The 30 Best Bars in China

Hope & Sesame

Hope & Sesame opened in March 2016 behind a small Cantonese store in Dongshankou, in the old heart of Guangzhou, and is led by Bastien Ciocca and Andrew Ho. The bar calls itself a testing ground for cocktail innovation rooted in Cantonese hospitality and flavors, and its seventeenth menu, Bittersweet, is built on herbal teas, bitter melon, dried tangerine peel and ginseng.

MO Bar

MO Bar occupies the seventy-ninth floor of Mandarin Oriental, Shenzhen, in Futian, with an outdoor terrace over the city. The room pairs an industrial finish with advanced technique under head bartender Tiger Chang, whose menus include Colours of China, built on traditional Chinese pigments, and a Movable Type series drawn from ancient Chinese printing.

Obsidian Bar

A multi-story, steampunk-styled bar on Level 4 of the South Tower of the Ping An Finance Center, one of the world's tallest buildings. Its main floor centers on large communal tables looking onto an open kitchen serving dishes such as Boston lobster risotto and pan-fried lamb chops. The drinks program, led by beverage director Paul Hsu with bartender Chris Wu, draws on Victorian London while incorporating Asian ingredients, alongside recreations of vintage cocktails and an extensive whisky selection. The latest lists place it at No. 10 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Pony Up

A cocktail bar on Jinxian Road, a street known for its concentration of small independent bars and eateries. The room is fitted out with timber panelling, checkered tiling and leather stools, and the bar serves cocktails alongside a short menu of noodles, corn dogs and seasoned fries. The latest lists place it at No. 19 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

CMYK

A multi-room cocktail bar built inside a converted old house in the Chaozong Street area of Changsha. Its name refers both to the four primary colors of the printing process and to the bar's tagline, Countless Memories You Keep, reflecting founder Ethan Liu's idea that layering four shades can produce countless more. The drinks list is technically involved but deliberately approachable, with a stated emphasis on sustainability. The latest lists place it at No. 27 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Ralph's Bar

A Ralph Lauren-operated bar and restaurant on the third floor of Sino-Ocean Taikoo Li in Chengdu. The interior recreates the feel of a clubby New York tavern, and the kitchen serves American classics including the Ralph's burger, shrimp cocktail and New York cheesecake. The cocktail list is themed on American Western landscapes, with serves developed in collaboration with Guangzhou bar Hope & Sesame. The latest lists place it at No. 28 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Sober Company

Shingo Gokan's Sober Company relaunched in November 2023 with a new brief, come sober, leave tipsy, moving through three areas named Kissa, Izakaya and Sakaba, a journey steeped in Japanese drinking culture. Its original incarnation (café, kitchen, cocktail society and the hidden Tipsy speakeasy) reached No. 39 on The World's 50 Best Bars 2021 and No. 5 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2021, with a Tales of the Cocktail award for Best International Restaurant Bar.

Union Trading Company

A collaboration between chef Austin Hu and bartender Yao Lu, Union Trading Company keeps Hengshan Road in fun, frivolous drinks with a serious flair for flavor and presentation, the list changes constantly. It reached No.31 on Asia's 50 Best Bars and No.47 in the world in 2021.

Tiao

The cocktail bar of the Mandarin Oriental Qianmen, Beijing, set across two stories in a hutong courtyard property near Qianmen Street. The name refers to the historic alleyways in which the hotel sits. The ground-floor bar is a darkly furnished, low-lit room, while an upstairs open-air terrace overlooks the surrounding lanes. The program pairs original cocktails with Beijing-inspired bar food and live DJ sets. The bar holds No. 50 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026.

Speak Low

The bar that launched Shingo Gokan's SG Group in Shanghai: slide the bookshelf inside the OCHO cocktail-equipment shop and Speak Low climbs through three floors, a New York-energy second floor, a London-meets-Japanese-whisky third, and a members-only top floor of rare bottles. Prohibition America is the theme; it reached No.2 on Asia's 50 Best Bars and No.10 in the world in 2017.

Chimney

Chimney opened in 2019 in a 1920s loft on Zhongshan Middle Road in Hangzhou's Shangcheng district, founded by the owner-bartender Ellen Xu, who describes it as a neighborhood cocktail bar born from her time in California. Upstairs sits Bar Eg., a bar within the bar launched in 2024 as an experimental and collaboration space.

