BRUCE Musick of the China Jump was in a philosophical mood yesterday as he looked back at the cocktail bar's first year in business - which it is celebrating with a circus theme party next week.
The past 12 months at The Jump had been rather like a clown's trapeze act - ''plenty of ups and downs'', he said.
''We started off on a high, and then we fell down badly on Hongkong's liquor licensing rules.'' But the bar's anonymous backers had provided a safety net to see them through the Prohibition period of several months, ''and at least we expanded our list of exotic non-alcoholic cocktails''.
Those mirthless days were now a long way in the past, Bruce observed, and ''since we've been serving alcohol we've been flying high again''.
The Circus Extravaganza runs through the night from 7 pm next Thursday until 6 am on Friday, and tickets cost $100.
There will be jugglers and fire-eaters, but the management promises that the only animals will be of the party variety.