Twilight in Tian'anmen Square

Visitors can take a rickshaw along Chang'an Avenue , the widest street in the world, to Tian'anmen Square . Then enter on foot through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and across the Gold Water Bridge to Wumen Square , the front yard of the Forbidden City . Twilight in the square, with fabulous lighting and fountains with changing patterns, can be nostalgic and pensive. After strolling along the eastern moat of the imperial palaces, you can take a taxi from Wangfujing back to your home.

Folklore Performances

Night performance venues such as at the Lao She Teahouse, Tianqiao Happy Teahouse, the Liyuan Theater, the Huguang Guildhall and the Beijing Wuyi Diyuan offer a wide repertoire of traditional arts, including Peking Opera, martial arts and other folklore arts. Visitors can watch the shows, while sipping tea and eating some of the famous Beijing snacks.

Evening snacks

Beijing 's open-air night snack markets are open all year round. If you live near the Wangfujing area, the snack market at Dongdan is the right place to go. While the Donghuamen Night Snack Market is convenient for those living around the Palace Hotel. These markets are a scene of the real life of the city although they are usually very crowded. There, visitors can not only find out how some Chinese enjoy their evenings, but also taste many typical Chinese snacks including wan-ton, tea soup (chatang), mutton skewer (yang rou chuanr) and fried glutinous rice cakes (zhagao).

Bars

Beijing is practically bristling with all types of bars and clubs. The main concentration of bars is in the area known as Sanlitun ( Three Mile Village ). This area, which is nestled in the Embassy District, is basically made up of two streets going north to south of Gongti Beilu (Worker's Stadium North Road ). There are generally more foreigners on the south street. Most of the bars are open during the day as restaurants, and then, depending on where you go, become blazing pits of drunken debauchery, quiet dens of social drinking or venues for amateur and semi-professional rock or jazz bands.

Discos

Beijing is chock full of discos. Tickets range anywhere from 50-100 yuan and they are usually open from around 7pm to 2am , sometimes later. The biggest disco is JJ's and they have lucky draws and guest singers every night. Most discos have some sort of performance, the most wild one being the "cage dancing" and "modern dance" at Hottop Disco on the east 3rd Ring Road.

Nightclubs

Nightclubs are ideal places for business people after a hectic schedule and busy negotiations. The interior of the clubs is usually lavishly decorated, and guests can relax with live music and guests can relax with live music and refreshing drinks. Some nightclubs are, however, only open to members.

Teahouses

Recently teahouses have seen a big comeback in Beijing and other parts of China . It is now quite fashionable to go to a traditional teahouse for some good old fashioned tea-appreciation. The atmosphere in teahouses is usually calm and tranquil, and combined with the beautiful waitresses who serve you the tea, almost intoxicating. Some teahouses have performances of Peking Opera or traditional Chinese instruments. This is a nice relaxing way to spend an evening.