21 awesome things to do in Beijing this week
Photo: 247 Tickets
Happy Monday, Beijing! With music, films and parties galore, it's shaping 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 week: explore, enjoy and don't forget to Instagram us your snaps with #timeoutbeijing or let us know on Facebook what you really enjoyed.
Beijing’s Imperial Parks and Gardens
Beihai and Jingshan Park are two of the most famous and beautiful parks in Beijing. For centuries these former imperial gardens were off-limits to commoners. Today, they are important historic landmarks as well as a gathering place for Beijingers. This walk blends imperial architecture, history, and local life in one two-hour experience.
Explore the Tibetan Monasteries and the Gansu Province
Swing Jazz Night
Cloth Swapping Party
Clear out your closet in an environmentally friendly manner, by bringing your clean, reusable clothes, shoes and bags and swapping them out for new-to-you items. Or fancy some 'new clothes' this summer? Show up empty handed and pick out something you'd like. For sanitary reasons, no swimwear and underwear is allowed in the swap.
Easy Best Wine Pop Up and Dinner
Photo: Mosto
Mosto. Tue 23-Thu 25. 12-10pm. FREE
Easy Best and their experienced sommeliers will be at Mosto all day to recommend flights, pairings and bottles - without the corkage fee. Easy Best's sommeliers will be bringing a gorgeous selection of powerful white wines, flavourful enough even to stand up to meat, while still light enough for the blazing hot Beijing summer
Nadaman Welcomes Guest Chef Takayuki Oshima
Photo: Nadaman/WeChat
Nadaman. Tue 23-Sun 28. 11.30am-10pm.
Renowned chef Takayuki Oshima, the Group Executive Chef of Nadaman, will come to Nadaman Beijing with a specially curated dinner set menu. With more than 45 years of experience in the Japanese culinary scene, Chef Oshima will present a special eight-course dinner menu featuring his signature creations including Smoked Salmon with Japanese special radish and vinegar sauce, salt-grilled kinki rockfish, and sukiyaki wagyu beef among other dishes
SBZ-Party: Stone x Baozza x Zarah
Photo: Stone Brewing/Baozza/Zarah
Café Zarah. Sat 27. 6pm-1am. FREE
Beer, baozi and pizza lovers of the world, unite! A match made in the hutongs, join Stone Brewing x Baozza at Zarah’s courtyard for the SBZ party. Go to Zarah and try the new fusion buns and vote for your favourite flavour. The new Baozza flavours will be available - either steamed or deep-fried - as part of a special deal featuring two Stone draft beers, Delicious IPA and Tangerine Express IPA. Both IPAs will be 50RMB a glass until the kegs run dry.
Courtney Barnett
Photo: 247 Tickets
Omni Space. Tue 23. 8.30-10pm. 300RMB/240RMB adv
Australian singer-songwriter Courtney Barnett most known for her witty, rambling lyrics and deadpan singing style performs in Beijing. Catch the lyrical goddess perform some of her most relatable works on mental struggles, self-identity and feminism.
Ariyo-C Chicago Blues Piano Trio
Photo: 247 Tickets
Blue Note. Thu 25-Fri 26. 7.30-9.30pm, 10pm-late. 200RMB/280RMB
Sumito Ariyoshi, aka Ariyo, is internationally recognised for his vigorous innovative piano style. He’s an accomplished arranger and sought after studio musician who's shared the stage and toured the world with such legends as Otis Rush, Jimmy Rogers, Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Queen Suitcase
School Bar & Party Project. Wed 24. 9pm-late. 120RMB
Fresh off appearing on the smash hit TV show 'The Bands of Summer', Queen Suitcase is set to perform in Beijing. These Taiwanese indie rockers dabble in everything from blues to surf rock, R&B and more. Come catch the ever-popular band at School Bar.
Headhunterz
Photo: 247 Tickets
One Third. Fri 26. 9-10.30pm. 120RMB (adv)
When it comes to Hardstyle, it is impossible to argue that any artist has had a bigger impact on the genre than Headhunterz. As soon as his first records were released, his unique melodic and energetic take on the genre sparked a new movement within dance music. Join him at One Third for a night of expertly crafted tunes.
