Karaoke (...or 'KTV')
China is Karaoke mad. You’ll see all kinds of flashing neon lights lining the streets at night and adorning the buildings. Often these are Karaoke (or ‘KTV’) bars with a host of private rooms.
From huge karaoke complexes with computerised song terminals to small, grotty KTV bars, these litter the streets of all areas in all cities and towns. All major towns and cities have impressive, multistorey KTV complexes with corridors of shiny, clean rooms open almost 24/7.
Hot tip: it has been known to spend the night with friends singing at a KTV room to avoid an expensive hotel room or long trip home. Something to think about if you want to combine fun and not needing to spend money on a hotel room!
Be wary that many familiar song titles are actually performed by Chinese artists and therefore aren’t the songs you may think they are! Chinese friends will probably invite you to one of these bars for many hours of singing and drinking – whether you like KTV or not. Although it can get quite deafening at times. Drinks are usually purchased from the KTV shop which will have hugely overpriced drinks and snacks which you load up onto a trolley and they bring to your room. KTV rooms usually last 4-6 hours a time with peak times costing way more. Off-peak times are far cheaper. All-in-all, this is a great way to have some fun.
If you do go, expect plenty of pressure to sing several well-known English language songs, which they’d love to hear. Being able to sing any Chinese song takes you to superstar status! So, time to start thinking ahead on those tunes!
