Peking’s pooches will hit the pavement for the second annual Dog Pub Crawl this Saturday. Dan Christensen of Penny’s Food Studio is providing snacks for the dogs while humans get a drink during stops at De Refter, XL, Jing-A and Paddy O’Shea’s. We talked to Christensen about this year’s event.

Halloween just passed and this feels like a bonus “trick or treat?” session, but focused solely on treats. How does it work?

This is a dog- and family-friendly pub crawl for the Maovember partner charities Bread of Life and The Library Project. Penny’s is helping to organize it and will provide the furry supporters with a pack of treats. The Dog Pub Crawl is 100 kuai per person and gets you a free beverage at each of the four stops on our walking route. [Scan the poster’s QR code to sign up or for info.]

What can you tell us about the stops this year?

We have four participating venues. First off is De Refter, sort of a Franco-Belgian gastro pub. We’ll all meet there at 3 PM. Next up is XL, a great little pub and home to the 88s hockey club and Sexy FC. Many know XL for its larger-than-life proprietor, Jane Cui. Our third stop, a brief one, is Jing A Brewpub, where we’ll pick up roadies on way to our finishing point, and Beijing’s best-known (Irish) sports bar, Paddy O’Shea’s!

And the dogs enjoy snacks along the way. Which one are they getting? Is it going to be Lucky Duck? I bet it’s Lucky Duck. Tell me it’s Lucky Duck.

I hate to break it to you, but Lucky Duck is actually one of our fresh food recipes, so we won’t be serving that. But we will be bringing along different varieties of our air-dried and baked treats for all. [There is nothing stopping Penny’s from making an air-dried version of Lucky Duck. Absolutely nothing.–Ed.]

Who are you bringing to the Dog Pub Crawl this year?

I’m not sure yet, probably one of my three beasts, but not all of them. I need to be able to actually chat with people!

Anything else people need to know about Dog Pub Crawl?

Hydrate before the walk, wear warm clothing, and prepare to have fun! People without dogs should feel free to join. Just come to meet the other’s dogs and support Maovember. The charity and having a good time are what’s most important.

(Interested in Dog Pub Crawl? Scan the QR Code in the poster above to join the WeChat group.)

 

 

XL Bar & Restaurant will host the Maovember opening party for a third straight year! The party is November 1, 6 PM to 10 PM, and includes the 2018 Maovember pin launch, a darts challenge, drinks (happy hour until 9 PM) and food (half-price sausage deals). The delivery van funded for Bread of Life by last year’s campaign will be on site so supporters can see their donations in action.

Owner Jane Cui will donate 20 percent of revenue from the party to Maovember. You can find a map to XL here and check out the last two launch parties, here and here.

The annual Maovember project teams restaurants, bars, vendors and customers for good causes. This year’s campaign partners are Bread of Life Bakery and Library Project. Learn more about Maovember here and see the 2018 event list here.

Maovember will officially wrap up at Paddy O’Shea’s tonight with its best closing party ever. Here is what to expect:

• Two bands.
• CHEERS mulled wine, Jameson picklebacks and Orchard Pig cider, all proceeds to charity.
• Hockey and dart games for charity.
• A draw for, you guessed it, charity.
• The weighing of the winner of the “win your weight in wine” contest.
• Handover of the first donations to 2017 partners Bread of Life and Library Project.
• Lots of Maovember supporters, from individual donors to our bar, restaurant and vendor partners.
• Last, but certainly not least, the capping of Mike Wester’s month-long, 900-km mission. Mike will time his 899th km for 8 PM, we’ll walk the 900th km together, then the party gets starts.

We’ll be on hand at 7:30 PM, Mike’s last km is at 8 PM, group photos, donation hand-overs are just after 9 PM, and the music, drinks and games are all night. Paddy O’Shea’s is opposite the Australian Embassy (see details here). Hope to see you tonight!

(If you can’t make it, we also have three “hair of the dog events”: SantaCon Beijing and the Beijinger Chili Eating Contest at Punjabi, both on December 2, and the Hatchery Maovember Shave Off on December 3. More details here.)

 

Maovember 2017 topped its goal of one million mao this week with a donation of rmb888 from Neil Holt. Thanks to Neil and the hundreds and hundreds of other people who have supported this year’s campaign. The money will buy much-needed equipment for Bread of Life and The Library Project.

We still have four exciting events to help add to the total!

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 Thursday, November 30, 7:30 PM

Official Maovember Closing at Paddy O’Shea’s

This official closing party is always an epic night of fun. Expect two bands, a Jameson pickleback bar, a CHEERS mulled wine station, Orchard Pig cider, hockey and darts games, and a fantastic draw. Mike Wester will cap his 900-km month-long mao-a-thon when he arrives that night. And we will weigh the winner of CHEERS’ “win your weight in wine” contest and award the bottles on the spot. If this closing party is like the last few, it is going to be a blast.

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December 2

SantaCon at Beijing

Every year, a sleigh full of people dress as Santa and do a day-long tour of Beijing that includes bars, restaurants and cafes. Get into the spirit for this year’s SantaCon on December 2: funds raised will be donated to Maovember. See here for more details.

