23 fantastic things to do in Beijing this week

Your weekend guide to the best of Beijing

Happy Monday, Beijing! With music, films and parties galore, it's shaking up to be another great week. Read on for our top picks.

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.

Brunch & Day Party

Photo: Red Rose/Wechat

Red Rose. Sat 29. Noon-8pm. 100RMB/60RMB adv

What is summer without a good outdoor party? Join Red Rose for another edition of their 011 Day Party. Expect to hear some of the best in House, Hip Hop, R&B and Gqom music Beijing has to offer. Tickets include a complimentary drink if you make it before 2pm.

Russian Game Night

The Bookworm. Every Sunday-Sun 3 May 2020. 6-9.30pm. FREE

Join Bookworm Beijing for an intellectual game night based on the famous Russian game show What? Where? When? this Sunday night. The game will be hosted in Russian. Contact andrey_maleev on WeChat for more information.

Drink and Draw at Modernista

Photo: Modernista

Modernista. Every Tue-Tue 24 Sep. 9pm-midnight. FREE

Let your art loose with a little bit of booze this Tuesday with Modernista's live drawing sessions. More than just a drawing class, Drink and Draw is a free and creative space for anyone who enjoys drawing with a good drink in hand. Every week It features different models and themes, with music and occasional performances. 

Chocolate Afternoon Tea

Photo: Chapter

Chapter. Every weekday-Fri 30 Aug. 1.30-5.30pm. From 268RMB    

It's all about chocolate at Conrad Beijing with their signature chocolate afternoon tea. Indulge your sweet tooth with an afternoon of beautifully and artfully prepared small bites, and enjoy them with a fine cup of teas or coffees. 

Two for one Twosdays at Gung Ho

Photo: Gung Ho! Pizza

Gung Ho! Pizza (Sanlitun). Every Tue-Tue 31 Dec. 11am-11pm. FREE

Join Gung Ho! in store, order a pizza, flash a smile and get the second pizza on the house. For deliveries, it's 20 percent off your pie (the deal's better in store, because it's better for our planet, high five). The promotion is available at all Gung Ho! stores.

Sunday Half-Priced Roasted Chicken

Photo: Mosto

Mosto. Every Sun-Sun 1 Sep. 5.30-10.30pm. 114RMB

Mosto is offering half off of their roasted chicken every Sunday night. Choose from an assortment of sides like the truffle mashed potatoes, roasted pumpkin, broccolini, and house sauces like the avocado salsa or South American chimichurri.

Family Concerts: Tom and Jerry

Photo: Tom and Jerry/247 Tickets

Forbidden City Concert Hall. Fri 28. 7.30-8.45pm. 100RMB-580RMB

This Tom and Jerry themed family concert is simply an elaborate scheme to get more kids to listen to classical music. Experience the cartoon with live orchestral accompaniment in the spectacular surroundings of the Forbidden City Concert Hall.

The KVB

Photo: 247 Tickets

Omni Space. Sun 30. 8.30-10pm. 160RMB/130RMB adv

Blending reverb-soaked shoegaze with minimalist electronic production, the British audio-visual duo's music reflects their mastery of atmosphere even as their sound evolved over the course of the 2010s. From their 2012 debut album that dealt with brittle beats and sonic blasts to their 2018's Only Now Forever, Day and Wood, they have taken a freer, more independent approach, recording on their own in their Berlin apartment for the better part of a year.

Acid Android 

Photo: 247 Tickets

Tango. 30 Sun. 7-9pm. 520RMB

Acid Android is the solo project of Yukihiro, drummer of the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel. To date, Acid Android has released three albums, one mini album and EP, two singles, and three live DVDs. The band, in contrast with L'Arc-en-Ciel, uses a harder, faster sound, more stage-lighting and mechanics to further energise their concerts.

Marco Paccassoni Jazz Quartet

La Plantation. Fri 28. 7.30-9pm. 180RMB/80RMB (students)

Unwind this Friday evening by hearing Italian jazz percussionist and composers Marco Pacassoni perform with his vibraphone. Joined by other musicians, he will play a series of original songs and covers of various well-known musicians.

Sega Bodega 

Photo: 247 Tickets

Omni Space. Wed 26. 10.30pm-late. 180RMB/150RMB adv

Born in Ireland, raised in Glasgow and now based in London, composer and performer Sega Bodega has built a reputation as being one of the UK's most innovative and precocious creative minds. Inspired as much by his close network of peers as his love of cinematic soundscapes, his work in and out of club spaces has already seen him chalk up a comprehensive back catalogue of music spanning genre, style and composition.

Live Music Swing Dance Party

Photo: Modernista

Modernista. Wed 23. 10pm-1am. FREE

Put on your best shirt, most dazzling skirt and swing the night away as the live band of Dmitry Strelianny Quartet takes to the dance floor. Join them for a retro swing dance party in a special evening of twists, twirls and some mad live jive.

Toxic Presents: Jamaica Suk! 

Photo: Jamaica Suk!

