There are now the same number of foreign consular institutions in Chongqing as there are in Chengdu - take THAT 'Home of the Panda'!

So far eight countries - Canada, Japan, Great Britain, Cambodia, Denmark, Philippines, Hungary and Ethiopia - have set up consular offices in Chongqing, but the end of 2013 will probably see Chongqing beat those scoundrels to the west once and for all, as Italy and The Netherlands both plan to open offices before the year is out. 

Suck it up and eat Chongqing's dust, Chengdu..

Last year Swedish band Immanu El played their swelling, cinematic post-rock to a near full Nuts Club.  They're back once again courtesy of Chengdu promoters New Noise, and if even 1/4 of the girls that were there told their friends about the blond hair, blue eyed, oh-so-dreamy Strangberg twins(the band's founders) and their good tunes, there's a good chance that tickets might be hard to come by.  So even if you prefer SISU girls to high-quality live music, you've still got a reason to shell out ¥80 for a good time.  

Check out their latest effort "Under Your Wings I'll Hide" below, and see them live Saturday, May 11 at Nuts Club. 20:30

That's right, it's out! Go get it at all the usual cool places!
Here's the breakdown real quick:
Cold Cave is playing Nuts this Friday (May 3rd), with The Maples to support. If you can't go on Friday, check out party punk band The On Fires the day before, supporting band's the same...
Trivia Night is now on Tuesdays and it's at Cliff's! Fans of Da Rasta's Pub Quiz will hopefully flock to this one from now on...
The Flea Market is back this month (May 20th - location to be determined), so bring your old crap and see if anyone wants it. If you need some old crap to redecorate, then you should come too!
Mr. Chelonian (海龟先生) is our featured band this month, come check out their rock and reggae stylings at Nuts on the 25th!
Top party this month: JCC from Guangzhou is doing her farewell tour, stopping by Nuts on the 31st!

Get to Sigongli on the blue line, take a taxi up to Youdian Daxue (Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications) and that’s it. Yeah it sounds easy but most people wouldn’t bother. And that’s a shame.

Youdian seems to be something of a rock college, with a crazy amount of bands and the groupies who love them all living in close quarters, isolated in the mountains.

If you get dropped in front of the main gate of the university, dining and drinking options abound. From nice teahouses to shoddy street food, everything is within walking distance. And as soon as you venture too far away, sweet fuckall. In a back alley across from the gate, you’ll find Hitle Pub, which we are told has nothing to do with the famous Austrian painter and orator, Steve Hitler. Perfect for an ironic night out.

Better yet, if you walk down the small street lined with food stalls, fruit merchants and hotpots (on the left hand side of the giant sculpture fronting the school), you’ll be rewarded with what may be the coolest, indiest place to be in the city.

WWPW, is a name that doesn’t roll on your tongue, but try to remember it. The first floor is but a simple bar with three tables while the second floor has a full drum set, a few amps and barely enough space for 20 concertgoers to stand. Top that with an intimate lounge on the third floor and you get three different vibes for the price of one.

We had a chance to experience the Youdian Daxue rock n’ roll living as The Maples, whom we’ve been following with great interest lately, were playing with four other bands on a Friday some two weeks ago. A free show, mind you, these Nanshan guys don’t believe in tickets. We got to see some familiar acts, like Disorder, Number 2 Story and their spinoff project Doctor D, as well as young unknowns like Amelyz Diamond and The Day Shift.

Had the music sucked, the young’uns in the house would’ve still enjoyed themselves, but suck it did not. When some of the most promising musicians in town exchange banter and crude chongqinghua taunts with a sdown-as-fuck crowd between songs, you know you’ve stumbled into a real good show.

Don’t expect WWPW to give you too much of a heads up for events, just turn up on a weekend and hope for the best…

And hey, there’s always Hitle.

Last time Queen Sea big Shark played at Nuts, the place was packed.  Pretty sure it was the first(if not only) time Nuts had to stop selling tickets.  That's how much the kids love the hottest thing to come from Beijing since roast donkey.  Or was that duck?  
Duck or donkey one thing's for sure, QSBS are certainly 牛B!  Check them out Friday nights, and if you can, buy your ticket early.  Not only will you save ¥20, but it will assure that you get in the door.

Big Loco has been making some big waves out of Chengdu recently, and he's bringing his bassed-up, trapped-out sounds to Nuts Club this weekend for their Pharaoh Reborn party(dress like an egyptian, get in free).  Check out the latests mix he did for web radio station UDanceCN.com for a preview of what to expect from "Grande Crazy."

By the way, the girlfriend of the deceased murdering bandit, Zhou Kehua (a.k.a. The Joker), was sentenced to five years in jail and a RMB 10,000 fine on Friday last week.

Zhang Guiying, 22, was found guilty of harbouring a criminal and concealing income from crime by a judge at Chongqing's Shapingba District People's Court. She was arrested after Zhou was whacked by Chongqing police in August last year.

Zhou Kehua was a right scoundrel. Born in 1970 he was already familiar with the inside of a jail well before his 16th birthday and throughout the 1990s was in and out of trouble for trafficking firearms. That's how serious this guy was.

It was the early 2000s however that the Joker earned his true bad-ass-motherfucker stripes as a mercenary in Burma. Shit.

In 2004 he returned to China to launch what can only be described as a one-man violent crime epidemic, combining firearms knowledge, mad kung fu skills and a willingness to kill anyone for money.

Between 2004 and his death last year he killed 10 and injured five people, including bank staff, civilians and even soldiers. He is said to have stolen millions of RMB across Jiangsu, Hunan and right here in Chongqing.

He really pissed off the authorities in Chongqing when he killed a woman in Shapingba last summer however, and the city responded by putting to use that awesome mafia-eradicating police force it has paid for. He was dead in days. And now his girlfriend's behind bars. The end. (…Or is it?)

16 Bysreet music club are shaking things up a bit this weekend.  The usually folk-centric venue, nestled within the tourist trappings of Ciqikou is set for a rude awakening when Beijing hardcore band Fanzui Xiangfa(犯罪想法) take to the stage Saturday night.  Fortunately for us, our good friend Xiao Mao happens to also be friends with the band's drummer Kuang Ma, so we had her ask him a few questions in the lead-up to their first show on the shores of the Jialing.  



CQscene: Kuang Ma, heard you were growing a beard before the show, why? and how's it going?


Kuang Ma: yeah, I was growing a beard for a few months before the tour, because I like big beards, it makes me look older and harder, but when I was trimming my beard I messed up so now it is short and I am growing a new beard.

CQ: Anything crazy happened so far (on the tour)?
KM:  Yes, some crazy shows, like in Guangzhou, we played in a small skateboard shop and there were lots of people there, some to see us play, others just passing by looking through the glass walls on the street. The crowd was crazy, lot of energy, pogo dancing and stage diving. And the shop was sooooo small. 

CQ: Do you have any ideas about the bar you will play here in CQ this Saturday?

KM:  Yeah, on a busy shopping street? I did not book the tour, just follow the others, I don't even know the name of the bar.

CQ: We already know you're a vegan and non-drinker. what will you be drinking after the show when everyone is holding a bottle of beer?
KM: Binghongcha? Suanmeitang? Diet coke? Haha.