Dedicated to China’s burgeoning “red capitalists” the Red Capital Club is hidden in an ancient hutong alleyway located at Dongsi Jiutiao near the courtyard homes of many of China’s past and present leaders. You will only be certain that you have arrived at the restaurant upon seeing a vintage Red Flag limo once reserved exclusively for China’s top communist leaders parked outside the courtyard house. The immaculately restored compound captures the mood of the 1950s when China was driven by idealism. The lounge cigar divan is like stepping into Mao’s private meeting room. The furnishings are original used by the central government in the 1950s. Two chairs were actually used by Marshal Lin Biao (Mao’s fated successor who lost out in an attempted coup). A poem of Mao’s adorns one wall and a photograph of Deng, taken by his daughter and presented to the club another. The courtyard once belonged to a notorious female spy and Manchurian revivalist who plied her trade using all assets at her disposal. One feels this dimension upon entering the dining room where the centerpiece is a rare imperial dragon robe dating to the Qian Long period (18th Century) which once belonged to a prime minister ranking court official, most likely a brother of the emperor. Other dragon robe embroidery are displayed together with calligraphy for “Red Capital” by Zhou Nan, China’s famous representative to the UN and Xinhua boss in Hong Kong who personally negotiated and supervised the 1997 handover. Red Capital Club dishes up “Zhongnanhai Cuisine” which is the name of the secretive compound of China’s top leadership. Each meal is a state banquet in style adorned with figures delicately carved from vegetables, presenting favorites of Mao, Deng, and even Zhu Rongji together with some of the best in imperial dining reserved for emperors and empresses. An evening at Red Capital Club is to step back in time, to wrap yourself in the dream of the 1950s, sink into the velvet and imagine that you have the Chairman’s ear. Who knows, maybe he is listening.