Husker do! WE Brewery plans corn toss tourney for Tianjin

WE Brewery put Tianjin on the Maovember map and is back again this year. Along with organizing events in his pub’s home city, owner Steve Wang donated beer and entered a team in the annual Irish Volunteer charity corn toss tourney in Beijing last year.

This year, Wang is doing a tournament of his own as well as a “tab war” among his customers. So far, six teams have signed up: Cornholios, Dublin Restaurant, JLL, MOT (Mayors’ Office of Tianjin, Taylor Printing Company and Wellington College International Tianjin. They’ll play not only for pride but also prizes from Shangri-La Hotel, Fish & Potato Co., WE Brewery and more.

Want to join? Check out the We Brewery event post here!

Feelin’ Groovy? Schnapps Fest II set for November 11

Schnapps til you drops! After last year’s successful Maovember fundraiser, Groovy Schiller’s is back with Schnapps Fest II.

Get seven Schnapps plus finger foods for just 元150. Last year’s lineup included tipples from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, many of them hand-carried to China and explained by Johan Marchart and Jack Zhou. Expect a few games of darts for charity, too. Use the QR code in the poster to register.

How ’bout them apples? MulledVember features hot cider, Guy Fawkes, funk music

Maovember met mulled cider, funk music and Guy Fawkes on Sunday as The Cider Guy organized a fundraiser. Add toffee apples, a giant burger, a scary Fawkes doll and a few rounds of tequila, and the event, dubbed MulledVember, was a fun way to wrap up the weekend.

The mulled cider featured two Orchard Pig selections, Hogfather and Ginger & Chili, plus a secret mix of spices by Mike Kessler aka The Cider Guy, with CHEERS providing the heating unit.

DJs Dead Rabbit and Bill provided music, with the latter closing the event with a long set that spanned three decades and had everyone dancing.

This year’s MulledVember was held in the back room at V Sports, which sponsored the space, and raised 元1500 for 2018 charity partners Bread of Life and Library Project.

Puppy power | Dozens of canines support Dog Pub Crawl II

From black to white, big to small, energetic to relaxed, dozens of canines took to Beijing’s streets on Saturday for the second annual Dog Pub Crawl (gallery below). There were even a few humans with dog-themed looks thanks to Stefan Schuppisser and his lacrosse friends!

People and pooches gathered at De Refter, then headed to XL Bar & Restaurant, Jing-A Brewpub and Paddy O’Shea’s. At each stop, the humans got a beer, cider or mulled drink while dogs got snacks from Dan Christensen of Penny’s.

De Refter owners Thomas Salou and Clement Rol got the pub crawl started with Belgian beers and English ciders for the humans while Penny’s snacks were handed out. Fellow De Refter owner Edouard Simon started Dog Pub Crawl last year.

The pack then headed to XL where owner Jane Cui had a potent mulled wine for two-legged friends and a water stand for four-legged ones.

The third stop was Jing-A Brewpub. Emmy Andréasson prepared an “open bar” for the dogs and gave the humans a choice of four beers.

And the final, ahem, leg of the course was Paddy O’Sheas. Everyone relaxed with mulled cider by Paul Rochon while the dogs had a bit more time with their new-found friends.

With more than 30 dogs in action, the event raised 元3,950 for Maovember..

Maovember pin buyers on the day included Andrew Schorr, Colin Chan, Professor White and Dan Christensen. Here are some photos, with more to come. You can also check out last year’s Dog Pub Crawl here.

FTP (For the Pin)! Maovember kicks off with XL-ent party

The sixth annual Maovember mission launched last Thursday with a night of fun at XL Bar & Restaurant. Supporters picked up their 2018 pins, joined a darts challenge with co-organizer Paul Rochon, ate carrot cake from 2018 partner Bread of Life and enjoyed drinks and food by Jane Cui and her team. John Bison of Bread of Life brought the delivery vehicle, festooned with mustaches, that Maovember funded with the 2017 campaign.

The party went until after midnight and raised 元480 from darts and 元430 from carrot cake. XL owner Jane Cui then donated 元4514.50 from the night and brought the total to 元5424.50.

There were also 元2650 in pin sales during the party and 元1500 in donations, including ahead of the launch. By the time the first day of Maovember ended, this year’s fundraising total stood at 元9574.50.

Thanks to all those initial donors, including Sue Zhou, Patrick Lin, Sarah Peel, Dustin Merrett, Mathieu Herout, and John and Heidi Bison. And to the many pin buyers, like Randy Svendsen, Richard Parsley, Crystal Lee, Arto Toppi, Steve Soulsby, Geert Janssen, Dan Cowen, Troy May, Sami Lantela, Jennifer Sachs, David Schaumann, Toby, Michael Wix, Rob Meagher, Chen Chao, Michael Kessler, Eppi Okwama, Rod Johnson, Fred The One & Only, Converse Dan, The Rose of Beijing, Julian Fisher, Jedi John, Tim Hill, Dayana, Dan Dan, Griff Haty, Big Ben, Cindy Wei, Anna Lin Yip, Claudia Masueger, Mike Wester, Stefan Schuppisser and Andres Vargas, plus Paul Rochon and Paddy O’Shea’s with a package of ten. Thanks also to Mike Wester of The Beijinger for printing this year’s materials, to Andres Vargas for designing this year’s pin and to Claudia Masueger of CHEERS for producing the pins.

Off the leash! Dog Pub Crawl II set for Saturday

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.)

Maovember memories | 60 photos for 6 years

Maovember turns six on Thursday! And we are posting fun photos from our past events. Here is the first group of 60—ten photos per year—with more to come.

The sixth Maovember launch party is November 1 at XL Bar & Restaurant (details here). And the Bread of Life delivery vehicle funded with last year’s campaign will be on site so you can see your donations in action! (More on that here.) Jia you!

For The Pin! XL to host sixth annual Maovember launch

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.