The best nightlife in Beijing, from craft beer pubs to concert halls
Beijing doesn’t party quite as famously as Shanghai, but the city has no lack of options for evening drinks and entertainment. Whether you’re craving a locally brewed craft beer, a classic cocktail or international DJs and live acts, Beijing has you covered. Most of the after-dark action unfolds in Sanlitun, a leafy district of embassies, retail and restaurants, while the hutong alleyways of Dongcheng district are home to discreet courtyard bars that, depending on the whims of the authorities, tend to thrive for a while and then close.
Dongcheng
Great Leap Brewing
The original and cosiest branch of Beijing’s first craft beer brand. This hutong alleyway pub brews real ale with Chinese characteristics – that means Sichuan peppercorns and Shandong honey in the Honey Ma Gold, and tieguanyin tea in the Iron Buddha Blonde. Housed in a former library wing of a siheyuan (a Chinese-style quadrangle mansion), the standout feature is a cobbled yard surrounded by a high wall. Bar snacks are limited to chilli peanuts (free), but you can take delivery of grilled lamb skewers and tandoor-baked ‘nang’ bread from a Xinjiang eatery nearby.
Contact: 00 86 10 5717 1399; greatleapbrewing.com
Opening times: 2pm-11pm
Price: ￡￡
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Dada
Beijing’s premier underground dance music venue, Dada, might be grungy, grimy, poky and sweaty, but it attracts a wonderfully esoteric line-up of DJs from home and abroad, from celebrated veterans such as Derrick May, Dj Krush and Kode 9, to left-field artists such as Caliph8, White+, and Shanghai’s Genome crew. A policy to keep cover charges minimal or free means you rarely pay above 50 RMB (￡5.70) even for big name acts. On the floor above Dada is rock music dive Temple, with local punk bands and potent drinks; Beijing party animals tend to move between both venues on any given night.
Address: 206 Gulou Dongdajie
Opening times: 9pm-5am
Price: ￡￡
Capital Spirits
Billing itself as the world’s first baijiu bar, this hard-to-find cocktail den specialises in China’s best-loved tipple baijiu (literally 'white liquor'), a clear spirit usually distilled from fermented sorghum and other grains, or sometimes glutinous rice. A good place to start is the ‘Intro Flight’, four tiny tasters of baijiu served on a rustic wooden board. Or plump for a signature cocktail such as a Baijiu Sour, made with rice-distilled baijiu, Cointreau, sour mix, and orange bitters. If baijiu isn’t your poison, they also mix a faithful martini, sidecar and old fashioned.
Contact: capitalspiritsbj.com
Opening times: Tue-Sun, 7pm-1am
Price: ￡￡
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Forbidden City Concert Hall
This 1,400-seat venue, first built in 1942 and reopened in 1999, stages musical performances in a charming setting. While not quite inside the Forbidden City itself, the concert hall is just next door in lovely Zhongshan Park (the Chinese name of the venue actually translates as Zhongshan Park Concert Hall), a public space that was once Shejitan, the Imperial Alter for Land and Grain where sacrificial ceremonies were performed. Highly regarded for its acoustics, performances range from classical to jazz, world music, traditional Chinese folk music and Chinese opera.
Contact: 00 86 10 6559 8285; theatrebeijing.com
Opening times: Performances 7:30pm
Price: ￡￡￡
Jiang Hu
A tiny venue that’s big on atmosphere, this delightfully rustic hutong space stages local folk, blues, jazz, indie and experimental acts in an intimate, wood-beamed courtyard space. Cover charge is low or free, and the bar pours draft beer and a decent range of cocktails. The owner, a terrific trombone player, regularly takes the stage for a jam – it’s that sort of a place, and a gathering point for local musos. Note that performances don’t always happen, but it’s still a nice spot to linger over a drink.
Address: 7 Dongmianhua Hutong
Contact: 00 86 10 6401 5269
Opening times: 7pm-2am; closed Mondays
Price: ￡￡
Chaoyang
Janes + Hooch
A modishly urbane drinking hole, Janes + Hooch impresses with its clued-up riffs on classic cocktails using quality booze, house infusions and no shortage of creativity – try a ‘New Fashioned’ on for size, blending walnut-infused rum with cacao bitters. Offering a louche, clubby vibe (think polished brass and dark woods), Janes + Hooch draws a well-heeled, older crowd; you’ll struggle to bag an upstairs table at weekends, but there’s always room to squeeze in at the bar below. In 2016, the bar squeezed into the top 20 of ‘Asia’s 50 Best Bars’.
