Wining, Dining, Dancing and Shopping in Sanlitun and Gongti

Wining, Dining, Dancing and Shopping in Sanlitun and Gongti
By Mark Turner , eChinacities.com

Sanlitun and Gongti – the latter referring to the area around the Worker’s Stadium – have long been names synonymous with dining and entertainment. In the last few years, the arrivals of high profile developments such as The Village and the more recent and more low-key Opposite House as well as the new Sanlitun SOHO development have given the area a facelift, with acres of stunning glass and super modern architecture making it a jewel in Beijing’s crown. We took a look at some of the things that make the Sanlitun and Gongti area one of the most exciting parts of town. Info for each place mentioned can be found at the end of the article.

Shopping
Sanlitun/Gongti’s three most popular shopping areas are 3.3 Mall, The Village (which is quickly expanding and includes Opposite House) and the old tourist favourite Yashow Market. The combination of the three is sure to satisfy even the very serious shopper.

Probably Beijing’s most well designed stylish and prestigious open air shopping centres, shopping at The Village is not just shopping, it’s a shopping experience. A regular turn over of art installations, a fantastic “dancing springs” style fountain and large screens keep window shoppers and visitors spellbound; the place is worth a visit even if your wallet is light.

Highlights at The Village include; a massive uber-modern Apple store filled with all manner of cutting edge trendy electrical goodies, Beijing’s flagship Nike store and the rather uniquely titled Hong Kong shop HTTP://WWW.IZZUE.COM which is aimed squarely at Beijing’s hip youth market. Of particular interest to people that enjoy British style, is the Reiss store. As expected, The Village also houses the ubiquitous mall favourites such as Starbucks and Watson’s.

3.3 (also known as Sandiansan) is on the whole very different in that it is mostly home to locally owned boutiques or select shops where decent quality goods can be found at more reasonable prices as well as the produce of up and coming Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean designers. 3.3 is the place to go trawling if you are looking for something unique.

Nali Patio is hidden with an inconspicuous winding entrance alley which is located in the alley on the south side of 3.3 Mall. Nali Patio has a beautiful Mediterranean white-walled design and a very exclusive feel. The establishments in Nali Patio are also select shops and there are also some very nice restaurants such as the rather sophisticated Saddle Cantina which brings an element of elegance to burritos. Nali Patio is slightly less busy than other places in the area perhaps because of its hidden away location and beautiful but somewhat confounding floor plan.

Tips:
Yashow Market 雅秀市场 View In Map
 Add: 58 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址:北京朝阳区工体北路58号(城市宾馆对面)  
Tel:  010 64168945, 64151726

Sanlitun Village 三里屯VillageView In Map
Add: Courtyard 19, Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯路19号院
Tel: 010 6417 6110
Website: http://www.thevillage.com.cn/eng/Pages/index.aspx

The following places mentioned in the article are located in The Village. Information for these and other stores in The Village can be found here.
Apple
Nike
HTTP://WWW.IZZUE.COM
Reiss
Starbucks
Watson’s

3.3 Mall 3.3 服饰大厦) View In Map
Add: 33 Sanlitun Beijie, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址:北京市朝阳区三里屯北街33号
Tel: 010 6417 3333
Opening hours: 11:00-23:00

Nali Patio View In Map
Add: 81 Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北街81号
Tel: 010 6413 1002
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

Dining
Sanlitun and its surrounding areas have a wealth of Chinese and international restaurants. There are restaurants catering to every kind of budget, palate and appetite, from street food and light bites to full on banquets in more formal restaurants.

Thai food is represented by Gongti’s much acclaimed Purple Haze and Lan Na Thai/Face Bar. Face Bar is a warm modern bar that is enjoyed by those that like the finer things in life as well as the spicier too (the kitchen is well known for its scorching curries)

European cuisine is represented in Sanlitun by Juliette’s, Crepanini, The Tree, Nearby the Tree and Fish Nation. Juliette’s offers up authentic and tasty French cuisine at a reasonable price and Sanlitun Bei Lu’s Crepanini offers delicious sweet and savoury crepes, paninis and waffles. The Tree is famous for its thin crust pizza and spectacularly long beer list with all manner of Belgium beers from obscure raspberry flavoured beers brewed by monks to the staple favourites such as Leffe and Duvel. Nearby The Tree supplies an impressive drinks menu but is in essence a restaurant dedicated to pasta. Fish Nation is Beijing’s favourite British style fish’n’chip shop, although the chips on offer are not quite the greasy asymmetrical ugly stodgy delights served up in chips shops across the UK, Fish Nation has some pretty authentic fish on offer.

Mexican food in Sanlitun and Gongti can be enjoyed at the aforementioned Saddle Cantina as well as the Rickshaw, with its convenient 24 hour business hours and enormous burritos and lively young ex-pat crowd. Fairly inexpensive although not wholly authentic Mexican food can also be enjoyed at Luga’s Villa.

