*** Hi, everybody. Here's a bunch of stuff happening in Beijing in August... ***

Beijing is host to a slew of big time, big ticket stage and concert events in the next month, so we're just going to list them herein to give you an at-a-glance layout of what is where and when. We've included some of the bigger ones in Shanghai as well in case you're making the trip down. But yeah... Pet Shop Boys! August 3: Blizzard Entertainment's Video Games Live @ MasterCard Center (Tickets & Details) August 9 - August 11: Michael Jackson: The Immortal @ MasterCard Center (Tickets & Details) August 10: The Color Run @ SmBj Territory (Tickets & Details) August 13 - August 14 (In Shanghai): Metallica @ Mercedes-Benz Arena (Tickets & Details) August 16 - August 17 (In Shanghai): Shanghai Sonic feat. Korn (haha), Limp Bizkit (hahaha, oh man) and More @ Various (Tickets & Details) August 21 (In Shanghai): Aerosmith @ Hongkou Stadium (Tickets & Details) August 21: Owl City @ MasterCard Center (Tickets & Details) August 22: Electric: Pet Shop Boys Tour @ Mastercard Center (Tickets & Details) August 28: Pitbull @ Workers Gymnasium (Tickets & Details)

Ah, the anniversary party… a sneaky little gimmick clubs trot out once a year to guilt you into coming back around to the place even though you've lost interest in them years and years ago. But you're obligated, man. You've got to show up. It's the "anniversary". You've got to go. See also: the local band CD release show. Two of Beijing's brightest and most dazzling clubs are celebrating anniversaries in August. At one end of the spectrum, Dada bar celebrates an eventful first year in the books on August 17. DJ line-up is still to be released, but expect representatives from crews that have made the Gulou club their HQ in the past year -- Black Eyeliner, Syndicate -- that sort of shite. They're also promising men in drag, which sounds quite piquant, and "plenty of surprises". Read: "we'll figure it out later". Would be pretty neat if a club promised, just for once, "absolutely no surprises". Meanwhile, across town, Migas is feting their patio's birthday. That's a two-day shaker on August 16 and 17, with an international guest DJ on the first night -- some dude name Lopazz -- and then residents holding it down the next night. Back over at Dada, they're also hosting in the anniversary party of Bye Bye Disco, a joint from local DJ Pei on August 3 -- that's five years of fun for her -- and Shanshui Records is celebrating their 10th anniversary on August 31. Sulumi is flying over COVOX for that, which is pretty gnarly. 8-bit overdose. What else is there… Haze rounds out their summer-long Haze OUT parties on August 24 with a soiree in the park, there's one, and Goa Productions has in long-practicing psytrance DJ Paul Taylor on the same night over at Lantern. That's pretty much it… save your cash for the big ticket concerts. (See above.) -MS

Summer vacation! It's so great, unless you're just stuck here working like usual. Then it's kinda muggy and shitty. If you're holed up in the sweltering capital, you can kick off August's live music calendar with a road trip to DMC, a new DIY punk club out in Tongzhou. They host their first open-to-the-public gig on Saturday, August 3, with unplugged sets from Discord, Bedstars, and "maybe Demerit." Brush up on all those bands here. We'll have the full scoop on DMC later in the month. On the inside-the-6th-ring punk club front, School Bar is really doubling down on the themed shows concept. They're keeping up their monthly RIOT! free punk shows, their new indie and electro series, and their monthly metalcore night, and adding two new ones to the mix. Mini Skirt Night on Friday, August 9 features Casino Demon and Modern Sky newcomers Mr. Chelonian, who I guess are fond of miniskirts or something. Then on Saturday, August 17 is Tower Voice Vol.1… not sure what the theme is supposed to be, but the show coincides with Ben Ben's birthday, so her band will play, along with Dice and Bedstars, and it will be good. Down south a bit, 69 Cafe is singlehandedly promoting what it's calling "The First Nanluoguxiang Indie Festival," although this "festival" sprawls until the end of October so it's more like a "season" really. All of the events are seemingly at 69, which can fit about 20 people and is prone to double book private corporate parties on top of its pre-existing show schedule. There will be no room for middle management types on Friday, August 9, however, as Carsick Cars's "experimental" alter ego Sick Car Sick takes the tiny stage. The next day, hard-to-place indie groups Streets Kill Strange Animals and Metoo will play an afternoon show at 69, also part of this festival. Moving further into the month, bigger things start coming into focus. P.K.14, one of the progenitors of the particular strain of post-punk and disaffected rock music that flows through the veins of much of the Beijing music scene today, is preparing to drop their new album, 1984. This is their first release since 2008's City Weather Sailing, and its making has been long and storied. P.K.14 is launching 1984 with a 31-date tour through mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. The official Beijing record release show comes near the end of that, over the October 1 holiday, but P.K. will squeeze in a quick one at XP on Tuesday, August 20 along with the club's sound man Deng Chenglong, who will be roadying the tour. Look for our long-form Culture Bureau chat with P.K.14 vocalist Yang Haisong later in the month. In another universe entirely: Limonious and Daniel Savio, founders of the skweee movement, are at Dada on Friday, August 23. Skweee is… well, just read the Wikipedia article for now. We'll have an interview with the Skweee-fathers themselves later in the month so that I don't have to re-explain what skweee is every time Fløøød drops a track. Finally: Split Works keeps its blood pumping over the summer hiatus with a gig for Canadian guitar + drums duo Japandroids on Friday, August 23. Should be a good one. Japandroids is known for their frenetic on-stage energy, and the bar will already be set pretty high after the opening set by SUBS, what with with Kang Mao's boundless antics. Split has a pretty solid roster of international acts coming through in September, October, and November. You know, once we don't have to scramble around like a bunch of ants under a magnifying glass and life gets back to as normal as it gets here. Stay tuned to the SmartBeeJ Wire, we'll lift the curtain on that soon. -JF

