The best things to do in Beijing this weekend

Featuring Africa Week, smash-hit stage shows, parties and more

Thursday is, obviously, the new Friday, so hit the weekend running and get started early tonight. From there, you'll be spoiled for choice, with a packed line-up of gigs, parties, theatre shows, Hollywood blockbusters and more coming your way in the next few blissfully leisurely days.

THINGS TO DO

Africa Week 2018

Various events at venues across Beijing

There are still a few events left in Beijing's first-ever Africa Week, which ends on Sunday with a start-up pitch competition. Don't miss the chance to get the lowdown on African Feminism 101 or the Tsinghua University African Students Association's first birthday party.

Oyster Festival and Shucking World Cup

EAST Hotel Beijing. From 12pm. Sat 26. 120-360RMB

Competitive oyster-shucking (yes, that's a thing) and plentiful food-festival mirth at this ode to the shellfish. The event features spectacular feats of mollusc-wielding (and mollusc-eating, if you back yourself), alongside craft beers, wines and cocktail specials, live music and more.

NIGHTLIFE

Jay Hardway

Sir Teen. Fri 25. Tickets tbc

Recently voted in at number 68 on the DJ Mag Top 100 DJs list, Dutch DJ and producer Jay Hardway is best known for 'Wizard', the hugely successful dancefloor banger produced in collaboration with Martin Garrix – DJ Mag's numero uno on that same DJ Mag list.

12th Planet

Hustle Club. Fri 25. 200RMB; 160RMB (presale)

LA-based dubstep producer 12th Planet blasts into Beijing this weekend performing at newly opened Gongti club Hustle. Widely credited for bringing bass music and dubstep into the North American mainstream, 12th Planet has collaborated with the likes of Skrillex, Datsik, Plastician and Skream.

MUSIC

Metz

Yue Space. Fri 25. 140RMB; 120RMB (presale)

Loud and ecstatic Canadian noise rockers Metz make a frantic nod to bands like Nation of Ulysses, Shellac, The Pixies, The Jesus Lizard, and Public Image Ltd at their most vicious, but also carve out some heavy new business of their own. Their previous Beijing show at Mao Livehouse was one of 2016's best – and loudest.

STAGE

Bolshoi Ballet: The Flames of Paris

NCPA. Thu 24 & Friday 25. 280RMB-1,280RMB

Very few ballets can properly display the Bolshoi's overflowing energy and fiery passion as can Alexei Ratmansky’s captivating revival of Vasily Vainonen's The Flames of Paris. With powerful virtuosity and some of the most stunning pas de deux, the Bolshoi Ballet displays an exuberance almost too enormous for the Beijing stage.

National Theatre: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. Thu 24-Sun 27. 99-880RMB

Christopher, fifteen years old, has an extraordinary brain – exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When he falls under suspicion of killing Mrs Shears' dog Wellington, he sets out to prove his innocence. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world. This long-running stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's acclaimed novel has scooped up seven Oliviers and five Tonys. Not to be missed.

ART

Olafur Eliasson: The unspeakable openness of things

Red Brick Contemporary Art Museum. Until Aug 12. 160RMB; 120RMB (weekdays)

A retrospective of Olafur Eliasson's most iconic works, The unspeakable openness of things is the revered Icelandic-Danish artist's first solo show in Beijing. Encompassing Red Brick Museum's eight exhibition halls, visitors will be able to journey through a series of large-scale immersive installations – including Eliasson's seminal work The blind pavilion – which playfully explore light, mist, geometry and illusion.

FILM

A Quiet Place

On general release until Jun 22

Like Aliens retooled as a militant librarian's fantasy, actor-director John Krasinski's relentlessly effective horror film thrives on a nifty premise: in a post-apocalyptic world, a family holes up in a farmhouse and tries to survive in a countryside where the slightest sound brings out deadly monsters.

Avengers: Infinity War

On general release until Jun 8

Aptly titled, the nearly three-hour Infinity War pours on the action – some of it grandly operatic, some of it breezy and fun – but mainly, it's about a big purple goon on a bling quest. Genocidal Thanos (Josh Brolin, ready to grumble) hopes to collect six Infinity Stones for his Pandora bracelet and thereby enact a purge of 'half of humanity'.

For more cracking things to do this weekend, hit 'Read more'.

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