Off the drunken track

Discover Beijing’s best off-the-beaten-track bars. Warning: you may not go back to Block 8 ever again

Zhongyu Hanging Gardens

Almost as mythical as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, for ages people seem to have been whispering about the possible existence of a beer garden in the Swire Building opposite The Bookworm.

But it’s there – head through the north-west entrance of the Zhongyu Plaza on Nan Sanlitun Lu (just north of The Rickshaw) and up to the seventh floor, and you’ll find a hidden garden of plants, water features and gazebos – it’s a sort of Eden-meets-mini-golf-course.

The whole atmosphere is endearingly tacky – a place to wear a Hawaiian shirt and drink a cocktail with a paper umbrella – but there’s no arguing with the view across the city to the CCTV Tower.

And the cheap drinks (15RMB for a Yanjing draft or a gin and tonic) will help drown out the Best Karaoke Album In The World Ever soundtrack.

There’s also a fairly extensive food menu, with 35RMB bacon sandwiches and curry beef spaghetti for 48RMB. The service is very friendly, and it would make a cracking venue for a kitsch party.

Zhongyu Plaza (Swire Building, north of The Rickshaw), corner of Gongti Bei Lu and Nan Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang district (8523 6616 ext 6677). Open 10am-2am daily. 七层吧, 朝阳区 工体北路甲6号中宇大厦7层

Amilal

Amilal, set in a secluded courtyard off Gulou Dong Dajie, is one of those bars that feels at once homely and sophisticated – it’s a place to sit with a dog-eared copy of Sartre on a Sunday afternoon, before catching an impromptu Mongolian folk act (Mongolian and Kazakh folk bands sometimes play sets here).

You might trip over a few dogs as you walk through the small courtyard into the bar, which is decked out in a hotchpotch of second-hand wooden furniture and ethereal black-and-white photos. In the evening, the bar is low-lit and soft French jazz plays, creating an intimate atmosphere.

There’s an impressive selection of Scotch whiskies (mostly 50RMB) and wines (from 40RMB for a glass of Domain Montiplo), while beers range from 15RMB for a Tsingtao to 30RMB Guinness and 50RMB Erdinger.

With an Inner Mongolian owner and strong European infl uence, it’s a curious mix – but it works.

48 Shoubi Hutong, behind 66 Gulou Dong Dajie (50m east of Nanluoguxiang), Dongcheng district (8404 1416; www.amilana.com ). Open 4pm-late daily. 东城区 鼓楼东大街66号东南侧寿比胡 Amilal 同48号院内

Siif

Siif is well worth the trek up Beiluoguxiang hutong, and deserves kudos for taking the trendy Gulou thing further than most bars.

For a start, it’s set over three floors, with a grungy, graffi ti’d basement for dancing and table football, a bar area with a pool table, and then a chill-out area upstairs with a large fish tank and a balcony, which can seat about ten people.

The décor is an eclectic boho-meets-Ikea mix, with the key feature being the glass floor/ ceiling between the upper area and downstairs bar, meaning that girls in short skirts might want to exercise caution. 

There’s a decent drink selection, including around 20 red wines (110- 328RMB per bottle), but stick to the traditional cocktails (20-35RMB) rather than the hit-and-miss house ones (with names such as ‘If only..’ and ‘If apart’).

It seems to be a magnet for the most alternative Gulou types – on one visit, the place was overrun by dreadlocked bongo players using the pool table as a giant seat – but has enough going for it to make it a hit with everyone else, too.

67 Beiluoguxiang, Dongcheng district (6406 9496). Open 1pm-2am daily. 东城区鼓楼东大 街北锣鼓巷67号

Wain Wain

Although it’s gradually becoming more wellknown, there are still too many people who haven’t heard of this brilliant Japanese karaoke bar on the 35th fl oor of SOHO Xiandaicheng.

The owner says it was inspired by an airport lounge, and the décor feels like an apartment that was futuristic in the 1970s, with velvety carpets, stucco walls and pod chairs – yet somehow, it’s uniquely cool.

The views across the CBD are stunning – but unlike at China Bar, where 100RMB will barely cover a drink, here it will get you an hour in a funky karaoke room (with a great selection of international tunes), a Nintendo Wii and a futuristic Japanese robotic toilet.

The pricing is complicated – the 1,500RMB party sets, for example, get three hours of karaoke plus free booze and food for up to 12 people, which actually works out as rather good value.

Or you can just wander in, use the WiFi or board games, and pay a la carte for your food and drink. We love it.

Room 3512, Building A, SOHO Xiandaicheng, 88 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang district (8589 4383; www.wainwain.com). Open 11am-2.30am daily. 朝阳区建国路88号SOHO现代城A座

Hidden Dreams

Very few people get past Yugong Yishan, but the complex behind is fascinating, having been home to a succession of warlords, including temporary president Yuan Shikai, and thenthe regional headquarters of the Japanese army from 1937.

In a side building, to the east of the main complex, is Hidden Dreams, a lowlit, red-walled bar with a tango theme. As well as hosting tango classes every Friday (suitable for beginners), images of dancers are painted onto the walls and there are a series of tango photos around the place. 

When there’s no dancing, a bookcase full of fairly new Chinese art and history tomes and an unobtrusive TV will keep you entertained.

There’s a reasonable selection of international bottled wine (from 128RMB) and a good choice of cocktails, though the eponymous Hidden Dream (40RMB) is so strong that it’s almost undrinkable.

Hidden Dreams, 3 Zhangzizhong Lu (in the south-east corner of the complex behind YugongYishan), Dongcheng district (6403 0688). Open 9am-11pm Mon-Fri; 11am-11pm Sat- Sun. For information on tango classes, see www.tangomilonguero.cn . 东城区张自忠路3号 (愚公移山东南旁边