The very best things to do in Beijing this weekend

Your weekend guide to the best of Beijing

Welcome to the w-w-weekend, Beijing. Like highly ranked DJs? Then see W&W (currently ranked number 14 on DJ Mag's top 100 list) this Saturday. Into other kinds of music? Have absolutely no fear, as there are more gigs this weekend than you can poke a stick at. Want something new and exciting to do? Just read on, good people, because there's a whole lot of stuff happening around town in the next few days.

As well as these highlights, there are many more things to do in Beijing this weekend: explore, enjoy and don't forget to Instagram us your snaps with #timeoutbeijing or let us know on Facebook what you really enjoyed.

Nude Life Drawing

The SLab. 7pm. Thu 28. 180RMB; 200RMB (with free-flow drinks).

The SLab is hosting another nude life drawing session. The female model will be posing in increments of 30 seconds up to 20 minutes. The 200RMB entrance fee gets you free-flow wine and beer and drawing materials to use (feel free to bring in your own). Don't wait to register as seats are limited. For more info, click here.

Federico Castigliano: My Paris Story

The Bookworm. 7.30pm. Fri 1. 60RMB. 

Federico Castigliano has a PhD from the University of Turin in Comparative Literature and comes to Beijing to talk wandering cities and art. Named for the French verb flâner (to wander or stroll), Flâneur: The Art of Wandering the Streets of Paris details Castigliano's adventures through Paris and the simple art and act of wandering without purpose, enjoying the beauty of a city without a destination in mind. Taking those principles to other cities, the author talks of aimless enjoyment in Chinese metropolises.

Fresh Spring Semester Networking Mixer

Hatchery Arcade. 7pm. Fri 1. Free. 

Are you a young professional in Beijing? Maybe you're a student looking for opportunities to make new friends and networks. Whatever your career goals, head to this networking mixer to meet young minds in Beijing and learn how to get involved with communities across the city. Registration is free and will automatically see you go into the draw to win a prize. For more information and to register now, extract the QR code below. 

Fête de Palooza

Thaiwoo Hotel. All day. Sat 2-Sun 3. 900-1,200RMB. 

Gather your crew, pack your overnight bags and get ready for the ultimate weekend getaway. Fête de Palooza is a biannual boutique weekend-long experience designed to promote social and cultural exchange in a relaxed, fun and positive environment. Spend the weekend skiing and snowboarding, alongside hot spring dips, brunch, yoga, a two-hour open bar, DJs and more. For more information and to get tickets, head to fetedepalooza.com. 

Live With Less: Coffee, Cha or Swap

NAMOC. 1.30pm. Sat 2. Free. 

Head to the Cultural and Creative Center of NAMOC this Saturday to swap, sip and snack. Meet your community whilst giving away what you don't need anymore and taking what you do. Any clothing, accessories, bags, shoes, household items, books and children's things in good condition can be bought along, with giving and taking not needing to be equal. For more information, click here. Remember to take your passport for entrance into NAMOC.

The Awkward Position of Missionaries in Chinese History

The Hutong. 2pm. Sat 2. 60RMB; 40RMB (members). 

From the time of Matteo Ricci and the Jesuit missions of the sixteenth century, missionaries have played an important role in Chinese history. By the nineteenth century, the missionary promised both new forms of educational and hygienic modernity while also being seen by the people as a possible threat to the established order in this world and beyond. How did the people of late Imperial China perceive missionaries? Find out this Saturday with a talk and discussion led by Jeremiah Jenne. For tickets, head to beijingbyfoot.com. 

Tattoo Design Workshop

The SLab. 10am. Sun 3. 390RMB. 

Learn the basic design principles for tattoo design and create a personalised tattoo with the help of Black Rabbit tattoo artist Josh Walden. Discover everything from composition to rhythm, line weight to legibility. Price includes coffee, tea and materials. All registrants enjoy an additional 30 percent discount on tattoos with Black Rabbit when booking an appointment. Sign up by extracting the QR code below. 

A Walk and Discussion in the Hutongs of Beijing

The Hutong. 1.30pm. Sun 3. 300RMB; 260RMB (members)

One of Beijing’s most distinctive urban features, the hutongs have long been at the heart of the capital’s unique local culture. This walk explores the past, present, and future of the hutongs, Beijing’s network of historic alleyways from missionaries and ministers to the musicians of old and new. For more information and to get tickets, visit beijingbyfoot.com. 

Slow Boat’s Gruit Beer Launch

Slow Boat. Until midnight. Thu 28. 25RMB. 

Slow Boat Brewery is releasing Asia’s first-ever Gruit Ale: Xiao Cui Gruit. For non-beer experts, gruit is the traditional herb mixture used to flavour beer before the adoption of hops in the fourteenth century. The ale is brewed through a blend of Korean ginseng, Chinese bay leaf, juniper branches, sage and mugwort, making for a lightly sour and earthy taste. To celebrate its release, Xiao Cui Gruit will be on special for 25RMB all day. Xiao Cui Gruit was brewed in collaboration with Gorilla Brewing Co’s taproom in Busan, South Korea.

Aussie drinks

Mesh. 6.30pm. Fri 1. 50RMB. 

Aussie drinks is back for 2019, offering Aussies, friends and interested newcomers the chance to mingle and catch up. Enjoy discounts on Australian beer and wine in the company of some true blue legends, or AustCham, whatever you like to call them. For more information, click here.

The Chef and The Brewer

Sifang Sanchuan. 7pm. Fri 1. 499RMB. 

