25 fantastic things to do in Beijing this weekend
Photo: International Hiten Circus/WeChat
Your weekly guide to amazing events around Beijing
Summer's in session and there's plenty of reason to head out this weekend with a jam-packed line-up of awesome things to do. From pool parties and city tours to stomping gigs, make the most of the perfect weather and get out there.
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
Mindful Living Event with BMC
Warriors, Workers, and Wanderers: The Tiananmen Northern Trail
Brunch for a cause
Photo: Moka Bros
Moka Bros (The Place). Sun 21. 11am-12.30pm
Moka Bros, Vegans of Beijing and the Roots & Shoots foundation are teaming up to host Brunch for a Cause. Enjoy a plant-based brunch, with part of the proceeds of the event benefiting Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots foundation. Whether you’re vegan or just plain plant-curious, all are welcome to this awesome brunch for a cause.
Weekend and Monday Shakshuka Brunch
Photo: Caravan
Caravan. Sat 20-Mon 28 Oct. 11am-4pm.
Shakshuka brunches are making their way to Caravan's menu, which are now available all through the weekend as well as on Mondays. And because you've earned it, pair your Shakshuka, a Moroccan egg dish poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chilli peppers and onions, with Caravan's brunch drinks like mimosas and bloody pirates.
Mosto x La Social Colombia Independence Day
Photo: Mosto/La Social
Mosto. Sat 20. 5.30pm-3am. FREE
Celebrate Veinte de Julio (also known as Colombia Independence Day) with Mosto and La Social on Saturday July 20. These two icons have teamed up for party that would do Colombia proud. Begin with a special menu of Colombian favourites at Mosto and then party the night away at La Social.
Weekend Dim Sum Buffet at 8 Qi Nian
Photo: 8 Qi Nian
New World Hotel. Sat-Sun. 10am-2.30pm. 98RMB
New World Beijing Hotel’s signature Chinese restaurant, 8 Qi Nian has a weekend dim sum brunch which offers unlimited dim sum for just 98RMB. The buffet features more than 40 authentically prepared dim sum classics. Book via the hotel's official WeChat (ID: newworldbiejinghotel) to enjoy a two for 180RMB promotion.
Bisiugroup Road Show
Photo: 247 Tickets
Yue Space. Sun 21. 8.30-10pm. 100RMB adv
Bisiugroup has a retro Taiwanese grassroots influence that blends into rock and folk. From their costumes to their music, the vintage vibe of the good old days is ever-present. For years, they have been invited to perform at major music festivals. They participated in the Ho-Hi-Yang Gongliao Rock Festival earlier this year and took home the Ocean Indies Judge's Choice Award. Catch them at Yue Space for a night of retro folk rock.
Bigyuki
Photo: 247 Tickets
Blue Note. Sat 20. 7.30-9.30pm, 10pm-late. 200RMB-300RMB
Hailed as New York City's musical secret weapon, Bigyuki's unprecedented sound has attracted the attention of many, including Grammy Award-winning and nominated artists Q-Tip, J-Cole, Mark Guiliana, and Robert Glasper. Bigyuki draws inspiration from different genres, infusing elements of jazz, classical, hip-hop, soul, rock and electronica into his compositions.
Okamoto
Photo: 247 Tickets
Mao Livehouse. Fri 19. 8.30-10pm. 580RMB/360RMB adv
Okamoto is a four-piece rock band from Shinjuku, Tokyo, with all band members use Okamoto as their last names, paying respect to both the avant-garde artist Taro Okamoto and the legendary punk band The Ramones. Famous for their modern take on nostalgic, retro-rock and pop, their danceable tunes make them the darlings of the festival circuit in Japan.
Hutong Bikini Party at School Bar
Photo: School Bar
School Bar & Party Project. Sat 20. 9pm-midnight. 100RMB
Come by School Bar's annual hutong bikini party. Expect a pool, water guns, and all sorts of wet and wacky fun. Set to play are rock 'n' rollers Miss Mix, indie rock foursome Qianshui Daxiang, alt-pop outfit Starrr69, and female fronted glam punk band Hard Candy Revolution. Tickets are 100RMB each, with half off if you're in a swimsuit and free if you turn up in a bikini.
Aurora Rooftop Opening Party
Aurora. Fri 19. 7pm-late. FREE
The long summer has begun and now it's time to celebrate it. Join Aurora for their official welcome summer party with outdoor drinks and food at their rooftop terrace in one of the hottest spots in Sanlitun. Come by for drinks and dance into the night to the tunes by local DJs.
Eric Duncan
Photo: Eric Duncan/Migas Mercado
Migas Mercado. Fri 19. 10pm-3am. FREE
Music makes you dance, so unwind with the beats of Eric Duncan on the top balcony of Guomao. With over 22 years of experience in the international clubbing scene, Duncan has become somewhat of a pro at music production, with insane remixing skills and countless releases on both vinyl and digital platforms.
Hello Summer Party at Zarah
Photo: Zarah
Café Zarah. Fri 19. 7pm-1am. FREE
Celebrate the comeback of the Beijing-bikini season with Zarah's Hello Summer Party. With the launch of a new summer drinks menu including their famous homemade Sangria, it's just in time to cool you down during Beijing’s hottest months. Sip your way through the new menu and enjoy a whole night happy hour cocktails.
