Night life was unknown to many people in Beijing 20 years ago, and the word wasnt even used. But nowadays it is very common, especially for young people, to go out in the evenings and spend their time at cinemas, theatres, nightclubs, song and dance halls, Karaoke clubs, Restaurant or bars. Compared to people in south China, Beijing people are more conservative. Most of them, married people in particular, like to stay at home watching TV or chatting with friends, which is why the streets are quite deserted after nine oclock at night, when most of the shops are closed.

Dont despair, you can find places to spend your evenings if you are not tired after the days sightseeing. Almost every four- or five-star hotel has facilities for entertainment. Apart from hotels, night life venues are mostly in the city centre. You can see the Peking Opera, acrobatics, dramas, local ballad singing, song and dance performances, or attend a music concert, or drop in at a roadside disco. But be careful, there do exit nightclubs where tourists are charged an unbelievable price for a drink and where trouble can breakout. Its best to stick to places which have been recommended by other tourists or Chinese friends, and beware if prices of drinks are not displayed.

Now the city has witnessed a mushrooming of foreign theme pubs, new exotic bars and locally-run techno-clubs. Foreign pubs, bars, cafes and disco clubs attract foreign residents and tourists as well as young Chinese. The admission fee is usually about 50-80 yuan and beer is 15-20 yuan.

Bars

A few years ago, the only place to go to sit and have a drink was at overpriced hotel bars. But now, Beijing is practically bristling with all types of bars and clubs. The main concentration of bars is in the area known as Sanlitun (Three Mile Village). This area, which is nestled in the Embassy District, is basically made up of two streets going north to south off of Gongti Beilu (Workers Stadium North Road). There are generally nore foreigners on the south street. Most of the bars are open during the day as Restaurant, and then, depending on where you go, become blazing on where you go, become blazing pits of drunken debauchery, quiet dens of social drinking or venues for amateur and semi-professional rock or jazz bands. Weve got the full range here.

Twilight in Tiananmen Square

Visitors can take a rickshaw along Changan Avenue, the widest street in the world, to Tiananmen Square. The enter on foot through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and across the Gold Water Bridge to Wumen Square, the front yard of the Forbidden City. Twilight in the square, with fabulous lighting and fountains with changing patterns, can be nostalgic and pensive. After strolling along the eastern moat of the imperial palaces, you can take a taxi from Wangfujing to your hotel.

Folklore Performances

Night performance venues such as the Lao She Teahouse, Tianqiao Happy Teahouse, the Liyuan Theater, the Huguang Guildhall and the Beijing Wuyi Diyuan offer a wide repertoire of traditional arts, including Peking Opera, martial arts and other folklore arts. Visitors can watch the shows, while sipping tea and nibbling away on snacks. For the address and telephone numbers of the above venues, please refer to the List of Theaters.

Evening snacks

Beijings open-air night snack markets are open all year round. If you live near the Wangfujing area, the snack market at Dongdan is the right place to go. While the Donghuamen Night Snack Market is convenient for those living around the Palace Hotel. These markets are a scene of the real life of the city although they are usually very crowded. There, visitors can not only find out bow some Chinese enjoy their evenings, but also taste many typical Chinese snacks including wan-ton, tea soup (chatang), mutton skewer (yang rou chuanr) and fried glutinous rice cakes (zhagao).

Discos and Karaoke

Beijing is chock full of discos. Tickets range anywhere from 50-100 yuan and they are usually open from around 7pm to 2am, sometimes later. The biggest disco is JJs and they have lucky draws and guest singers every night. Most discos have some sort of performance, the most wild one being the "cage dancing"and "modern dance" at Hottop Disco on the east 3rd Ring Road. Talk about "reform and opening up policy!"

Karaoke is a hugely popular activity in Beijing. It is basically a bar with rooms that you rent out for however many hours, which is equipped with a TV and stereo system and two microphones. It can be a lot of fun to hang out with your friends and belt out songs all night long. Most of the songs are in Chinese, and it used to be that the only English selections were "Happy Birthday"and "Yesterday Once More,"(still a big hit), but more and more karaokes have extensive English language "menus"now too.

Nightclubs

Nightclubs are ideal places for business people after a hectic schedule and busy negotiations. The interior of the clubs is usually lavishly decorated, and guests can realx with live music and guests can relax with live music and refreshing drinks. Some nightclubs are, however, only open to members.