COA

Jay Khan brought his agave mission to the mainland in 2022, and after the original Jing an site was cleared for a municipal renewal project, Coa reopened in July 2024 on Middle Fuxing Road with four floors and four ideas. Taqueria serves street-style Mexican food and slushies at pavement level, Cantina recreates a Mexican bar of the 1930s and 40s, Salon carries the elevated service of the Hong Kong original, and the Mezcaleria on top is a small Japanese-style agave counter. A compact list runs Mexican flavors over spirits Khan sources directly from traditional producers. No. 95 on the Asia's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026; sister to Hong Kong Coa, three times No.1 in Asia.

Bar Long Fong

A low-lit, plant-filled cocktail bar tucked behind the Park Plaza hotel on Jinbao Street in Beijing's Wangfujing area. Co-founded by bartenders Xu and Fan, it builds drinks around Chinese produce often sourced directly from farmers, using ingredients such as bitter gourd, torch ginger flower, hairy fig root and osmanthus. It regularly hosts guest shifts and does not take reservations. It sits at No. 96 on the Asia's 50 Best Bars 51-100 list in 2026.

Alcove

Alcove is the bar at Ensue, on the 40th floor of the Futian Shangri-La, conceived as a comfortable hideaway with a sweeping skyline view. The cocktail menu pays respect to Southern China ingredients, pairing classic and modern elements with an emphasis on freshness and local products from a carefully curated inventory.

Long Bar

The Long Bar at Raffles Shenzhen is the hotel's tribute to the original Long Bar at Raffles Singapore. It serves afternoon tea with a view by day, then live music, tapas style bites and inventive cocktails at night, including the Shenzhen Sling, a local take on the Singapore Sling. Artworks by Cynthia Sah give the room a minimalist look.

Too High

Too High sits on the 107th floor of Rosewood Guangzhou, looking out over the city from one of its tallest towers. The room combines a long statement bar, a lounge and cozy booths, with live performances in the evening. The drinks list leans on spirits, with 107 hand picked single malts alongside rare rums, mezcal and Cognac.

Atmosphere

Atmosphere sits on the 80th floor of China World Summit Wing, Beijing, a Shangri-La hotel, with panoramic views over the city. The bar pairs bespoke drinks with the view in a smart casual setting.

Bar SanYou Shenzhen

The Hope & Sesame team's Shenzhen bar gives Chinese spirits a modern reading, mixing classic and new baijiu, Chinese whisky, gin and yellow rice wine with contemporary techniques. Each menu grows out of a research trip, starting with Shantou and most recently Guiyang and the Guizhou region. The elegant, modern room brings an almost ceremonial feel, with live music.

Chinese Room

Chinese Room, or Yejuan in Chinese, is a cocktail bar on Qinglian Shang Street in Chengdu's Jinjiang District, built around a romanticized vision of Asian regality. Gilded ceilings, carved woodwork, burnished chandeliers, antiques, porcelain and a fireplace fill the room, staff uniforms carry rippling gold dragons, and the look is said to take its cue from Brighton's Royal Pavilion. The drinks team of Shuai Yang and Ke Chen starts from the Western classics and folds in local produce like apricot, rose and red wine from Ningxia, often poured into retro crockery. The bar's own account frames it as Chinoiserie rooted in Chengdu, drawing its flavors from Chinese culture.

Fat Boi Cocktail Bar

FLAIR

FLAIR is the restaurant and bar of The Ritz-Carlton, Chengdu, a hotel on Shuncheng Avenue in Qingyang District that looks out over the city's central Tianfu Square. The hotel describes it as a stylish lounge, and the idea is an easy one: cocktails taken with Asian-inspired tapas, either indoors or on an outdoor patio. Guest rooms run from the 28th to the 41st floor, with views over downtown Chengdu. Its other rooms cover Cantonese and Sichuan cooking at Li Xuan, all-day dining at SPICES and afternoon tea in the lobby lounge, while the hotel bills FLAIR as its lifestyle restaurant and bar.