Tips:
Purple Haze紫苏庭泰式餐吧 View In Map
Add: 55 Xingfu Yicun, Chaoyang District, Beijing (Opposite the north gate of the Worker’s Stadium)
地址: 北京市朝阳区幸福一村55号 (工体北门正对面)
Tel: 010 6413 0899
Opening hours: 11:00-23:00

Face Bar/Lan Na Thai 妃思 View In Map
Add: 26 Dongcaoyuan, Gongti Nanlu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区工体南路东草原26号
Tel: 010 6551 6788
Opening hours: Lan Na Thai 12:00-14:30, 17:30-10:30; Face Bar 12:00-02:00

Juliette’sView In Map
Add: 1F, Tongli Studio, Sanlitun Beijie, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北街43号同里1层
Tel: 010 6417 8188
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8:00-10:00, 12:00-14:00, 18:30-23:00; Sat-Sun 11:00-23:00

CrêpaniniView In Map
Add: 1/F, Nali Patio, 81 Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北路81号那里花园1层
Tel: 010 5208 6092
Opening hours: 2:00pm-midnight

The Tree

Nearby the Tree树旁边酒吧 View In Map
Add: 32A Sanlitun Nanlu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯南33号楼院内
Tel: 010 6413 1522
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

Saddle Cantina View In Map
Add: 81 Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing (walk into Nali Patio to reach the Saddle Cantina)
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北街81号
Tel: 010 5208 6005
Opening hours: Sun-Thu 11:30-02:00, Fri-Sat 11:30-04:00

Rickshaw人力车 View In Map
Add: On the conrner of Sanlitun Nan Lu and Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯南路滚石西门
Tel: 010 6500 4300
Opening hours: 24 hours

Luga’s VillaView In Map
Add: 7 Sanlitun Beilu (behind 3.3 mall), Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北里7号楼
Tel: 010 6416 2575
Opening hours: 10:00-02:00

Fish Nation

Drinking
One thing that Sanlitun certainly does not lack is places to drink. There are a number of small dive bars opposite Tongli Studios, such as Pure Girl Bar, offering bottles of Tsingtao for a mere 10 RMB. These bars are pretty rough and ready, but easy on the pocket and a great place to watch the Tongli human traffic pass by in all its semi-clad night life glory. Up a notch in terms of cost and classiness, and also altitude, is 2F (Second Floor) which has a pleasant balcony and a smorgasbord of inventive cocktails on its menu.

For those that like to enjoy a drink in even more classy surroundings Mesh in the Opposite House’s boutique hotel, is a super cool lounge that will be appreciated by any sophisticates accustomed to drinking in cosmopolitan cities. Mesh bar shares the Opposite house’s unique mesh style décor and compliments it with subdued lighting and ambient low key music making it a perfect venue for a cocktail and scintillating conversation with a select few. Although some might agree that it does not, in some respects, quite live up to its name, Hooters is also a popular SLT destination, particularly with those who miss their sports bar-style snacks.

Tips:
Pure Girl Bar清纯女孩酒吧 View In Map
Add: 17 Sanlitun Nanjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing (opposite Tongli Studio)
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯南街17号
Tel: 010-65948073

2F (Second Floor)View In Map
Add: 4 Sanlitun Hou Jie, Chaoyangd District
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯后街4号 (同里北面)
Tel: 010 6416 4549
Opening hours: 12:30-02:00

Mesh View In Map
Add: Opposite House Hotel, 11 Sanlitun Beilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北路11号
Tel: 010 6417 6688

HootersView In Map
Add: Rm. 201, Bldg 1, China View Building, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区中国红街1号201室
Tel: 010 6585 8787
Opening hours: 10:00-01:00

Dancing
Sanlitun and Gongti are also not short of places where you can get your groove on until the early hours. As in almost every other aspect of things to be had from Sanlitun: what is on offer ranges from the earthy and budget to the outrageously extravagant. On the lower budget end of the scale is Kai Club. With only a small dance floor it is a deceptively dance oriented venue with DJ’s blasting out rock and indie hits, past and present, whilst young ladies and sometimes, to rather comic effect, men make use of the strip pole. Punk in The Village is at the other end of the scale. Its main clientele look super cool on the dance floor whilst hip DJ Saul is lacing them with his distinctive Miami styles, Punk is definitely one of the place to be seen Beijing. Also of note is Gongti’s Destination which is probably Beijings most famous gay club.

Any guide to Sanlitun and Gongti would be incomplete without a mention of monster clubs Mix and Vics which exemplify the larger than life and opulent tone and hedonistic attitude which permeates most corners of Sanlitun. Both venues offer chart topping hip hop and house music that Beijing’s young and beautiful get down to almost every night of the week.

Tips:
Kai Club 开吧 View In Map
Add: Sanlitun Beijie, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯北街
Tel: 010 6416 6254
Opening hours: 06:00-03:00

PunkView In Map
Add: The Opposite House, 11 Sanlitun Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京市朝阳区三里屯11号
Tel: 010 6410 5222
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 20:00-03:00

MixView In Map
Add: Inside Worker's Stadium North Gate, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京朝阳区工人体育场北门内
Tel: 010 6506 9888
Opening hours: 20:00-6:00

VicsView In Map
Add: Inside the Worker’s Stadium near the north gate, Chaoyang District, Beijing
地址: 北京朝阳区工体北门内东侧
Tel: 010 5293 0333
Opening hours: 20:30-late

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