It may look like a concrete block (above) - but The House is set to be ready tonight. Photos: Wang Zi

For those hard-working clubbers who watched the rise of "underground" electronica clubs such as White Rabbit and Lantern with excitement, only to experience a major comedown when both were forced to quickly close, some good news. Like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Acupuncture Records, the disco mavens behind Lantern, have returned to the nightclub scene more powerful than the dark forces could possibly have imagined.

The last time I spoke to Miao Wong, managing director of Acupuncture, she told me that the "mainstream mega-nightclubs that dominate the city's nightlife" were the enemy of purist souls such as herself. So it might come as a bit of a surprise to see that this time round, their new project - known as The House, appropriately enough - is being done in collaboration with a club that practically defines mainstream mega-nightclubs: Mix. Not only that, it's right in the middle of Gongti, a zone that divides clubbers quicker than an invitation to a Peking Opera.

"We've worked with Block 8, Lan, all sorts of places," argues Wong. "[It'll be] same kind of music we always play, wherever we are playing it. We are willing to work with anyone who shares the same vision." After a lot of negotiation, it turns out that includes the people at Mix. 

The original House, which opened briefly in August and had a lifespan more akin to a mayfly than a music venue, "didn't work very well" because the owners "were holding back to what they knew best, the traditional kind of Gongti Xiu Lu club [that's commercial cheese-pop and the Chivasnfruit plate scene: Barfly]."

Yet the original House's failure proved serendipitous. By end of summer, Lantern had been told they were going to close, as a KTV chain were offering more money for their Tongli lease and were looking for a new venue, with less of a cramped vibe.

The new three-storey location is "convenient, with bars and parking everywhere. Everyone in Beijing knows where Worker's Stadium is. Also, there's the space, and layout. We always wanted somewhere that's not just a basement… imagine Lantern but in the summer with a roof terrace" (I'm thinking about it right now). The music will be "100 percent Acupuncture but a joint business venture with Mix [who have] the financial support [we] don't have."

This backing has enabled them to build the Beijing club of their dreams, with the usual mix of "good music, great party," including "crazy hi-tech stuff," such as an 11-metre set of LED screens behind their long bar, featuring a series of conceptual video-murals which will (hopefully) feature work by a variety of local and international artists.

"People will say 'mainstream, you know, VICS, Mix, Worker's Stadium.' I remember people asking the same question, like, 'Why would you want to move to Sanlitun?'" Wong recalls. "Underground people should not limit ourselves. We don't want to have to open a club really far away that people have to pay 50 kuai for a cab just to go there. Mix regulars should also come and check out what we're doing, something new and different. Maybe the problem is they were never exposed to it."

We hope she's right and she doesn't get her sultry self in trouble for corrupting Chinese youth with repetitious dance beats and club culture - and the Barfly can't be the only one who has hoped VIC's forgets one day to pay off the local fire marshals and the police detain every single one of its ageing English teacher-student-hooker clientele.

Then again, perhaps it's best that the Barfly is not in charge of local nightlife licensing. Acupuncture, as ever, just want to get along with everybody. So here's raising a glass (and a nostalgic red lantern) that they manage to stay in this House for a long while to come. Is it the savior of Beijing nightlife? "