Nightlife in Beijing: where to go?

Nightlife in Beijing is fantastic. Like any other international cities, here you have lots of options. However, some people tell me that they feel the night in Beijing is rather quite. Well, that's because they went to the WRONG region! Since I had lived in Beijing for 7 years, I’m going to introduce you 4 major nightlife regions in Beijing. Following my instruction and you will have a fun night in Beijing!

(1) 三里屯Sanlitun/工体Gongti (Worker’s stadium), Chaoyang district

Sanlitun and Gongti is the most fashionable and international region in Beijing. It’s almost impossible to not have fun here. With lots of multinational companies and foreign embassies nearby, you will see many Western faces in this region. Sanlitun is famous for its big shopping center: taikoolisanlitun.com. Here you can find most brands that you are familiar with. Sanlitun region also has vast variety of food choices. You can find all kinds of kitchen here: Asian, American, European, Indian, African and so on. Speaking of nightlife, how can we miss the bars and clubs? Sanlitun has lots of nice bars all around the region. In the most famous bar street, there are hundreds of bar gathering together. One thing that I find annoying is that the bar attenders always try to wave you in when you pass by. Bars in Sanlitun can be over priced, check their menu before you enter. Also, whether a bar is crowded or not is another good standard to decide to go in or not.

Compared with Sanlitun, Goingti (Worker’s stadium) has more fame for parties and big concerts. If you are looking for some nice encountering, the clubs in Goingti area are definitely your best choice. Because here you can see beautiful faces and hot bodies from all over the world, sometimes even celebrities. The two most famous clubs in Goingti are Mix and Vics. They are next to each other and always crowded. For LGBT people, there are also some choices in Beijing. Club Destination is the most famous gay club in town.

(2) 簋街Guijie, Dongcheng district

To the north of Sanlitun and Gongti region, there is the region for foodies. There are countless restaurants in Guijie and most of them open till midnight or even early in the morning. It says that the name Guijie comes from the street never goes quite at night. The restaurants in Guijie are mainly Chinese kitchen. BBQ or seafood is always popular in Guijie. If you are interested in exploring exotic Asian food, Guijie is the right place for you. But there’s one thing you should be aware of. Sometimes the food quality at restaurants here is not very good. But personally, I think they are too delicious to deny! Oh, and by the way, beer is CHEAP here!

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(3) 后海Houhai/鼓楼Gulou, Xicheng distric

Heading toward west from Guijie, you will arrive at the traditional nightlife region of Beijing. If you are looking some fun on experiencing the combination of traditional Chinese culture and modern lifestyle, this is your region. Houhai and Gulou used to be the region where the nobles and the rich gathered in Ming and Qing dynasty. Bars here locate in traditional Chinese style buildings. When the night falls, the lake reflects the lantern lights, bringing you back to an ancient China. You can sit by the water and order some drink and enjoy this old Beijing style night. In the summer, you can also take a Chinese style boat and have a private cruise.

Image from: http://bbs.unpcn.com/

(4) 五道口Wudaokou, Haidian district

A bit far from those three regions, Wudaokou is famous for its youngster style nightlife. There are tens of top universities in Wudaokou region, which creates the youngster nightlife culture in this region. The center of Wudaokou is the Metro station. There are countless restaurants and bars around. The three most popular kitchen in Wudaokou are Chinese, Korean and Japanese. Wudaokou also attracts lots of international people. Different from Sanlitun and Gongti, most international faces are foreign students who study in the universities nearby. I also started my nightlife experience from Wudaokou and had a lot of fun and great memories here. Back then I was a student at Peking University, which is 10 minutes drive away from Wudaokou. In the weekends, my friends and I usually had dinner a restaurant at Wudaokou. After that we would go a bar for cups of cocktails and played some drinking games. When we were all half drunk, that was about midnight. We would take a cab to Gongti and went to the clubs there. The bar we usually went at Wudaokou called Lush. It is an American bar with different events from Monday to Sunday. When you open the door, it feels like entering another world. You will be surrounded by people from all over the world that you might doubt if you are still in Beijing. There are also some nice clubs at Wudaokou. Such as Propaganda and Global.

Those are the four most popular regions to have fun for a Beijing style night. You can combine them together like me or visit them separately. The most convenient to move around the city at night is by cab. And the good news is that the cab fare in China is really cheap! So put on your nice dress and enjoy yourself at the night in Beijing!