15 fantastic things to do in Beijing this week

Your weekly guide to the best of Beijing

Happy New Year, Beijing! From everyone here at Time Out Beijing, we wish you and your family a happy and healthy Year of the Pig.

For those of you in Beijing this week, there's a lot going on to help you celebrate this Lunar New Year. As well as these highlights, there are many more things to do in Beijing this week: explore, enjoy and don't forget to Instagram us your snaps with #timeoutbeijing.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year Pop-up Walk: Beijing Arrivals

Beijing Postcards. 2pm. Wed 6. 300RMB. 

People often talk about the city as if it once existed in a pure, untouched version. But in reality, Beijing has always been a city shaped by waves of migrants. It is difficult to find a better example of this than Dashilar, just southwest of the Qianmen Gate. For hundreds of years, this area of Beijing was the ever-simmering melting pot of the capital. Dashilar was the place where people would first enter Beijing. Through hard labour, personal relations, money, skills or whatever they brought with them, newcomers would find their way into urban society. Beijing Arrivals is a combined Walk and Talk. Starting in Beijing Postcards' hutong gallery with a brief introduction to Dashilar, the walk will then explore the different districts of the neighbourhood and visit a few families that Beijing Postcards has worked with for their ongoing oral history project. Click here for more information. 

Digital Photography 101

The SLab. 10am. Sat 9. 2,200RMB. 

For those who have little to no understanding of all the buttons and functions on a camera, The SLab's Digitial Photography 101 program is the best place to start learning. Although a big portion of the course is devoted to deciphering a camera's main functions, they will also be looking at techniques and the theory of photography, as well as how these functions are used in relation to each other to achieve the best results when taking photos. For more information and to sign up, visit The SLab's website (www.theslab.space) or find them on WeChat (ID: TheSlabBeijing). 

Forbidden City Tour: From Dynasty to Republic

Forbidden City. Sat 9. 350RMB. 

Join Beijing Postcards on a tour of the Forbidden City to learn more about how the last emperor of China was ousted from his residence in the Imperial Palace. The young emperor, Puyi, had lived most of his life inside the palace, confined to an area smaller than one square kilometre. Puyi’s departure marked the end of the strange 13 years where both Dynasty and Republic co-existed within the confines of the Imperial compound. The dismissal of the young bespectacled 'boy' emperor was an event of truly epic proportions, resulting in the dissolution of Imperial China's most important institution.

Find out the whole story on a walk with Beijing Postcards. For more information and to get tickets, click here.

Chinese New Year at El Nido

El Nido at the Other Place. 8pm. Mon 4. 268RMB. 

Head to the yard to celebrate New Year's Eve with two sessions of free-flow drinking (8-10pm; 11pm-1am) for just 268RMB per session, or just drop by for regular priced drinks as you go. As soon as the clock hits 12, get ready for El Nido's special New Year dumplings.

Chinese New Year's Eve Party 

The Orchid. 8pm. Mon 4. 300RMB; 288RMB (presale). 

Celebrate at the Orchid Hotel, with a night of great food, beer and friends. From 8pm on, enjoy finger food from Toast, unlimited Great Leap beer and mulled wine. For the foodies, enjoy scrummy vegetarian samosas, chicken bao, shrimp spring rolls and hummus with pita and veggies. Tickets are available at all three Great Leap locations as well as via The Orchid's WeChat store (ID: TheOrchidHotel).

Café Zarah's My Jiaozi Party

Café Zarah. 6pm. Sat 9. 128RMB. 

Join the team at Café Zarah for a big reunion dinner with communal cooking tables. Learn the art of dumpling making where you can mix and match the ingredients from an extensive buffet selection to create dumplings just the way you like them – traditional, fusion, or something new and creative. From 6-9pm, cook and eat as many dumplings as you want. For more information, click here. 

Chinese New Year's Eve Party

Aurora. 7pm. Mon 4. Free. 

Dance into the new year at Aurora, with drinks and music from 7-10pm and an afterparty with DJs Huang Wei Wei, O Shawa and many more.

Lunar New Year Love

Zhao Dai. 11pm. Mon 4. Tickets TBC. 

Celebrate all the Lunar New Year love with Zhao Dai and DJs Romanowitsch, Kaize, Darcy and Oops2. Expect deep house and techno beats.

Bob Marley Day

Omni Space. 9pm. Sat 9. 100RMB; 80RMB (presale).

Celebrate Bob Marley again this year at one of the biggest reggae parties in China. Featuring One Drop Band, Rawhx, Sistakilla L, Zulu Bob and many more, the evening will be a tribute to the legend and the genre of music he helped create.

The Wandering Earth (流浪地球)

On general release from Tue 5. 

Adapted from a short story by renowned sci-fi writer Liu Cixin, director Frant Gwo's much-anticipated The Wandering Earth is being hailed as China's biggest sci-fi movie to date and is set for release on Chinese New Year's Day. The premise? As the sun is about to die out, humanity sets a plan in motion to launch planet Earth out of orbit and to find a new home in space. Original language: Mandarin. 

Russian National Ballet: Swan Lake

Poly Theatre. 7.30pm. Tue 5-Thu 7. 100-2,019RMB. 

Another Russian touring ballet company comes to Beijing to perform Swan Lake, this time in the form of the revitalised Russian National Ballet. Watch the classic tale of star-crossed lovers Odette and Siegfried as they try to overcome evil sorceror Rothbart.

Beijing Wind Orchestra: New Year Concert

NCPA. 7.30pm. Wed 6-Thu 7. 100-580RMB. 

The Beijing Wind Orchestra, founded just ten years ago in 2009, now comprises of 80 musicians who perform everything from classical wind pieces to light chamber music and jazz. To help you celebrate the Spring Festival this year, the Orchestra will be led by two conductors, Chad Richard Nicholson and Li Fangfang, both renowned directors and conductors across the world.

Rhythm of the Dance

NCPA. Wed 6-Sun 10. 180-1,080RMB. 

Continuing the legacy of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance, Rhythm of the Dance is bringing Irish entertainment into a new era. The National Dance Company of Ireland's stunning production combines traditional Celtic rhythms with Latin tunes to tell the story of the Irish Celts throughout history. 

Celebrating the Spring Festival in the Forbidden City

Forbidden City. Until Sun 7 Apr. 40RMB. 

The Palace Museum, and the Forbidden City in general, will celebrate the Year of the Pig with a special showcase of art, historical relics and traditional decorations. Learn more about the history and significance of the Spring Festival at this one-off exhibition.

For more great things to do in Beijing this week, hit 'Read more' below. 

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