In case you thought Beijing was lacking in neon, aircraft hanger super-clubs, fear not. The lightsaber handled doors of Tang swung open this month (or rather were opened, for your convenience, by the grinning wait staff).

In fact, accepting the limitations of this kind of establishment the Santa's grotto lighting, the ubiquitous fruit bowls, the Chivas heavy drinks list, the middle aged clientele, the music Tang isn't as bad as they go. It's free to get in and cocktails start at about 30 yuan. You can order shooters by the half dozen or the dozen (100 and 180 yuan).

They even have a kind of cowgirl/biker chick on a podium behind the bar, presumably to give epileptics something to focus on other than the constant neon throb. We bought a couple of Caipirinhas (40 yuan) and squeezed into the throng.

What lets Tang down is all about how the place sees itself. The wait staff charge around bumping customers out of the way in little red "John Travolta from Grease outfits", their officiousness in taking orders only matched by the delay in drinks actually arriving. The VIP culture there transforms what should be a friendly, reasonably priced spot into a place where, unless you're mixing Courvoisier and green tea next to an ornately carved fruit bowl, the sales staff ask you not even to sit "too close" to VIP areas. Don't want to put off the blazer and Hush Puppy set from spending some real money, naturally. Gestapo black security lurk by every doorway they even have bars and eagles on their uniforms. It's they who enforce the "no photography in the KTV section" upstairs (rooms range from 880 to 6,800 for the night).

Tang could be a fun place currently, it just doesn't seem to want to be. It wants to be the kind of place that people go to show off, to spend money, and to be seen to be doing so. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Tang Club
Location: 8 Chaoyang Park West Gate
Tel: 010-65008888