Lace Up: Beijing's Best Indoor and Outdoor Rinks for Ice Skating

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Whether you're a wobbly beginner, or able to zip around in artful figure eights, there are few things more exciting than lacing up your skates and gliding across the ice. Thankfully, there's no shortage of rinks and outdoor ponds for Beijingers to dig their blades into as the colder weather sets in. Below, we've listed some of our favorite skating spots – both indoor and outdoor, from glitzy new arenas to charming and relaxing outdoor ponds.

Indoor

All Star Rink (Solana Mall)

Located in Solana Mall, this charming indoor rink is popular with families and even offers private lessons (in Chinese only) from national skating team coaches.
Open year-round. Daily, 10am-9.30pm. RMB 50 for an hour and a half. Lessons cost RMB 135 for 40 mins. 1/F, Solana Lifestyle Shopping Park, 6 Chaoyang Gongyuan Lu, Chaoyang District (5905 6328)

Century Star Club (Capital Gymnasium)
If you want to go for a leisurely skate, then this is not the place for you. However, serious skaters will enjoy the high-quality lessons on offer at this rink, though the number of students and teachers leave no room for more recreational visitors.
Open year-round. Daily, 1.30-7.30pm. RMB 90 per time, RMB 120 for a half-hour lesson. B/F, Capital Gymnasium, 54 Zhongguancun Nandajie, Haidian District (6834 6346)

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Champion Rink (Chaoyang Joy City Mall)
From hockey tournaments to post ice window shopping, this shopping mall-housed rink has a wide spectrum of options for visitors.
Open year-round. Mon-Tue, 10am-9.30pm; Wed-Thu 10am-10.45pm; Fri 10am-8.30pm; Sat 3-7.30pm; Sun 1-7.15pm. Mon-Fri anytime and any duration before 5pm, RMB 60; after 5pm RMB 70. Weekends, RMB 80 for two hours. 7/F, Chaoyang Joy City Mall, No. 101 Chaoyang North Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing (8552 6871, 8552 6695) championrink.com

Le Cool (China World Shopping Mall)
It may be a small rink, but the skaters at Le Cool give it plenty of personality. Thanks to its central location, it draws a crowd that is both vast in size and wide in variety, making it one of the liveliest and most downright fun rinks in town.
Open year-round. Mon-Sat, 10am-10pm; Sun 10am-7pm. Mon-Thu, RMB 30 for 90 min (10am-6pm), RMB 40 for 90 min (6-10pm); Fri, RMB 30 for 90 min (10am-6pm), RMB 50 for 90 mins (6-10pm); Sat-Sun, RMB 50 for 90 min. Skate rental included. B2/F, China World Shopping Mall, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6505 5776, [e-mail]) lecoolicerink.com

Riding "ice bikes" at the Summer Palace

Outdoor

Zhongshan Park (Forbidden City)

There are 8,400sqm at Houhe rink in Zhongshan Park next to the Forbidden City, which opens late Dec to Feb every year. You can pay RMB 10 to get in and walk on the ice, add an extra RMB 20 to get a cart for the family, or rent skating shoes and skate.
Open to the season from Dec to Feb. Daily, 8.30am-11am, 6-8.30pm. RMB 10. 4 Zhonghua Lu, Dongcheng District. (6605 5431)

Dulwich College
While many popular local skating venues are bustling hubs of activity, this outdoor rink, slightly outside the center of Beijing in the suburb of Shunyi, will satisfy many foreigners' longing for the quieter ice of their hometowns. Indeed, Dulwich's rink is perfect for timid children looking to better their balance, along with seasoned adults looking to skate in peace.
Open for the season from Nov 22. Weekends, 3.30-7pm (not open to the public on weekdays, opening times sometimes change due to special events, call beforehand). RMB 50. Dulwich College Beijing, Legend Garden Villas, 89 Capital Airport Road, Shunyi District, Beijing (6454 9150, dulwich-beijing.cn)

Shichahai  (popularly known as Houhai)
Glide across the ice with hutong rooftops as your backdrop. Nothing else will ever give lifelong laowai skiers such a simultaneous taste of both home and abroad. The naturally frozen lakes of Qianhai, Houhai and Xihai are separated into a skating area and an ice carting area.
Open Dec-Feb/end of season. Mon-Fri, 8.30am-8.30pm. RMB 30 per hour, Sat-Sun RMB 35 per hour. Qianhai, north side of Beihai Park, Xihai Beiyan, Xicheng District. (6612 7652)

A professional skater in historical garb shreds at the Summer Palace

Summer Palace

Like Houhai, this historic site will give your ice time a distinctively Chinese feel. Better still: the lake is huge, giving you plenty of room to attempt to make figure eights. To celebrate the opening last year, they hired professionals to present an imperial show on the rink (pictured above). There are carts (RMB 50-100) for singles or doubles, bicycles (RMB 100) and shoes (RMB 50) for rent.
Open Jan 1-Feb/end of season. Daily, 8.30am-4.30pm. RMB 50. 19 Qinglongqiao Jiedao, Haidian District (6288 1144).

Weiming Hu (Peking University)
Located in Peking University, this site is competitively priced and open for less than two months. We suggest calling in advance to check their status.
Open Jan 1-Feb/end of season. Mon-Fri, 10am-8pm. Sat-Sun 10am-9pm. RMB 8 per hour. 5 Yiheyuan Lu, Haidian District (6275 2114).

Photos: unsplash.com, tour-beijing.com, Toutiao (via m.gmw.cn)

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