Beer All: A Hundred Bottles Plus in Jianwai Soho

It’s not easy running a bar. Just ask any of Beijing’s veteran bar managers. For every success story, there’s a fleet of flops. So why would a young man quit a lucrative career in IT to open up a small bar in the bowels of what is widely regarded as a nightlife graveyard?

Beer All owner Dongzi appears eager to replicate the success of his friend Xiao Shuai over at El Nido in Fangjia Hutong. As he looks pensively around his cozy but empty space, with its collection of 100-plus bottled beers, he exclaims over how laowai flock to his friend’s hutong hangout. “Even on weekdays!” he says with a wistful shake of the head.

It’s clear that Beer All is a labor of love – Dongzi fondly showed off an antique clock he’d picked up for the bar from a flea market on his way to work that day – but as so many bar managers would agree, often love is not enough.

Also try: El Nido, Amilal

Beer All 啤酒圈 Daily 5pm-midnight. B1/F, Unit 8821, Bldg 17, Jianwai Soho west area (near the Fairmont Beijing), 39 Dongsanhuan Zhonglu, Chaoyang District 朝阳区东三环中路39号建外Soho西区17号楼地下1层8821号商铺(近华彬大厦)

Photo: Mitchell Pe Masilun