Contact: 86 10 6503 2757; janeshooch.com
Opening times: 7pm-2am
Price: ￡￡￡
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Jing-A Brewpub
Another of Beijing’s home-grown (but American-managed) craft beer brands, Jing-A scored a PR goal in 2014 for its Airpocalypse Double IPA, an unfiltered beer where the price drops as the pollution index soars. Other locally inspired brews include Worker’s Pale Ale (“for the Beijing working man”) and Mandarin Wheat, a Belgian-style brew spiked with local mandarin oranges and coriander seeds. The busy venue also has a room pouring on-tap cocktails, and a barbecue menu of slow-cooked beef brisket, ribs and pulled pork.
Contact: 86 10 6416 5195; jingabrewing.com
Opening times: 5pm-12am
Price: ￡￡
D-Lounge
An upscale nightlife fixture since 2009, D-Lounge pulls in a civilised crowd for its creative gin and tonics and precisely crafted signature cocktails. The cathedral-like, eight-metre high ceiling and exposed brick walls attest to the building’s former factory role, best observed from the low-slung chesterfield couches arranged around the edges of the space. Design is impeccable throughout, from the Chinese-styled moon gate to the illuminated bar. Visit to see for yourself why this is a long-established hangout for Beijing’s fashionistas.
Contact: 00 86 10 6593 7710; dlounge.com.cn
Opening times: 7pm-2am
Price: ￡￡
Sir Teen
Party with Beijing’s fuerdai (wealthy second generation Chinese) at this outrageously glam mega-club, one of many that skirt the Worker’s Stadium in Sanlitun, Beijing’s premier nightlife district. Dancers writhe at you on entry, and inside it’s all lasers, EDM and Chivas Regal. The irregular dance performances are pure kitsch, and if you buy enough champagne you’ll get special attention. Like most Chinese clubs, the dancefloor is almost non-existent, most of the floor space given over to tables with a minimum spend (most people buy bottles of spirits and mixers), though you can still stand at the bar with a drink.
Contact: facebook.com/Sirteen
Opening times: 7pm-4am
Price: ￡￡
Scandal
A louche, Miami-chic vibe pervades this on-trend bar pouring obscenely creative signature cocktails, each made with sous-vide ingredients and named according to their dominant flavour. Beyond the entrance curtain and hot pink neon sign is a stylish, marble-floored space and boxy sweep of bar shaded by palm trees, with woven rattan chairs that impart a subtle Tiki touch. Groups and couples can retire to the discreet mezzanine area, with DJs providing the soundtrack on weekends.
Contact: 00 86 10 6508 5150; facebook.com/ScandalBeijing
Opening times: 7pm-2am
Xicheng
East Shore Jazz
Jive to some of the city’s sharpest jazz at this intimate second-floor club with views across the neon-lit shores of Houhai Lake. A laidback community vibe attracts quality musicians for rambling late-night jam sessions that really get going after 10pm (Sunday is especially popular), making it a cool post-dinner spot for a digestif (they have a decent selection of whiskies and imported beer). East Shore Jazz has genuine star power too, opened by Liu Yuan, a saxophone player who toured with Beijing legend and 'father of Chinese rock' Cui Jian.
Address: 2 Shichahai Nanyan
Contact: 00 86 10 8403 2131
Opening times: 3pm-2am
Price: ￡￡
National Centre for the Performing Arts
Resting in an artificial lake beside Tiananmen Square like a wayward UFO, this enormous, gleaming globule of titanium and glass held its inaugural concert in 2007. Three cavernous halls regularly play host to world-class visiting orchestras, dance troupes and opera companies, together with a huge roster of home-grown Chinese performances. You can also visit the venue during the day (a must for architecture fans), to peek in at the halls and view several nifty opera exhibits. For up-to-date listings (in English), seating plans and tickets delivered to your hotel, use Theatre Beijing.
Contact: 00 86 10 6655 0000; chncpa.org
Opening times: Performances 7:30pm
Price: ￡￡￡
