In a room decorated in a tropical style with a green marble floor, Zheng Kai sits on a cane chair against a green wall beside a palm tree.
As the lead actor in The Ex-File: The Return of the Exes, a box-office success earning more than 1.7 billion yuan ($264 million), Zheng is taking part in a cover shoot for Men's Nonno magazine on a cold winter afternoon.
At night, the room reveals its true colors ringing to the sound of music from the 1970s and '80s-a newly opened bar in the Sanlitun area of Beijing.
Named Scandal, the bar is a two-floor open space with 80 seats-and the ceiling is decorated with mirrors to lend a greater sense of space to the windowless room.
Bar owner Song Peng, 31, is looking to present a whole new experience to bar lovers in Beijing through his unique tropical environment.
"I named it Scandal because I want people to come here to relax and talk," says Song. "You can't play dice here-it's a place for talking about 'scandals'."
Song has been working in bars for 10 years, and grew from working as a bartender to become a manager. Leaving his last position as a manager at D Lounge, one of the most popular bars in Beijing, Song is aware how stiff the competition can be when it comes to opening a new bar in Sanlitun.
"There are around 30 to 40 bars nearby, all within five minutes' walk," says Song.
Song took a month to travel and visit bars around Europe last year, before discussing how to decorate his new bar with his designer. The idea to use green velvet to cover the walls on the second floor was inspired by his European trip. "I want my customers to be able to feel everything they touch," says Song.
From the cane chairs down to each individual glass, and from to the size of the sofas to the height of the tables used in different areas, Song designed them specifically to make his clients comfortable.
Song also uses six different shades of green, from the walls in the hall to the sofa and tables in the bar, to create a tropical atmosphere. And the food menu is Southeast Asian in flavor, too.
Cocktails are Song's strength, and he wants the flavors of his drinks to be clean and simple: "We slowly cook all the ingredients we use in our cocktails, and we are designing new drinks in the three different categories: seeds, flowers and spices," says Song.
Gao Xiaohan, editor of Cosmobride, is a bar-lover. She thinks that when it comes to style, bars in Beijing are too similar and often lack creativity. But Scandal has made a big impression on her.
"Scandal seems modern, fancy and cozy when you first walk in, without a sense of distance or restriction," says Gao.
