The Best Jazz Club in Beijing

Joseph Ellis

Performers at the East Shore bar play late into the night

When Liu Yuan started playing the sax, jazz was still seen as bourgeois and chord charts were hard to come by. Raised by folk-musician parents, he performed with Cui Jian, the father of Chinese rock, before dedicating himself--under the influences of John Coltrane and Miles Davis--to jazz. Now Liu's East Shore is the most promising venue in Beijing's budding jazz scene. Located on the banks of Lake Houhai, East Shore is a refuge from the trinket sellers and gaudy bars along the crowded shore. Its large windows give clear views over the water, and leather armchairs and dark wooden floorboards provide...

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