Blue Note

Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central


A classy, subterranean live-music venue staging high-profile international jazz, blues and fusion musicians. The historical Legation Quarter setting gives it the feel of a posh night out. Seating is at tables, with drinks and meal service.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Forbidden City & Dongcheng Central attractions

1. Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall

0.08 MILES

Presenting a top-down perspective on the world's most micromanaged megacity, dry exhibits detail the government's grand schemes for Beijing, with scant…

2. Former Dutch Legation

0.11 MILES

A green-roofed building rises behind a wall at No 40, which was once the Dutch Legation. To the north, a faded street sign reads 'USSR Embassy Compound…

4. Beijing Police Museum

0.19 MILES

Propaganda notwithstanding, this is an engaging foray into the storied history of Beijing’s police force. Learn how China's first Security Bureau (PSB)…

5. Zhengyang Gate

0.2 MILES

Qianmen (前门), or the Front Gate, consists of a pair of gate-like towers, the northernmost being the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate, which was also the largest of…

6. Qiánmén

0.2 MILES

Qianmen, aka 'Front Gate', consists of a pair of gate-like structures: the northernmost is the 40m-high Zhengyang Gate, which dates from the Ming dynasty…

7. Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

0.22 MILES

One of Beijing's more surreal spectacles is the sight of Mao Zedong's embalmed corpse on public display within his mausoleum. The Soviet-inspired memorial…

8. Zhengyang Gate Arrow Tower

0.22 MILES

This is the forward-defensive structure of Zhengyang Gate, which sits behind it. The imposing building is a jiànlóu (arrow tower), which would have been…