Lantern. Sat 29. 10.30pm-late. 80RMB

Berlin-based DJ and producer Jamaica Suk! forges deep stormy techno sounds with early musical roots in jazz and rock. She was trained in jazz in the Bay Area, California, and had organised underground parties and performed in psychedelic rock, shoegaze and math rock bands. Fresh from a 2018 tour, the solo producer continues to be a mainstay in the underground club scene. 

Zomboy

Photo: 247 Tickets

Sir Teen. Sat 29. 1.30-3.30am. 120RMB

It was only when Joshua Mellody, professionally known as Zomboy, moved to Guildford, UK to study a degree in music production that he discovered a new love for electronic music. Zomboy sites influences such as Skrillex, Reso, Rusko, and Bare Noize as the reason he wants to dominate the Dubstep scene, and he has. His debut EP smashed the Beatport charts and was in the top five releases of Dubstep for over eight weeks, and in just six months, his tracks have been licensed to over eight different compilations from Warner Music to Ministry of Sound.

Spider-Man: Far From Home

Photo: Marvel

Cinemas around Beijing. Opens Fri 28

Marvel fans in China have something to celebrate, with their favourite neighbourhood superhero swinging into Chinese theatres four days earlier than in its home country. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man mourns the death of his mentor, Iron Man while also tries to live a normal non-superhero life with his friends. When Nick Fury calls him up for a mission, he tries to avoid him and goes on a holiday in hopes for some normalcy, but still ends up helping save the world.

Toy Story 4

Photo: Pixar Animation Studios

Cinemas around Beijing. 

Turns out, Pixar’s sentient toys can still make us cry: Nearly 25 years after their cinematic debut, the sweetly selfless plastic pals return in a fourth Toy Story, one charged by the animated series’ thematic essence of finding purpose in being useful to others. It’s a hopeful, immensely human chapter that echoes the franchise’s complex notions of loyalty, displacement and self-worth, doing so with humor and warmth.

Men In Black: International 

Cinemas around Beijing. 

Out go Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, in come Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson, as the MiB crew head to London to protect the earth from its more malign intergalactic visitors. This time, Straight Outta Compton director F Gary Gray is running the show as the galaxy defenders track down a villain in their own ranks.

An Evening of Indian Dance 

La Plantation. Sat 29. 21. 7.30-9.30pm. 80RMB-200RMB    

Learn about Indian dance traditions and see acclaimed Indian dancer Surangama perform unique renditions of Kathak in one evening. Kathak is a classical northern Indian dance which features fast body moments, spins and strong footwork. With a focus on story-telling and healing, Surangama is known for bringing a sense of peace and harmony in her performance.

The Wizard of Oz

Photo: 247 Tickets

Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. Thu 13-Sun 23 (except Mon) 7.30-10pm Sat 15-Sun 23 (every Sat-Sun) 2-4.30pm. 100-980RMB

Celebrating the beloved 1930's film that saw a generation of young girls want sparkly red shoes (just us?), The Wizard of Oz musical heads to the Beijing stage with a cacophony of timeless songs, bright sets and much heel-clicking. Take a trip back down the yellow brick lane with Dorothy and all her friends in need.

Shanghai Ballet: The White-Haired Girl

Photo: 247 Tickets

NCPA. Tue 25-Wed 26. 7.30-9.30pm. 100RMB-580RMB

The Shanghai Ballet was formally renamed in 1979 at the base of The White-haired Girl performing team. The White-haired Girl, which has been staged nearly 2000 times in China and overseas, won the Gold Medal at the Best Classical Dance Works of the 20th Century in China. Since its founding, the Shanghai Ballet has seen much international success of its numerous young dancers.

Shining Dimensions Vol.6

Aotu Space. Fri 28. 50RMB  

Shining Dimensions, an event series that aims to bring together different art forms, returns with a new theme ‘becoming a photograph’. Its sixth volume features music from Ninja Blade and Solent, visual performance from Nickolai, photography from Graeme Nicol and live photography from Xinrou. Both the audience and the performer will take part in an immersive and interactive visual exhibition, producing dazzling visual effects of photographs created within photographs.

A Walk into the World of Bipolar Disorder

Camera Stylo. Sun 29. 60RMB

This exhibition will feature Moodlab, an intimate portrait photography series shot by Pere Ibanez profiling Beijing residents that have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In addition, the opening event includes a panel discussion on the realities of bipolar disorder. In the end, participants will also stand a chance to win generously donated prizes from the Beijing business community in a raffle.

Botanic: A National Amalgamation Project

Photo: Sackler.org

Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University. Wed 29 May-Thu 29 Aug. FREE

Botanic, an exhibition of world flowers representing countries around the globe, is Iranian artist Maryam Najd's research project on cultural and national amalgamation using national flowers. With the current focus on refugees and caravans of people seeking a better life, the exhibition is an attempt to recognise the unique contributions that each country has made to the world through flowers. Together, the individual flowers form a great garden representing our Earth, our humanity.

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