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Saturday, December 2, 6:30 PM

Chili Pepper Contest at Punjabi

The Beijinger annual chili eating contest at Punjabi will double as a Maovember fundraiser. Watch eight fire-eating contestants from eight nations go through a half-dozen rounds of increasingly spicy chilies. Want to watch? Tickets are rmb100 and include a buffet and pepper samples. More details here. Or you can sign up for a ticket direct with this QR code (100 seats in total, first come, first served):

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Sunday, December 3, 14:00-18:00

Maovember Shave Off at The Hatchery

Get ready to say zai jian to your five-week old mustache with the Maovember Shave Off at The Hatchery. Get a shave, a whiskey melt sandwich, a Jing-A stout and a shot of Jameson for just rmb80, all funds to Maovember! The Hatchery is also donating proceeds from Jameson picklebacks, Jameson Ginger Ale & Lemon, and Jing-A and Jameson combos. This event will unofficially wrap up the Maovember 2017 campaign so come out for one last celebration of a successful month of fundraising!

Thanks again to everyone who has already attended this year’s events and hope to see you a few more times before we wrap up Maovember 2017!

Maovember hits full stride this week with a slate of fun events.

Wednesday, November 15, 9 PM

Charity Pub Quiz at Q-Mex

Q Mex returns with its 4th annual charity quiz. Quiz masters Carlos and Faye will provide brainteasers in English and Chinese. The optional rmb100 entry fee includes two pitchers of Carlsberg and goes to maovember. There will be a charity auction and Q Bar will give rmb10 from every tequila shot and margarita, and rmb100 from every Day of the Dead shirt, to maovember. The action starts at 9 PM but you best get there early to guarantee a seat! Also note that Q Bar’s happy hour goes until 9 PM and that nachos are half-price on Wednesdays.

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Friday, November 17, 19:00-24:00

Fiesta Latina at CHEERS

Start the weekend right with the CHEERS Fiesta Latina party. Dance the night away while enjoying a free flow of sangria and gluewine for rmb50. From 7 PM to midnight at the Shuguangxili branch (map here).

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Friday, November 17, 5 PM

Twin City Party at WE Brewery

WE Brewery will put Tianjin on the Maovember map with its Twin Cities party! Part 1 is November 17 in Tianjin where, from 5 PM, WE will have a dedicated tap: every rmb30 pour goes to Maovember. Part 2 is in Beijing where WE’s Steve Wang will deliver the money, and several kegs of beer, to The Irish Volunteer for its charity corn toss tourney. Party in Tianjin at WE Brewery: Yi He Li, Xi An dao, He Ping District. More details here.

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Saturday, November 18, 1:30 PM

Corn-Toss Classic at The Irish Volunteer

The annual Charity Corn-Toss Classic at Irish Volunteer and sibling venue Hockey Bar dates to the first year of Maovember. Expect this fifth edition to deliver the usual fast-placed corn-toss action along with tasty drinks and a superb draw. The entry fee is rmb100 per team of two players: sign up by emailing George Smith at gwsmithiii@gmail.com. Irish Volunteer is at 311 Jiangtai Road, across from Crowne Plaza Lido.

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Sunday, November 19, 2 PM

Dog Pub Crawl in Sanlitun

You and your pooch can get involved in Maovember by joining a Sunday pub crawl that starts at Beer Mania and includes The Local, XL Bar & Restaurant, Paddy O’Shea’s and the Jing-A Xingfucun Middle Road branch. The rmb100 entry fee gets you a drink at each venue and your pooch snacks from Penny’s Food Studio. See QR code on poster to register.

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Finally, Mike Wester continues his question to walk 900 km this month and has now passed the 430-km mark. Sponsor him for 90 rmb (1 mao per km) or 450 rmb (5 mao per km)—or even more! Details on his walk and how to support it at this link.

And Tiki Bungalow is supporting Maovember a third straight year, this time by donating 元10 from every Macadamia Chi Chi Nut and Mojito sold this month.

See how to support Maovember here and a full list of upcoming events list here. You can also follow us on Facebook here.

Ladies and gentlemen, place your guesses—and win your weight in wine! Starting Friday at 2 PM, ‘Mao-a-thon’ Mike Wester will try to walk to as many of the ~30 CHEERS Wine shops in Beijing—found from Shuangjing to Wangjing to Changping—as possible by Sunday evening. It’s part of his 30-day, 900-km “mao-a-thon” so let’s just borrow the Chinese name for grape and call it a putao-a-thon.

In any case, the person who guesses 1) the number of stores Mike visits during his three-day tour and 2) is closest to how many km he walks during this adventure will win his / her weight in wine! (For someone who weighs 60 kg, the prize would be over 40 bottles!)

The contest ends when Mike arrives at CHEERS Shuangjing store on Sunday at 6 PM. Expect bubbly and baozza, those tasty baozi-pizza creations, with all revenue from these snacks to Maovember.

Sound good? To participate, scan the QR Code below to guess how many stores Mike will visit and how many km he will walk doing it. The entry fee is 90 rmb, with 100 percent of the money to Maovember. Can’t decide the number of stores? Then enter twice—or more! Make sure you register the number of stores and km!

And join the celebration at CHEERS, starting at 6 PM on Sunday at the Tianzhijiaozi store (details) in Shuangjing: 3 Dongbo Street / 朝阳区双井东柏街9号院3号楼1层0103底商, on the same strip as The Brick, Lily’s American Diner and Grinders.

Note: This event is part of Mike Wester’s 30-day 900-km mao-a-thon, which has included a walk around the Third Ring Road on November 1 and a 75-km walk in Ritan Park on November 7. As of November 8, he had completed 280 of his 900-km mission.

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See more Maovember events here and how to support Maovember in other ways here.