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2 Kolegas
Underground rock and punk acts rule at this ramshackle but super-friendly club with around Y20 -pitchers of beer. It's inside a drive-in movie theatre - to get here head about 1500m down the driveway from Liangmaqiao Lu, the bar is hidden behind the big colourful restaurant to the left of the drive-in.
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Alfa
Along with a great outside terrace complete with cushion-strewn booths to lounge in and a water feature to fall into, this club has an in-house Asian-French restaurant to satisfy late-night hunger pangs, decent cocktails and DJs. It's always buzzing, but the Eighties night every other Friday really packs them in. Just down from the Xinjiang Red Rose Restaurant.
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Aperitivo
A popular bar with the Euro-crowd thanks to the continental café-like vibe, lengthy wine list and small terrace shielded from the street by some artfully-placed shrubs. Inside, it's less appealing but they do bar food as well.
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Banana
This club may not look like much on the outside, but inside you'll get an explosion of colour and music that runs from chill-out to techno. There's a massive dance floor downstairs; the upstairs lounge is where guest DJs play.
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Bar Blu
Wednesday Quiz Night is this bar's signature event. Otherwise you can choose from its dance floor, lounge or gorgeous rooftop terrace. Don't miss its Flaming Lamborghini cocktail - five 'secret' liqueurs stacked in three separate glasses and set alight for around Y70 .
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Bed Bar
A wicked layout of interconnected rooms and kang-style floor seating has made this bar the big new favourite. The entrance isn't always marked. To find the right door, walk 40m down the hutong from Jiugulou Dajie and listen for the music.
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Beer Mania
A shrine to Belgian brews, this is a small, simple establishment where the beer comes before everything. It's guaranteed that you won't have heard of some of the 75 different ales on offer. There's a happy hour from to , which is just as well because this place isn't cheap. Belgian-style snacks, waffles and chips are available as well.
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Beijing Concert Hall
The grand 2000-seat Beijing Concert Hall showcases performances of classical Chinese music as well as international repertoires of Western classical music.
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Bookworm
This English-language lending library is a hub of expat life in Beijing. Author talks, current affairs lectures and other China-related events are regularly scheduled. Food, coffee and cocktails are served all day. This is a wi-fi hotspot.
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Browns
The dull name doesn't do this bar justice. It's a remarkable place where business people hang out alongside club kids. DJs play house and rock music most nights while Tuesday is 'Texas American Singer' night.
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Buddha Bar
Its name in Chinese is a clever play on the word 'not big' or 'small'. This is no longer the reclusive bar it once was, but is still worth visiting for the South American tunes that dominate the house stereo.
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Capital Theatre
Located in the heart of the city on Wangfujing Dajie, this central theatre has regular performances of contemporary Chinese productions and is home to a number of theatre companies, including the People's Art Experimental Theatre. Classic plays in the Chinese language often feature.
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Cargo
The best of the cluster of clubs located in the strip just south of the west gate of the Workers Stadium, Cargo consistently flies in some of the biggest names in dance music to play to a more music-savvy crowd than you get in most of Běijīng's clubs.
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CD Jazz Café
A mainstay on the Běijīng jazz scene, this place has regular live performances on Fridays and Saturdays. No cover charge, but the drinks are expensive.
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Central Academy Of Drama Theatre
Situated just off Nanluogu Xiang, China's future movie stars train at this academy and can be seen here in regular performances of Chinese-language plays. Bear in mind the actors, and sometimes the directors, are students, so the productions can be hit and miss.
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Centro
Hot jazz, cool colourful décor and the best martinis around. The place of choice for business people to wheel and deal or just impress the hell out of their dates.
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Century Theatre
Musical presentations here are perhaps smaller in scale than those at other venues - they feature smaller orchestras and solo performances where the violin, cello and flute get centre stage. Ballet performances are also presented.
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Chang'an Grand Theatre
This theatre offers a genuine experience, and the erudite audience chatters knowledgably among themselves during weekend matinee classics and evening performances.
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Chaoyang Theatre
Thrilling acrobatic performances are staged in the grand hall while a small faux 'teahouse' is set upstairs for boisterous Peking operas. There are 75-minute before acrobatic performances at and and one-hour Peking opera performances at .
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Cherry Lane Theatre
Located in a Peking Opera photo studio, Cherry Lane provides a valuable service in screening contemporary Chinese films with English subtitles, many of which were never shown in domestic cinemas because the censors didn't like them. However, the screen here has seen better days and sometimes they put on a DVD of the movie rather than showing a 35mm print. Screenings take place every Friday and Saturday at .
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China Puppet Theatre
This popular theatre has regular events including shadow play, puppetry, music and dance. A good place to take kids if they're rebelling over the prospect of more sightseeing.
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Club Football Center
With its wall-to-wall football memorabilia, live English premiership action, big screens and yelping punters at the bar, this is the most genuine British pub in town. A must for anyone obsessed with the beautiful game, beer (around Y10 for a bottle of Tsingdao) or pool and darts. There's a solid menu of pub food favourites. This is the focal point of Běijīng's amateur football scene and the place to come if you're looking for a team to join.
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D-22
A hub for student filmmakers and musicians, D-22 lets bands doing everything from jazz to rock to 'experimental' music plug into their awesome sound system. Movies (foreign or Chinese) are screened at on Wednesday and Thursday.
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Destination
This grey, concrete block is the gay club in Beijing. As any local will tell you, Destination is beloved for the clientele it draws, not the dismal interior design. There's an around Y30 - Y40 cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights.
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Drum & Bell
In the alley between the Drum and Bell Towers, this bar's staff is among the friendliest in town. The comfy rooftop terrace is loaded with couches and armchairs and in summer, regulars camp out here 'til closing.
