ONE excellent way to relax is to sink into a lounge chair and listen to some soft music. Crystal, a lounge and chill-out bar at CITIC City Plaza, offers both, in addition to a wide range of wines, beers and fresh juices.

An escape from the loud rock at most bars, Crystal is one of the few bars in the city offering lounge music, light, relaxing music that harmonizes with the bar's extremely soft sofas.

To add to the pleasures, the bar is decorated with dolls, small suitcases, wine bottles in novel shapes, and other souvenirs that the restaurant owner brought back from travels around the world.

For those who don¡¯t like sitting indoors, Crystal has a small backyard facing the pool and the landmark Diwang building.

It is the only bar at CITIC City Plaza with a backyard. Swinging in an outdoor basket chair with a glass of beer or fresh juice in your hand and watching the pool nearby and Diwang building in the distance, is a recipe for relaxation.

Wang Chunhua, manager of Crystal, is very proud of the fruit juice sold at the bar. "All our fruit juice is freshly made from 100 percent fresh fruit. They are favored by ladies," said Wang.

Crystal attracts a good mix of Chinese and expat customers. The most eye-catching patrons are a group of models who frequent the bar partly because they are friends of one of the bar's investors, according to Wang.

There is also a plastic model standing in front of the bar with its clothes changed frequently, always in the latest fashion, as part of the bar's stylish image.

The bar is now giving customers quizzes to answer. Customers who answer the quiz correctly are awarded free drinks.

Editor: Donald