Hip Hop and R&B

Originating in Shanghai, Arkham brings its huge dance floor to the worker's stadium club scene with regular shows featuring local and international hip hop and R&B artists. 

Another addition to Beijing's hip-hop club scene, 6 Six-Uno sets itself apart with a very bling and boardable chrome VW Camper sat in the middle of the bar area among similarly shiny and plush white decor.

A defiant shh to its noisy Gongti neighbors, Hush is a hip-hop infusion with high class drinks. Think champagne showers, customizable drinks, and the allure of prestige surrounding its walls. Celebrate your own version of 'started from the bottom now we here' as you toast flutes after flutes.

Spark teems with Beijing’s better-looking twentysomethings. As with Spark’s sister club in Taipei, there is a translucent dance floor, crowd-pleasing hip-hop and R&B, and some housier electronic tunes. Pricier drinks and tables keep the younger Vics crowd away. Just one word of warning – beware the laser-lit entrance.

Sparkly dance club.

Part of a successful Hong Kong chain, Hei Hei Club has found a Beijing home amidst Gongti’s neon ghetto. Hei Hei fits right in, the glittering disco balls and ornate chandeliers looking achingly familiar. The drinks menu is low on fuss, with a small selection of beers and super strong cocktails. Hip-hop tunes dominate the dance floor, with flat-screen TVs playing the accompanying videos for each track.

Haidian nightlife is typically defined by student-filled budget clubs like Propaganda. Dao offers a swanky alternative that saves hard-up college kids the cost of a taxi fare to Sanlitun. It’s also the umpteenth venue in Beijing to steal its name from Lao Tzu’s philosophy of “The Way.” There are well-liquored drinks and a healthy whiskey selection – a bottle can set you back up to RMB 3,980. Posh decor, staff who look like they came straight from a modeling agency and a DJ spinning recent hip-hop and R&B hits put Dao in the same mold as popular booty-shaking venues like Vics and Mix.

Patrons sip champagne while reclining gangster-style on white leather sofas. There’s no designated dance floor; instead, movers and shakers gravitate to a small space in front of DJs who let rip with Chinese crunk and snap music. Like a homey in his crib, you’re attended by staff serving predominantly martini-based cocktails; this isn’t a venue for pint-swilling. Bobomee isn’t particularly innovative, but the chilled-out vibe, slinky design and absence of a vibrating dance floor do distinguish it from the Gongti Xilu set.

Subterranean to Tsinghua University’s South Gate, Chamber is literally a chamber – small and low-roofed. Don’t be fooled: This joint comes packing. There’s a full bar in the back, a central dance floor with complementary stage, and seating aplenty. Though Chamber gathers together dancing, jumping and hip-swinging young guns, it seems to be an oddly pleasing paradox – kids getting crunk to 21st-century hip-hop and R&B beats while chilling amidst white walls plastered with ‘80s record covers.