Every Beijing bar list published in English is partly wrong by the time you read it. Venues here turn over fast, and a closed bar keeps its reviews online for years. The districts, on the other hand, have been the going-out districts for a decade or more, and they are where you should point the taxi.
The five areas#
| Area | Chinese | Where it runs | Metro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taikoo Li Sanlitun | 三里屯太古里 | 北京市朝阳区三里屯路11号及19号 | Lines 3 and 17, Gongtiyuchang; Line 10, Tuanjiehu |
| Shichahai bar street | 什刹海酒吧街 | 北京市西城区前海一带 | Line 8, Shichahai |
| Nanluoguxiang | 南锣鼓巷 | 北京市东城区，北起鼓楼东大街，南止地安门东大街 | Lines 6 and 8, Nanluoguxiang (exit E) |
| Wudaoying Hutong | 五道营胡同 | 北京市东城区，东起雍和宫大街，西止安定门内大街 | Lines 2 and 5, Yonghegong |
| Fangjia Hutong | 方家胡同 | 北京市东城区安定门街道，西起安定门内大街，东至雍和宫大街 | Lines 2 and 5, Yonghegong |
What each one is#
Sanlitun is the international nightlife centre — the densest concentration of bars, clubs and late restaurants in the city, wrapped around the Taikoo Li malls and spilling toward the Workers' Stadium. Loudest, latest, most expensive, most foreign. The Line 17 station opened under the name Gongtiyuchang and made the area far easier to reach than it used to be.
Shichahai is bars around a lake, in courtyard buildings and along the water. Prettier than Sanlitun and considerably more touristy, with a heavy concentration of live-music-and-shouting venues near the Silver Ingot Bridge. Walk further from the bridge and it calms down quickly.
Nanluoguxiang is the restored hutong strip: busy, commercial, good for a wander and a drink rather than a night out. It runs 787 metres north to south and is packed most evenings.
Wudaoying and Fangjia are the two hutongs to head for if Sanlitun sounds exhausting. Small bars, craft beer, coffee that turns into wine after dark, courtyard spaces. Both run between Andingmennei Dajie and Yonghegong Dajie, a few minutes apart, and both are reached from Yonghegong station — so you can do the Lama Temple in the afternoon and stay in the area.
Fangjia also holds 方家胡同46号, a former factory turned cultural and creative compound with performance and bar spaces inside it.
Practical notes#
The metro stops earlier than the bars do. Beijing's last trains run well before Sanlitun empties. Plan on DiDi for the journey home and set the destination in the app before you leave, so the language question never arises.
Pay by phone. Alipay and WeChat Pay work in essentially every bar. Some smaller hutong places take nothing else.
Live music is a real scene. Beijing has the strongest independent music culture in China. Venues change names and addresses often enough that this page will not list them — check listings on the day rather than trusting anything written months earlier.
KTV is the local default. For most Chinese friends a night out means private-room karaoke rather than a bar. You rent the room by the hour, order in drinks and food, and take turns. If you are invited, go — it is a better window into how people actually socialise than any bar in Sanlitun.
For where to base yourself, see where to stay in Beijing; for dinner beforehand, where to eat in Beijing.