Best Champagne Bars

Far more than just 'fizzy wine', Champagne has long represented elegance, class and wealth. Time Out tells you the places to celebrate in style

Best selection

Aria
Second Floor, China World Hotel, 1 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang district (tel 6505 2266 ext 36). Open 11am-1am daily. 中国大饭店朝阳区建国门外大街1号
Whether you're popping in for an after work drink or trying to impress on a first date – the plush leather refinement of the China World Hotel's Aria bar provides an excellent atmosphere in which to sample their vast range of champagne. A magnum (1,500ml) of Veuve Cliquet will set you back 1,580RMB, a magnum of Bollinger is a little pricier at 1,760RMB if it's that work do; while their impressively well-stocked half bottle (375ml) list contains Bolinger (520RMB), Tattinger (420RMB), Laurent Perrier (480RMB) and Krug (1080RMB) if you're just after a couple of glasses. As well a huge full bottle list Aria also has one of the best selections of vintage champagnes from the '80s and '90s for the big spenders.

Best for a spending spree 

iUltra 
8 Chaoyang Gongyuan Xi Lu, Inside Block 8 complex, Chaoyang district (tel 6508 8585). Open 6pm-late daily. 朝阳区朝阳公园西路8号(8号公馆内)
Nothing says 'Beijing nouveau riche' better than drinking champagne out the bottle while dancing…except maybe buying a giant bottle of champagne to stand in the middle of your private table. As well as selling more champagne than any other bar in North China, iUltra lounge stocks huge nine litre bottles of Moet (12,500RMB) and for really, really thirsty people, gigantic fifteen-litre bottles (28,500RMB) while standard bottles of Dom Perignon will set you back 2,300RMB. Not only that, but they say by early 2008 they will have every bottle of Oenotheque Dom Perignon from the vintage collection going back to 1958. But at tens of thousands of renminbi for a bottle, they will be out of the price range of most mortals.

Best for champagne cocktails

M Bar
Sixth Floor, Sofitel Hotel, Wanda Plaza, 93 Jiangguo Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 8599 6666 for lobby). 4pm-1am daily. 朝阳区建国路93号万达广场索菲特酒店六层
New kid on the block M bar in the Sofitel Hotel serves sixteen different champagne cocktails made with Moet. The bar's interior looks like the kind of place you'd see in a champagne ad, making it a posers paradise. The Vellini is an interesting twist on the classic champagne cocktail, adding vanilla vodka and strawberry liqueur, while one of the bars signature drinks the M Passion – a mixture of Absolut Mandarin, Advocaat, grape fruit juice and, of course, champagne – is so good you might not move on to the others. M Bar also stock Veuve Cliquet for 748RMB per bottle.

Best for budget celebrations

Alfa 
6 Xingfuyicun (alley opposite Workers Stadium North Gate), Chaoyang district (6413 0086). Open 11am-late daily. 阿拉法酒吧朝阳区幸福一村6号(工体对面)
For those looking for the perfect opportunity to squander their student loan and impress their friends, there's no better place than Alfa. The '80s nights, the affordable but classy club feel with dark décor and a permanently packed dance floor all add to that party night atmosphere. Bottles of Californian Cooks Brut 'champagne' sell for just 180RMB with bottles of Moet going for a reasonable 680RMB, however which student in their right mind would care that real champagne only comes from Champagne? Whoever wields that champagne-a-like-bottle still feels like they are the richest person in the city. It should ensure a memorable night, but will have to be justified by living off noodles for the rest of the year.

Best for after-work drinks

Champagne Bar
Crowne Plaza, 48 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng district (tel 5911 9999). 5pm-2am daily. 东城区王府井大街48号国际苑皇冠酒店  
This little known, jazzy carpeted hotel bar, located in the Crowne Plaza on Wangfujing stocks a large variety of champagne by the bottle, however for those looking for a sophisticated drink rather than a binge effort, the two-for-one happy hour between 5pm and 9pm is perfect for after works drinks. 168RMB will get you two glasses of Mumm (a brand not widely available in the capital, with a bottle costing 688RMB plus 15 per cent service charge), while the chilled vibe of the in house jazz band ensures this classy joint is a great place to unwind as you wait for the traffic to die down.  

Best for sharing a bottle

Centro
First Floor, Kerry Centre Hotel, 1 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district (tel 6561 8833 ext 42). Open 6.30pm-midnight daily. 炫酷, 朝阳区光华路1号嘉里中心酒店一层. )
Now in its fourth year, Centro has long been renowned for the quality of their cocktails and a place where a quick one on the way home from the office turns into a very late night. The first proper high class Beijing where people came to drink and be seen, it now has far more competition but remains one of the most popular bars in town. Its popularity means there is nearly always someone you know in there willing to go halves on a bottle of Bollinger (750RMB) or Laurent Perrier (660RMB) with you.

Best for romantic trysts

Redmoon
First Floor, Grand Hyatt Hotel, Beijing Oriental Plaza, 1 Dong Chang'an Dajie, Dongcheng district (tel 6510 9366). Open 5pm-2am daily. 东城区东长安街1号北京东方君悦大酒店内 
The Grand Hyatt bar, with its dark red and oriental feel is a great place to hide in a corner for a romantic tryst over a bottle of bubbles. Although it doesn’t quite have that destination status for locals, the Grand Hyatt is hotel of choice for the celebrity crowd when they are in town, so you may well find yourself sipping a glass of Cristal (5,300RMB per bottle) with whichever Hollywood starlet is in town this week.

Best for champagne deals

Vics
Vics Inside Workers's Stadium North Gate, Chaoyang district (tel 5293 0333). Open 8.30pm-late daily. Vics俱乐部, 朝阳区工体北门内
Ok, it may not be the classiest venue in town but with their Thursday champagne night of buy two bottles of Moet (750RMB), get one free, this is the place P.Diddy may hang out with his hip hop crew surrounded by honeys, pimps, hos and champagne bottles. Well, maybe Vanilla Ice. 

Best for showing off

LAN
Fourth Floor, Twin Towers, B12, Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang district (tel 5109 6102). Open daily 11am-2am. 兰会所 朝阳区建国门外大街双子座大厦不B12座十四层
Designed by Philippe Stark, this massive venue was reputed to have cost 30 million USD. And it shows. All glam and glitz with dozens of different style rooms decked out in traditional Stark style. Gold AK47s and mood lighting, mixed with everything from Bollywood trinkets to a stuffed rhino head. It really put Beijing on the bling map when it opened at the end of last year and is the number one destination to show Beijing off to your scathing mates who thought Beijing was stuck in the 70s. LAN is not the cheapest venue in town but it's not a place you would expect to find the student crowd. A bottle of Dom Perignon comes in at 2,580RMB, but it's very possibly worth it if you are trying to clinch that deal or really impress a hot date.

Ross Goulding