Svarog
Photo: Lantern/Wechat
Lantern. Fri 19. 10.30pm-late. 80RMB/50RMB adv
The artistic name of Oleksa Moroz, Svarog is a musician and DJ from Lviv, Ukraine. Started in 2015 with cult label Circular Limited, Svarog has been showcasing the best of deep techno. Deep but evocative, Svarog combines the sounds of saturated timbres, industrial, and atmospheric landscapes to create broken senses of rhythm and beats.
China Through Cinema: For Fun
Photo: Beijing Film Studio/Van Ho Film and TV
Cultural Yard. Fri 19. 7.45-9.45pm. 50RMB
For Fun (找乐) by Ning Ying follows janitor Old Han, who has, for many years, worked at the Peking Opera. Upon retirement, he befriends a group of likeminded individuals who share the same passion for the fine art form. They decide to rent a space to put on private performances but things come to a halt when the group discovers that the space they have been renting is soon to be torn down.
Fighting with My Family
Photo: Fighting With My Family/MGM
Cinemas around Beijing. Opens Fri 19.
This playful movie captures the boastful, performative nature of WWE, spiked with mini-dramas and constant role-playing. The drama becomes the lingua franca of an atypical household in Fighting with My Family, the sweetest of comedies with a sizeable number of body slams.
The Little Vampire 3D
Photo: The Little Vampire 3D/A.Film
Cinemas around Beijing. Opens Sat 20.
Introducing the story of Rudolph, a thirteen-year-old vampire whose clan is threatened by a notorious vampire hunter. He meets Tony, a mortal of the same age, who is fascinated by old castles, graveyards and, guess what else, vampires. Tony helps Rudolph in an action and humour-packed battle against their adversaries. Together they save Rudolph's family and become friends.
International Hiten Circus: Holiday With Pets
Photo: International Hiten Circus/WeChat
Shijingshan Amusement Park. 20 Sat–18 Sat Aug (Sat-Sun), 10.30am-12pm, 7-8.30pm; 23 Tue Jul–16 Aug (except Mon), 7-8.30pm. 80-680RMB
With an exciting line-up of circus acts from aerial stunts to acrobatics and tightrope walking, dazzle in the performances of the circus troupe as they wow you with their tricks. Expect an entertaining and interactive performance showcase from the award-winning circus troupe International Hiten Circus.
Kodo: Evolution
Photo: 247 Tickets
Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. Sat 20, 7.30-9.30pm; Sun 21, 2.30-4.30pm. 99RMB-1,080RMB
Japan’s preeminent taiko drumming troupe Kodo explores the limitless rhythmic possibilities of the traditional drum and in the process, forge a new direction for the vibrant and living art-form.
Komissarzhevskaya Academic Theatre of St. Petersburg: Don Juan
Photo: 247 Tickets
NCPA. Fri 19-Sat 20. 7.30-9.30pm. 100-500RMB
Don Juan, the legendary fictional libertine, is a handsome and bold mister. Noted as an embodiment of all secret passions and overt impulses, see the world of delight, a kingdom of passion and sin in the cheerful and witty theatrical interpretation of the classic mythological character.
The King's Singers
Photo: 247 Tickets
NCPA. Fri 19. 7.30-9.30pm. 180-680RMB
The King's Singers were officially born on May 1st, 1968, when six recently-graduated choral scholars from King's College, Cambridge, gave a concert at Queen Elizabeth Hall on the Southbank in London. The group's big London debut was the launchpad for the five decade long career of The King's Singers that we know now.
Leandro Erlich: The Confines of the Great Void
Photo: Leandro Erlich/Port of Reflections (2014)
CAFA Art Museum. Sat 6-Sun 6 Oct (except Mon). 58-88RMB
Calling himself a conceptual artist working in the real and perception field, Leandro Erlich's works are all about subverting the normal and rethinking the expressions of reality. He advocates for the construction and thereby, deconstruction of situations in an attempt to break realities.
Lucy Sparrow's Felt Art Imaginarium
Photo: Lucy Sparrow/WeChat
M Woods. Sat 6-Fri 11 Oct (except Mon). 80RMB/50RMB (students)
Using felt as her primary material, Uk-based Lucy Sparrow is renowned for her bright and engaging recreations of objects from everyday life. Having received worldwide attention for her felt installations, Lucy Sparrow’s Felt Art Imaginarium is the artist’s first exhibition in Asia, and comprises an immersive installation specially commissioned for M WOODS.
Techne and Art: Ecologies of Pre and Post Modern Subjectivities
Photo: Annabelle Lim
Space Station Art. Sat 6-Sun 4 August (except Mon). FREE
Techne and Art rounds up modern and contemporary carpets from Persia and the contemporary artworks from Iran, Central Asia and China, eliciting dialogues on form, structures of thinking, bodily perception and affective capacity. Not reducible to any specific identifiable regimes, these works reveal preand postmodern ecologies of subjectivity.
Wavelength: Made in Illusion
Photo: 247 Tickets
Times Art Museum. Sat 6 Jul-Sun 6 Oct (except Mon). 58-88RMB
Following the first cooperation in 2017, Wavelength will once again join hands with Beijing Times Art Museum to usher in a comprehensive conversation into 'How Art Discusses Consumer Culture'. Through various art forms like installations, sculptures, paintings, and new media, this exhibition brings together thirty artists and hundreds of works in the discussion of substance and materials in the world of manufacturing and consumption.
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