Talking Pints: Fundraisers, RMB 1 Drinks and Get Your Face on a Beer Bottle

First off, not really connected with bars or nightlife, but highly deserving of a mention - Modo and Mosto's charity dinners to raise funds for victims of the Japanese earthquake/tsunami raised a grand total of RMB 39,825, which the restaurants tell us has already been passed on to the UN World Food Programme. Great effort for a night's dining.

On to this weekend's action, and if you're not going out for dinner at The Social NetWok tonight to kick off the "holiday" weekend, you could do worse than checking out Aluss, the new cafe-bar from Amilal owner Aluss. Wonder where he got the name from? The place is just a few hundred meters west of Amilal at 141 Gulou Dongdajie and is good for a quiet drink, but don't expect things to get too rowdy. The second-floor location allows for good people-watching, there's a mini-gallery space and some socialist realist furniture (I never knew such a thing existed - ask Aluss to explain). There are also some interesting beers, including Vedett (RMB 40), a Belgian brew that tastes a little like Hoegaarden. Each bottle features what appears to be a missing person ad, but it's actually a novel gimmick whereby you can upload a photo of yourself on their website and stand a chance of having your face featured on a bottle of beer. A bottle of beer that may end up in Harbin, Ningbo or Shenzhen, but fame nonetheless. Alternatively, you can have a crate delivered and they'll put your photo on every single bottle. For more on what you need to do to have your photo plastered on a bottle of beer, see Vedett's Chinese site here or their home site here.

The weather's crappy, but terrace season is officially underway, with Bar Blu's new terrace taking the bar's outdoor drinking options a whole floor higher than Kokomo's. I had a look back in February, when it was still bare, and the view's quite impressive - should be worth a look. Also anticipating the new Fez Bar on the roof of Agua, but it won't be ready until early May.

Only one place to kick off your night tonight. An exaggeration perhaps, but if you like the thought of getting wrecked for ten kuai, get down to CD Blues Cafe. They're celebrating one year of not being called CD Jazz Cafe with RMB 1 drinks on offer between 7-10pm and three bands playing swing, rockabilly and gypsy jazz. Free entry for that one. For more music, Spanish restaurant Ole has live music 9.30-11.30pm with singer Agus. The restaurant tells us he "sings like an angel," so there. Ole also has a Flamenco night every Saturday, with shows at 9.30pm in the main dining area and 10.30pm in the restaurant's first-floor lounge. Also on Friday night, Eddie LV kicks off his new Eddie's Weekend series at Kokomo's Mo Lounge (free, 10pm) with a night of banging house.

We'll all be working on Saturday, and no doubt there'll be a few hangovers around the office, but by Saturday night you can look forward to three days off work. They happen to be the three worst days of the week for going out, but there are a few things going on. On Saturday (April 2), Ultimate Productions and Meiwenti Sound host their monthly reggae party at 2 Kolegas (RMB 50, 9pm), Shanghai-based DJ Razor - aka Radek Schwidt - plays a variety of electronic tunes at The House (RMB 50, free before 11pm) and the Wasabi Sound DJs launch a new residency at Mo Lounge (free, 10pm).

The House continues flying the party flag into Sunday as Yugong Yishan co-boss and scene veteran Ou Yang gets behind the decks (RMB 50, free before 11pm), and then on into Monday with a guest set from former White Rabbit resident Zhi Qi (RMB 50, free before 11pm). Also on Monday night, Yugong Yishan hosts UK House trio Dirty Vegas (RMB 50, 10pm) - see our interview with them to get you in the mood.

Finally, mixologist supreme Bob Louison is back in town, with a new series of Spirit It! cocktail classes lined up for the rest of the year. The first is on April 30 - contact bobspirit.it@gmail.com for more information. Otherwise, stop by the Swiss restaurant on Solana Bar Street and you might catch Bob on one of his shifts behind the bar - he's currently helping manage things down there.

Enough. Get out there and party like it's a normal weekend.