About 4km east of Abaresan Crossing is the wealthy if architecturally neutral Valiasr District. While hardly SoHo, it's the nearest Tabriz comes to an entertainment district. The city's gilded youth sip espressos around Valiasr's Karimkhan (Bozorg) Sq and make a nightly passeggiata along pedestrianised Shahriyar St, misleadingly nicknamed Champs Elysées.

In just a few minutes here we met Iranian punks, tuft-bearded Metallica fans and even spotted a transvestite waggling his/her hips far more provocatively than any woman could dare to.