where are you headed this year? At a guess, how will it differ to last year?
My average CNY (it's true, I’ve been here long enough to have such a thing as an "average" CNY) entails throwing a big party at 4corners on the eve, watching the fireworks, and bumming around a half-empty Beijing with whatever reprobates have failed in their plans to escape. The outlawing of fireworks in recent years has put kind of a damper on the fun but we’ve got plans to keep things interesting this year.
As to where I’m headed, I might snatch a quick last-minute flight somewhere warm if a cheap ticket out of Tianjin appears. But right now, my only plans are to hang out at the bar sometime that week and nerd out with fellow tabletop geeks Josh Lally, Rich Akers, and Stevie Mac.
Last year… I honestly can’t remember what happened last Chinese New Year. Did they do one last year?
Tell us about a particular CNY nightmare that you've encountered.
One year in particular does pop into mind. I believe it was 2015. As I mentioned, back then you could set off fireworks pretty much anywhere. Those volcano sparklers would be going off on every street corner. Little kids would be running around shooting roman candles, smoke everywhere, explosions… sirens going off all the time from car alarms and ambulances. It was awesome.
For some reason, we decided to drop a lot of cash on fireworks ourselves that year and set them off in the parking lot behind 4corners with a nice view of Gulou. It was fun, handing out bottle rockets and roman candles and shooting off mortars... Richard from Jing-A tied a string of firecrackers to the back of the Keg Egg and did donuts in the empty lot. A fairly spectacular celebration. I won’t say it was his fault, of course, I mean, fiery bits were just falling out the sky everywhere that night, but an abandoned tent caught an ember and, well, before long we had an inferno on our hands.
I’m pretty useless in an emergency. Luckily my ever-heroic partner in crime at 4C, Jun [Trinh], had the foresight to drag the burning tent away from the highly flammable hutong rooftops and into the middle of the lot, where there was nothing we could do even with fire extinguishers, but watch it burn out. Then we went back inside, turned up the music, and locked the back door so the police couldn’t get in.
For legal reasons I’ll say that the above is a highly fictionalized account of this one time nothing happened and everyone was safe and nothing illegal took place.
Which dishes do you particularly look forward to gorging on every year? Perhaps you plan on some special drinks at the bar?
You’re giving me space to shamelessly promote my business? Well, alright…
At 4corners on Spring Festival Eve (Friday, Jan 24) between 7-10pm, we'll have a classic American-style Chinese buffet with eight sumptuous dishes for the low, low price of RMB 188. It's all that stuff you used to consider Chinese food, then came to China and never saw again. Personally, I’m looking forward to beef with broccoli and the orange chicken. After that, we've got a great deal on bottles of bubbly so you can grab one for yourself and welcome the new zodiac year!
What are three tips for avoiding the excesses of eating and drinking that a proper CNY is defined by (or should excess even be avoided)?
Tip 1: Excessive alcohol consumption is often the result of peer pressure. Here’s a trick I often use. If you’re out at a bar this Chinese New Year, try to mitigate the peer pressure factor by matching shots with people in their early 20s.
Tip 2: Remember, it’s all about balance. To this end, eat as much as you physically can on Chinese New Year, then, literally nothing for as many days as it takes for your hunger to outweigh your shame.
Tip 3: Health is really about your mental state. Intention is everything. Go around telling everyone about all the changes you’re going to make after the break is over. Then, sit back and watch. Your transformation should begin immediately.
Any plans for what to spend your hongbao haul on?
Lots of smaller hongbaos for kids.
If there’s one thing you could change about CNY, what would it be?
I’d bring back the fireworks inside the Fifth Ring Road. I mean, yes there was that truck that exploded on the highway. And that time the tower next to the CCTV building was burnt entirely to a crisp. And countless people losing fingers and suffering burns. So maybe some more regulated form of celebration is in order, but I do miss the spectacle. [Ed's note: If you'd like to know where you can buy and set off fireworks this year, click here.]
What do you predict the Year of the Rat holds for you?
A quick Google search reveals that the Year of the Rat is the start of a new 12-year zodiac cycle. It represents the dawn of a new day. Sunlight races across the land, casting away shadows and doubts, replacing them with certainty and opportunity. A year of vision, optimism, and prosperity is what I wish for myself and the kind readers of these words. Chunjie kuaile everyone!
过年How?: Entrepreneur Meredith Sides on Firework Safety and Nut Butter Jiaozi
Image courtesy of Tavey Lean
