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This section will start focused on the bar, disco and karaoke scene in Beijing but may expand to other types of venue at a later date. Beijing has a varied nightlife scene, the following basic guide will hopefully give you some idea.
Main Bar Areas
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Sanlitun Entertainment District
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This used to be the place to be if you wanted to go to a bar. Many many bars, most open till 4am or later. They all have that certain Beijing feel. Frequented by many foreign customers so you will not feel too out of place. Full details ... |
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Hou Hai Bar Area
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This place seems to be taking over from Sanlitun as the major bar area of Beijing. It is situated around a man-made lake at the north of Beihai Park. Boating is available on the lake till 11pm or 12am (in the summer of course). Very pretty area. Full details coming soon. |
Recommended Discos
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Club Banana / Spicy
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Get the full Beijing Disco experience on your first night. Cute girls, bad girls, shady guys, sound loud enough to make you deaf, kick ass security. The place to be seen. The best and most popular venue in Beijing. If you're looking for some ground-breaking new scene don't bother coming here. If you're looking for a beautifully decked out typical Asian disco experience with a tremendous, fun, atmosphere, look no further. Especially good on Friday and Saturday nights. |
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Gun Shi (Rock and Roll)
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The music here has nothing to do with Rock and Roll, its some kind of Beijing techno. But this is the locals' experience. Dancing is the main focus, DJs are the heart & soul. Guests from many provinces. Often many students. If you like this place, you could probably settle in Beijing. New location is not great, the place IS the people who go there. |
| Kiss Superclub
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Supposedly the Korean disco feel. Huge, modern location, so really difficult to fill. Atmosphere usually not great compared with the other discos.
(but you must go here to see the lasers. Must be several million dollars worth. They get turned on for an hour or so, 2 or 3 times per night.)
Update 8/2003 no lasers and much smaller. Possibly renovating, will let you know if they return to normal. |
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Re Dian
(Top One, Hot Spot)
Alas, the lights went out before we got the picture :-( Re Dian no more. |
Nice modern place, small, crowded, loud. More of the Beijing disco experience. Often has more guys than girls but the floor shows are usually good. Update 12/28/03: Appears to be slated for demolition and therefore closed. So sad. Hopefully it will move elsewhere.
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Karaoke
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Party World
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This is the full-on Beijing Karaoke experience. A massive chain. Looks more like a 5-Star Hotel than a Karaoke. Shame they have almost zero English. Find a Chinese friend to take you. This place has FREE FOOD !! a lot of the time, and is open 24 hours ! Used to be called Cash Box. |
Floor Shows
Beijing is one of the few remaining places to still have good variety shows many are included with the price of admission, or even completely free as long as you're drinking/eating something. We recommend the following locations. Note: These are not the general tourist fare. New section coming soon on Acrobatics, Peking Opera, and Kung Fu.
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Success
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A very Chinese place near Sanlitun Bar Street. Interior looks as if it was designed as some kind of concert hall, now a bar with entertainment, huge high ceilings, atmosphere really something else. Has shows from 10pm to 12am most days. Dancing girls, singing guys and girls. Cool place. Not many foreign visitors. |
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The House
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Interesting place in the Wangfujing area used to be a complete girly bar, and still is a little, but now has a pricy entry fee and includes an all-evening floor show. Dancers, singers, models, comedy, sometimes magic ! Male audience targeted. |
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