La Social Sunset Party at Migas Mercado
Migas Mercado. Sat 27. 3pm-3am. FREE
Let off some steam under the summer scorch at this sunset party brought by La Social and Migas Mercado. Come and sip on chilled cocktails, enjoy south American seafood bites, take in some of the most iconic summer rooftop views in Beijing and dance the night away in the end.
Suzanne Kraft
Zhao Dai. Sat 27. 10pm-6am. 80RMB
Suzanne Kraft is an Amsterdam based producer and DJ. Formally trained on saxophone, guitar, bass and keys but hypnotised by the one-man-band possibilities of producing on a computer, Kraft's work has been at the heart of a blissed-out and slow-motion revolution that has brought real beauty to the dance floor.
Next Gen
Cinemas around Beijing. Opens Fri 26.
Next Gen is a 2018 science fiction animated film based on the online Chinese comic 7723 by Wang Nima. A friendship with a top-secret robot turns a lonely girl's life into a thrilling adventure as they take on bullies, evil bots and a scheming madman.
Papillon
Photo: Papillon/Czech Anglo Productions
Cinemas around Beijing. Opens Fri 26.
Wrongfully convicted for murder, Henri 'Papillon' Charrière forms an unlikely relationship with a fellow inmate and quirky convicted counterfeiter Louis Dega. Together, they attempt to escape from the notorious penal colony on Devil's Island.
Shakespeare Drama Screening Night: The Tempest
Photo: The Bookworm
The Bookworm. Fri 26. 7.30-10pm.160RMB
Catch the screening of Shakespeare's The Tempest at The Bookworm. For those unfamiliar with this classic, the story is about Prospero, the former Duke of Milan exiled by the King of Naples, who uses magic to shipwreck his enemies. However, the King's son Ferdinand survives and falls in love with his daughter Miranda. Is revenge stronger than love? Find out at the screening.
Russian State Ballet: Swan Lake
Photo: 247 Tickets
Tianqiao Performing Arts Centre. Fri 26-Sun 28. 10am-noon, 7.30-9.30pm. 100-660RMB
Swan Lake, one of Tchaikovsky's best works and some of ballet's most memorable music and breath-taking sequences. Filled with mystery and romance and the show has captured the imagination of generations over the years and it continues to attract worldwide audiences, young and old.
Zala Kravos and Benjamin Kruithof: Cello and Piano Duet Concert
Photo: 247 Tickets
Rulun Lecture Hall of Renmin University. Sun 28. 7.30-9.30pm. 100-380RMB
Born in Slovenia, Zala Kravos was initiated into music at the age of three. At six, she entered the Conservatory of the City of Luxembourg, where she studied piano, music theory, and harmony. At the age of four, Benjamin began to play the violin and switched to the cello the following year, receiving his first lessons at the Luxembourgian Conservatoire du Nord. Together, these talented musicians have come together in a performance like no other with a repertoire of Beethoven, Brahms and Rachmaninov
Picasso Birth of a Genius
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art. Sat 15-Sun 1 Sep (Except Monday). 138-188RMB
Arriving this June, 'Picasso – Birth of a Genius' is the most significant exhibition of work by Pablo Picasso ever to take place in China. Offering a comprehensive overview of the first three decades of Picasso’s career, the exhibition includes 103 works drawn entirely from the collection of the Musée national Picasso-Paris, tracing Picasso’s development from childhood to middle age and promising an in-depth insight into the life of one of the most influential artists in the history of modern art.
The Soften The Glow
Photo: Part, Glacier Paradise (2019)/Three Shadows Art Photography
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre. Tue 23-28 Sun. 60RMB/35RMB (students)
Combining photography with mixed media, Shao Wenhuan attempts to capture the deeper levels of this natural crisis, highlighting the direct and indirect damage to landscapes caused by changes to human life and the resulting acceleration in natural resource extraction.
Thousands of Cups
Photo: Thousands of Cups/WeChatTue 23-Sun 28. Beijing Quanyechang Cultural Arts Centre. 98RMB/38RMB (students)Come by to experience the history of life through cups. Dubbed 'the most interesting cup exhibition in history', the exhibition will combine the handiworks of traditional culture and crafts with the modern works of contemporary designers in one singular space.
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