Nightclubs and bars in Beijing

This is a bar in Sanlitun. It's a pretty chilled out place where it's easy to loss track of time as you relax and chat and both the times we went, we ended up staying several hours longer than we'd originally planned. It's on the sixth floor of a building with several other bars and has big windows in the inside part so you can sit and look down on the street. The terrace is great - both comfortable and stylish - and has a fantastic view over Beijing. Prices were not expensive: they had wine by the glass available at a good price (from 38 yuan). Beer started at 25 yuan for a small bottle of Beijinger.

Dress Code: I wasn't aware of any particular dress code and we, after a day's sightseeing, certainly were not dressed up, however, it did seem to be quite a stylish place.

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No visit to Beijing would be complete without a night at the stunning Red Theatre to see the musical and martial Arts spectacular that is the Legend of Kung Fu.

We made a special night of it, dressing in our finest and going first for a pre-theatre Peking Duck banquet at a local restaurant.

On arrival at the Red Theatre I was stunned by its incredible architecture and very redness. From a distance the building looks as if it has been costructed from matchsticks. It looks spectacular at night. Inside it's no less impressive with sparkling chandeliers and a definite aura of luxury.

I'll write a seperate review of the show itself. Suffice to say, for now, that it is superb.

Souvenirs such as CD's, DVD's, t-shirts etc are available to purchase at the lobby. After the show the actors pose for pics with the guests.

One tip - the theatre gets very hot duriing the show and the aircon seemed non existant. Bring a little hand held fan.

Also, no photographs are allowed during the performance. Those who dared had their cameras confiscated.

Dress Code: No need to dress up, but we did and it made the night all the more spectacular.

For the 2008 Olympics, Beijing's biggest night club TANGO is being given a major make-over and has come under new creative direction from a set of party-makers from Luxembourg and Scandinavian to make the place THE party set of the Chinese capital.

Going under the name CLUB P BEIJING - INTERNATIONAL NIGHT CLUB & LOUNGE the event-based superclub opens with a ONE WORLD ONE NIGHT party on 18 July but the celebrations continues all through 24 August with a party nights in collaboration with PLAYBOY MANSION (New York), VIP ROOM (St Tropez/Paris) and NASA (Copenhagen) as well as a couple JAZZANOVA nights, a BLONDE PARTY, a MOULIN ROUGE PARTY and lots more.

The upstairs CLUB P BEIJING lounge features DJ TOM MANNIX of NOBU & HAKKASAN (London) and exclusive live lounge artist TONE DAMLI, while the cavernous ground floor club presents an exhaustive list of international DJs.

As part of the CLUB P BEIJING concept as an INTERNATIONAL NIGHT CLUB & LOUNGE, staff, including bartenders and hostesses, hail from across the globe, and they all speak English.

Dress Code: Smart

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Actually this is a famous street with many restaurants and many traditional red lanterns. So...

The famous dishes on this street:
Xianglaxie (fragrant spicy crab)
Shuizhuyu (boiling fish)
Kaoyu (roasted fish)
Yangxiezi (mutton spine)
hongmenyangrou(sheep)
malaxiaolongxia(spicy crayfish )

Don't go there before 20:00!

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The Shaolin Warriors will be loved by some, but not by others. We went with no particular expectations and felt that it would probably be a real highlight for many visitors to Beijing.

The show provides an introduction to the annual cycle of the monks of the Shaolin Temple, home of the Chan (Zen) sect of Mahayana Buddhism. The show is mainly dance, with the monks showing their skills in balance and coordination. Don't expect to much high-kicking HK flick kung fu: this is the more accomplished meditative style, with plenty of controlled thrashing around of arms and tools.

One of the underlying themes in the show is how the monks can defend themselves with their bare hands but also with everyday objects from their lives - staffs, sticks, even their begging bowl.

The sound system is, unfortunately, far too loud and of poor quality. This lets down a stellar performance. I happen to know a young Shaolin monk (the son of an employee of mine) and this brings home the rigours of the monastic training at Shaolin. Two stars of the show are young - about 9 years old - boy monks, who are so serious and diligent.

This is not one of those dinner shows, nor a cheap tourist charade. It is an excellent evening's entertainment.

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This is a happening restaurant bar filled with a lot of ex-pats. Friday night is ladies night. At the time of our visit, it was FREE wine for the ladies. I know they had one other free special but I was so excited about free wine, I can't remember now.

Dress Code: Casual.

I came here quite a few times and enjoyed the food very much. It's located in the Xuanwu district of Beijing, not far from Tiananmen Square, on a street that has other restaurants, hotels, hostels and shops, so the area attracts a lot of western tourists. This place, is therefore, very popular as it has a very western ambience with western decor and music. On several occasions, I spotted passing locals stopping outside to see and hear what was going on inside. The food menu is very good with a lot of western, Chinese and other Asian dishes plus a wide variety of drinks - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic. I particularly came here in the morning to have their excellent cooked breakfast (see photo) and enjoy the atmosphere in the evenings. There's a good place to stay in the same building (at the back) called 365inn where I stayed for a few nights (see my accommodation tips).

Laoshe Teahouse was named after the famous Chinese poet Laoshe (Camel Xiangzi). It was opened in 1988. On more than 3.300 square metres it houses a Beijing style Tea- restaurant, a theatre, a courtyard teahouse and a teashop.

The Laoshe Teahouse is a place to experience Chinese traditional culture with superb tea-cuisine and impressive performances. In the performance hall a Integrated perfomance will be shown every day containign Peking Opera, acrobatics, ventriloquism, dance, Kung Fu, tea ceremony and more.

Even though you might not understand the words, the colorful costumes and the spectacular performances will impress you.