Bar warning: Suzhou

I feel that I must advise all foreigners who visit Suzhou and also remind the ones that are living here that a dance club on Shiquan Jie, The Scarlet Bar, has a reputation for having the most cowardly "security" guys in the city. Let me elaborate: I was really tanked a couple of weeks ago and I blacked out...I didn't pass out, I just have no recollection of what I did and how I did it after I left the Shamrock...apparently I walked down the street to Scarlet, it was closed by that time, and the aforementioned "security" guys were hanging around outside, they proceded to smack me around simply because I was white and drunk. I woke up the next day with a splitting headache and the left side of my face was in pain and some pain spots here and there, all over my body...I didn't have any bruises which led me to believe that they just slapped and not actually hit...which is one sign of cowardice, I mean I was really twisted and it would have been really easy to knock me out. I also learned that there were 4 of them taking turns smacking me...another sign of cowardice.

I was not the only victim of these cowards. I have 6 friends who have had this happen to them and countless others that I have seen leaving Scarlet covered in blood or in an ambulance. The Scarlet employees are a bunch of cowards who all deserve some time in a hospital.

PLEASE, SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE AND BOYCOTT SCARLET. THEY HAVE A "BEAT THE POOP OUT OF THE LAOWAI FOR NO REASON" policy; and besides, Scarlet bites. It is small, the music sucks and the alcohol is overpriced.

There are a lot of bars in China that prey on foreigners...including Suzhou.

Karaoke bars here have an especially nasty reputation.
Oddly enough, Suzhou's famous chicken bars have apparently cleaned up their act a bit. Tales of people being clipped have stopped and they seem to be making more of an honest effort to make like Mr. Chesterfield and satisfy.

Scarlet is creepy anyway. I can't imagine why any foreigner would ever want to go there.
The Shamrock is friendly.

Good general advice for bars in China...

- If it's your first time in the bar, ALWAYS ask what EVERYTHING costs- including the table they seat you at and the conversation that may be on offer. There have been many tales of people having a drink or two, talking to a bar girl a while...and then getting hit with a bill for thousands of RMB and threats of violence if it's not paid.

- NEVER let a strange girl in the street steer you to any bar or restaurant. A classic ploy to rip off foreigners here. You may well end up paying 60 RMB for your cup of coffee...and 600 RMB (or more) for her pearl milk and fruit plate.

- A seriously intoxicated person is vulnerable to abuse anywhere in the world. China is no different. If you're going to drive the Buick to Borneo, do it at home...or at least make sure you have a group of friends around to help guide you.

Scarlet is the centrally located dance bar in Suzhou.  The music is crap, the staff are SS thugs and the patrons are date rape poster boys, but folks like to dance.  It's just a matter of time before something better emerges, but till then people will repeat their mistakes and return to this shithole.

I make a habit of always taking a local w/ me when I plan on getting too hosed to think straight.  Usually this is a Chinese GF who I trust (One who is seriously in love--> w me not my wallet) or some coworker, again who I KNOW I can trust that it wont get back to the lauban (my boss)It is quite common for Chinese coworkers to be spies for the man though.  One must REALLY be careful on the choice of wingman if you are going to do anything that could look bad or get you in trouble if it gets back around the office.  I only have about 3 peeps I trust like that out of a huge pool of coworkers.

The girlfriend thing is best but of course trolling for that may be why you're going out in the first place so it wont work in those cases.

Still I have been stupid enough to send my friends home w/out me when they couldn't hang w my hours and craziness... AND... I got robbed that night so...

I do have a couple of deff known safe hang outs though where I can get whacked safely and friends who work there know where I stay and can call me a cab, pick it up and let me even it up the next day.  LOL the girls at the hotel/country club didn't even let on that they knew I puked all over the lobby couch before they managed to get me up to the fourth floor to my room.  The whole face thing is funny in that they pretend it never happened so you don't lose face.  Of course I didn't remember it - I (vaguely) knew i spewed but wasn't sure if it was at the bar or where.  It took a couple days to get my story all put together since nobody would talk.  Not even the typical, at home, how you feeling? with a knowing smile etc.  I couldnt even figure out who was on duty that night. 

Its a funny place. (this all happened in PanYu, a suburb of GZ)

If you plan on getting shit faced in any country - home or otherwise - you need a trusted friend that even when you have no mind of your own you will listen to, to stop you from doing really, really stupid things (like going home with the closest drunk of your preferred gender, or doing your version of the dance of the 7 veils in the main street of the city).

Being drunk is the same anywhere in the world - the only difference is that at home your friends tell everyone else how pie-eyed you are - other countries they all pretend it's fine.