Great Leap Brewing hosts a special dinner at Chinese restaurant Sifang Sanchuan for the release of their first Wild Wall Series beer, the KoelBrett Apricot. Try Great Leap's new beer with friends this Friday and enjoy a six-course meal with seven Great Leap brews paired alongside. For the full menu, click here. For tickets, extract the QR code below. 

Chris Botti

Century Theatre. 7.30pm. Thu 28. 380-980RMB. 

For over two decades, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer Chris Botti has amassed a variety of honours, including multiple gold and platinum albums, as well as a spot on People's coveted 50 Most Beautiful People (of 2004). He's played with some of the best names in music – we're talking Sting, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Yo-Yo Ma, Frank Sinatra, Paul Simon and Andrea Bocelli – blending pop and jazz into his unique take on modern instrumental music.

Yellowjackets

Blue Note. 7.30pm. Thu 28-Fri 1. 180-420RMB. 

This American jazz fusion band has won awards around the world for their modern take on jazzy rhythms. Coming off the back of their latest album Raising Our Voice, Yellowjackets head to Blue Note for two special nights of bold, beautiful beats.

The Colors

School Bar. 9pm. Thu 28. 80RMB. 

Up-and-coming Mongolian indie-pop band The Colors are coming to Beijing. Just hearing the group’s tropical beat, some people were convinced that Mongolia was in the tropics, not Central Asia. After winning the White Arch Studios Spotlight contest and getting a record deal with White Arch Studio in 2013, the group released its first album Mr Pigeon, What Year is Today? Since then, the group has toured around Russia, Korea and Mongolia. The band has recently released another EP, I Am Falling Into the Sky, the first vinyl to be released in Mongolia since 1986.

Mono

Tango. 9pm. Fri 1. 260RMB; 220RMB (presale). 

Takaakira Goto, Hideki Suematsu, Tamaki Kunishi and Yasunori Takada have been creating epic, sweeping instrumental rock soundscapes for the best part of two decades now, establishing Mono as one of post-rock’s leading lights and seeing them hailed as gods of the genre. They return to Beijing with their newest album Nowhere Now Here.

Nocturnes and Future Orients

School Bar. 9pm. Sat 2. 80RMB; 60RMB (presale). 

Nocturnes' music has been described as emotional, sultry, atmospheric and immersive, sitting somewhere between the intensity of Foals, the electronic elements of Bonobo and the pop sensibilities of Coldplay. Their electrifying live performances have earned them a place amongst the top bands in Beijing. They're joined this Friday by stage friends Future Orients. 

Zi Yue

Tango. 8pm. Sat 2. 220RMB; 180RMB (presale). 

Beijing punk band Zi Yue, or 'Confucious says', formed back in 1994, releasing two albums to general acclaim and best album awards. After taking a break from touring for a few years, the punk rockers are back, bringing their witty vibes and delightful tunes back to their home crowd.

Plini

Mao Livehouse Wukesong. 8pm. Sat 2. 180RMB. 

Hailing from Sydney, indie solo artist Plini writes, records and produces all of his own music, straight out of his house. His instrumental rock has seen him gain acclaim around the world, especially after the release of his debut album Handmade Cities. One critic described his first album as 'one of the finest, forward-thinking, melodic, rhythmically and harmonically deep... records I have ever heard'.

W&W

One Third. From 9pm. Sat 2. 200RMB. 

Better known as W&W, Dutch DJs and producers Willem van Hanegem and Wardt van der Harst have worked with the likes of Vinai, Hardwell and Armin van Buuren. Currently ranked number 14 on DJ Mag's Top 100 DJs list, W&W play sets that combine the melodic elements of trance with electro and progressive house. They return to Beijing to play One Third this weekend.

Video Game Orchestra

Mao Livehouse Wukesong. 8pm. Sun 3. 280RMB. 

This American project brings video games to the stage with their unique 'rockestral' creations. Taking original theme songs, the band combines a rock band with a choir and orchestra. Definitely an experience like no other.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

On general release from Fri 1. 

Berk villager Hiccup and his dragon Toothless reunite for a finale nearly a decade on from the first film – cue teary goodbyes and a nostalgic look back at friendships made and foes flambéed. The Hidden World, we learn, is the utopia to which Hiccup, the settlement’s newly established chief, must lead his clan when an infamous dragon hunter appears on the scene.

Green Book

On general release from Fri 1. 

Green Book – winner of Best Picture at the 2019 Oscars – charts a road trip into racism shared by two well-worn stereotypes, characters that, almost surprisingly, come from real life – ‘Tony Lip’ Vallelonga (a pizza-chomping Viggo Mortensen) is a brutal, racist NYC club bouncer prone to howyadoins. On the hunt for work, he gets an unlikely gig at the invitation of Don Shirley (cryptic Mahershala Ali, superb), a finicky black jazz pianist who requires a tough driver to escort him on a tour of the Deep South.

Love

Destination. Until Sun 24 Mar. Free. 

Des Art, hosted in the Contemporary Art Culture Center at Destination, hosts a new exhibition curated by Pierre Alivon, supported by UNAIDS and funded by the New Zealand Embassy. The exhibition explores the many different facets, perceptions and understandings of love. From original sin to the modern day, the artworks tell the story of love and how it has morphed throughout the centuries. For more information, click here. 

Lü Jia and the NCPA Orchestra

NCPA. 7.30pm. Sun 2. 50-480RMB.

Chief conductor Lü Jia leads the NCPA Orchestra for his seventh year, bringing to life the orchestra's demonstrated excellence and critically acclaimed ensemble. This weekend, Lü Jia and the orchestra perform favourites from Beethoven and Schubert.

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

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