Ba Shang Nightlife

Ba Shang locals know how to party.

They might not have heat in their guest rooms, but they have some kick ass fireworks, a giant bonfire, bopping dance music and of course karaoke, or K-TV.

After dinner, the staff at our guest house set up several coal-fired spits and on each put a beheaded lamb carcass on a rod and started roasting it. They sear it all over first before marinating it with spices including cumin and paprika, and then scoring it into rectangles for easier extraction. And then it was put back on the spit and turned occasionally. When it was done, the meat was ripped off with chopsticks. While it was flavourful, there was mostly fat than meat. We washed it down with Yanjing beer.

For a North American touch, I brought along marshmallows for roasting. And it was a hit. Many thought it was "mianhua tang" or cotton candy. And once they tried the golden brown soft marshmallows on a stick, they were hooked. It's a good thing I bought two bags...

It was so odd to hear "Funky Town" in a place hundreds of kilometres from Beijing but here it was blaring away and to be honest the beat kept us moving and warm too. The temperature started to drop and it was nice to be near the fire.

A few people tried their hand at K-TV -- grabbing the microphone and starting off with "Friends, I hope you will enjoy this song." Some made fools of themselves like us trying to sing Michael Jackson's "Heal the World," while others took it seriously and sang high-pitched Chinese songs that were hardly festive.

And then there was the dancing. It mostly consisted of people joining hands and running around the bonfire. The atmosphere was very high school -- clumps of people situated in different areas of the cement patio chatting with each other and periodically mingling with others.

But the best part was the stars. I could clearly see the bright stars shining against the velvety dark sky.