I was one of the attendees at the Force of Love Phase II Gallery Opening last week over at Nike's brand spanking new, sprawling space over at 798. They launched the first series of the party a few weeks ago and Saturday night's party, like the one before it, was a free flow of alcohol and fantastic food floating through the crowd by expertly trained staff.

The difference between last weekend's party though and the one before it was the artwork, oh the artwork. Inspired, maybe bizarrely, by AFIs, the gallery was chock filled with works by Chinese artists such as Unmask, Wang Hui, Wei Xingyu and my personal favorites, PERK from Shanghai. The event also featured a live performance by "E" Band, fronted by the ever talented Dou Wei.

Before I start my little lecture on how Nike shoes are way too expensive for me to be dropping my cash on in the mainland, l first want to talk about how cool it is that the company is pushing these Chinese artists forward onto an international platform. The photographs, paintings and installations featured at the gallery (all curated by JOYN:VISCOM) were modern, interesting and thought provoking, as opposed to alot of what you'll tend to find in various art galleries around China. It's not that I don't think China can produce great art, because that's exactly the opposite, it was just really nice to see something different for a change, something exciting.

On top of this, Nike provided fantastic gift bags this time around - hardcover notebooks with screened work of all of the artists featured in the exhibit inside, scattered among the pages. Also, a very strange Chinese children's paper game, chalk with which to play hopscotch, and a hackey sack. Or some very strange variation of. There was also a whistle, and it made me think of that Arrested Development episode about Whistler's Mother, and also made me a very obnoxious attendee of the Yen Black Party.

As an ending, random side note: I am always amazed at the varying levels of service you'll find scattered all across China. There are some resturaunts I regularly go to where the service is so good, you'd think they were trained by little super hostess robots. Other times, friends and I will go out to places where all you can do is laugh at how poorly organized everything is. What's the secret to good service management in China, and how come some places have it and other places don't? What's the secret? Jovial managers, well treated employees, Western Imperialism?! Granted, the pricier resturaunts generally have more money to give to their employees, but I have a sinking feeling that most places don't. Still, some of the best waiters and waitresses I've seen have come out of the crappiest, most hole in the wall places.

In conclusion: Nike party good, service in resturaunts : 1/2 good, 1/2 bad.

-- Just another ramble brought to you by Jenn Wong?