Fancy schmancy boutique hotel The Opposite House is launching a brand new "restaurant concept" -- that's how intense this is, it's a "concept" -- called Jing Yaa Tang at the end of the month on August 29. That's some big new, eh? I think so. That's a pretty popular place isn't it? According to the write-up, "[t]he restaurant will celebrate Beijing roast duck at its heart, while also offering a wide range of favorite dishes from different regions across China." Like that GONG-POW-GEE-DING, apparently. Lovely. They go on to elucidate, "[t[he 155-seat restaurant, open for lunch and dinner, is a striking contemporary Chinoiserie theatrical style design." Sounds super sweet. But hey check this out, SmartBeijing.com already has an EXCLUSIVE ADVANCE REVIEW of Jing Yaa Tang: Four stars! It's a fucking triumph! You read it here first. Meanwhile, across town, BED bar, a bar that's been around so long they used to card the Empress Dowager Cixi (oy), is closing down for good in mid-August. They're hosting a bunch of closing specials (read about them here), and projecting a final doors-closing party for August 16. If you haven't had a chance to stop by and raise a glass, you should do so. That party should rage on somewhat, me thinks. Sad to see it go. Great Leap and The Cut are teaming up for installment number two of "The Chef & The Brewer", their fine-food-paired-with-fine beer dining event. It's a brunch going down at Great Leap's Flagship on Xinzhong Lu on August 18. 300rmb per person, reservations required. Tim's Texas BBQ is celebrating six years on August 24 with free beer and free brisket for guests between 4pm and 8pm -- no entry fee to that. We tend to bang on about Slow Boat quite a bit on SmartBeijing because, damn son, they've got good food and good beer, and they're always doing interesting things. Plus we get the newsletter so it's pretty easy to just copy and paste with total impunity. For August, they've got an IPA Week that we're already in the midst of -- that's on 'til August 3 and from August 23 to August 25, they've got a Batiao State Fair. (!!!!11!!) Loads of specials and games and good eats and whatnot. Click here for dets. In terms of holidays that you might have to go out and splash out on a restaurant on, August 13 is "Chinese Valentines Day", one of about 27 "Chinese Valentine's Days" you're supposed to observe in the calendar year. You've been warned. Or pleasantly reminder, whichever. Last but not least, there's a new Sunday all-you-can-eat BBQ over at El Nido Part II: Curly's Gold. Details here. -MS

Big month for music documentary screenings. The staff at Shanghai-based, Chinese-language indie music portal Wooozy has been hard at work subtitling obscure Western music docos for a local audience, starting with BBC's documentary on Rough Trade. This month, Wooozy will debut its latest labor of love: a fully subtitled version of The Shield Around the K, which tells the story of legendary Olypmia, Washington label K Records and its primary protagonist, Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening. That's Saturday, August 3 at XP. We'll get in on the action ourselves, showing classics of music documentary for our August screening series at Dada. Come any Monday over the next few weeks for free knowledge about skweee (see above), the UK synthesizer renaissance, NYC hip hop and graffiti culture, and METAL. Also on tap for the silver screen this month: Electric Shadows continues its Sino Cinema Summer Special at The Hutong. On Sunday, August 11, they're showing Jiang Wen's 1994 feature, In the Heat of the Sun, a sort of cinéma vérité historical fiction about a group of privileged youth set free by Mao's systematic purging of established adult authority figures during the Cultural Revolution. Then on Sunday, August 25, they follow it up with a showing of Tian Zhuangzhuang's classic, The Horse Thief, which tells the story of an ostracized Tibetan brigand struggling to come to terms with the death of his son. Scorcese called it the best film of the '90s. Come for the heavy meditation on "life and death in the Buddhist scheme of things," stay for tapas and cooking classes at The Hutong. Pretty slow month at Zajia Lab, but they have a unique event lined up for Friday, August 23 that should be interesting. Upcoming Warning is a collaboration between Changsha-born, Beijing-based dancer Beio and laptop performer Vavabond. These two have collaborated before, notably at the 2012 Sally Can't Dance festival along with Li Jianhong. For this event, Beio will perform an interpretive Butoh dance. That's the one where he wears white full-body makeup and moves really, really, really slowly. Meanwhile, Vavabond will improvise quadraphonic Max/MSP granular synth environments to affect the movement. Heady stuff. The gallery scene is pretty dead, with most of the major art zones shuttering up until things cool off a bit. Pékin Fine Arts has a good one on for the duration of August, though. New Paper takes a deep look at the increasingly anachronistic, titular medium. The exhibit features four emerging artists whose work specifically confronts and utilizes the proverbial blank sheet's subconscious invitation to engage. The curators say: "None of the artists share the neo-classicist’s attachment to paper’s roots in traditional Asian visual culture. Instead, the common focus of New Paper is the medium’s usefulness as a stepping-off point for a variety of deeper explorations." The exhibit includes "upcycled" masterpieces created from used kuaidi boxes (Li Fuchun), large-scale drawing installations mimicking sculpture and 3D video (Na Bu Qi), works experimenting with paper's potential as a medium and conductor of sound (Yang Dongxue), and more traditional illustrated works drawing out our "sentimental attachments" to the physical qualities of paper itself (Fu Xiaotong). That's up through September 15. -JF ***