Hello Kitty is at home in her pink surroundings at Coolth KTV in Sanlitun. (CRIENGLISH.com/William Wang) |
But on weekend evenings, upwards of 200 people cram into the rooms in spite of elevated prices (129 yuan/hr for a small room). Heady wafts of cigarette smoke squeeze out of doorframes, carried out on thumps of bass. Multiple voices trilling from multiple rooms overlap in muffled cacophony. Foreign beer goes for as little as 20 yuan a bottle, but drunken show-offs can shell out about 3,000 yuan for a bottle of wine if the mood strikes.
It's definitely a place for a party, but not a late one. When the clock strikes a mere 2 am, singers have to drag their hoarse voices out to the street.
The song selection at Coolth is better than most KTVs, and many of 2012's chart toppers can be found. Management claims that 20 percent of their total song catalogue is in English, with a decent variety of hits and oldies.
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