After a seemingly endless soft launch period, Taiwanese superclub Spark has finally opened its doors to the public, and the result is fairly mixed.

The Beijing branch is located on the ruins of the old Song Bar and Kitchen, but the feel of the venue has changed drastically. Gone is Song’s subtle lighting in favor of a laser show that both baffles and beguiles. The music policy is house and commercial hip-hop – nothing too risky, nothing too underground. A centralized bar and larger dance floor make this out to be more of a club than the experiment that was Song. However, the cascading ziggurat structure that marked the former club out as the best designed bar in Beijing kind of remains in place, with the treacherous steps now leading down to the dance floor.

With a weekend door price of 200RMB for men and 100RMB for women, this isn’t a place to go and nurse one drink on the side of the dance floor all night; head in with deep pockets or with a group of friends who have a table booking. While at the time of writing, Spark is still undoubtedly Beijing’s newest, hippest spot, its luster will fade in time, so expect the entry fee to come down when the management realize they’re losing too much business to the established Gongti hotspots.

Open: 10pm-4am Fri-Sat, 10pm-3am Tue-Thur.

Telephone: 6587 1501

Address: B108, The Place, 9 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district

朝阳区光华路9号世贸天阶B108号