Golden Promise

Golden Promise is a hidden bar on the second floor of The Crib food hall in Yucai House, on Chunxiu Road in Chaoyang. Its door is painted into a white-brick wall, so it is easy to walk past. Inside, the back bar carries a wide selection of international whiskies, from Scotland, Ireland and Japan and beyond. The cocktails are mostly elegant short serves, and a seat at the bar gives a view of the team at work. 50 Best Discovery lists it among Beijing's bars. It opens in the evenings, every day of the week.

HEAT

HEAT is a destination bar at W Xiamen, a 286-room hotel on Lvling Road in the East Business District of Siming, in the city the hotel calls the Garden by the Sea. The hotel bills it as a room with a hot tub of its own and a resident DJ on the decks. Its cocktails draw on the old Amoy heritage of the island, served alongside bar bites inspired by street food. The guest rooms blend Fujian culture with the tongue-in-cheek style W is known for. Also in the hotel, SOUNDSCAPE pours creative cocktails to a soundtrack of W-curated music in the Living Room on the lobby level.

Hope & Sesame Shenzhen

The Shenzhen sister of the Guangzhou original is hidden behind Charlie's, reached by pushing through a small door that takes guests from southern Italy into a psychedelic, futuristic bar. The cocktail list is modern and creative and changes with the seasons. At the back sits The August, a seven seat counter serving a set menu tasting of drinks.

Jing

Jing is the cocktail bar of Upper House Chengdu on Bitieshi Street in Jinjiang District, and the hotel itself calls it a speakeasy. The styling looks back to the Jazz Age for its old-world glamour, while an outdoor terrace takes in the view toward Taikoo Li and the city's urban core. Inventive cocktails carry the menu, and in true Chengdu style spice plays a strong supporting part, above all in the house signature, a Sichuan Negroni. DJs play live from the evening on, from decks built into the bar itself. The hotel's two towers stand behind a restored archway and a courtyard in the Taikoo Li district.

Sip Bar

Sip Bar, listed by the hotel as Limited Edition Sip Bar, is the wine and spirits bar of Waldorf Astoria Chengdu, on Tianfu Avenue North in the Chengdu Financial City zone of South Chengdu. Fine leather, rich woods and a view of the city skyline set a relaxed, tranquil tone. Guests sample fine wines and spirits from around the world, with wines by the glass from both Old World and New World vineyards, plus artisanal spirits and craft beers. The hotel also runs Peacock Alley, named for the corridor that once linked the Waldorf Hotel and the Astoria Hotel in New York, which became a gathering place for that city's social elite.

The Attic

The Attic is the Park Hyatt Shenzhen's bar on the 48th floor, looking out over the Futian skyline. Alongside the classics, its signature cocktails take their themes from traditional Chinese folklore and pair old stories with premium spirits. Jazz, electronic and ambient music keep the mood relaxed, with live acoustic sets now and then.

The Bar at Niccolo Chengdu

The Bar is the third-floor cocktail lounge of Niccolo Chengdu, the hotel in Tower 3 of Chengdu IFS on Hongxing Road in Jinjiang District. Its program rests on classic cocktails and attentive service, backed by a curated collection of drinks and a food menu of light bites and plates for sharing. The room blends rich leathers, art pieces and opulent decor in red tones under ambient lighting, and classic drinks arrive in a play of light and shadow. A resident band plays live on most nights. The hotel presents the bar as one that keeps evolving with contemporary tastes while holding on to a character of its own, which it calls an understated icon of good taste.

The Churchill Bar

The Churchill Bar is the wood-paneled bar of The Ritz-Carlton, Guangzhou, on Xing An Road in the Pearl River New City district of Tianhe. Its center of gravity is an extensive collection of single-malt whiskies, backed by fine cognacs, wines, beers and the bar's signature cocktails. The rest of the evening follows the classic hotel-bar script: imported cigars, handmade chocolates, a snooker table and live entertainment from a pianist and vocalist duo. In a hotel whose restaurants cover Cantonese, Italian and buffet dining, this is the room for a dram and a slow nightcap.

Tian Bar

Tian Bar sits on the 99th floor of Four Seasons Hotel Guangzhou, which occupies the top third of the 103-story International Finance Center in Zhujiang New Town, between the Pearl River and the Tianhe business district. The room is built around a bar counter made from natural crystal agate stone, and beside it stands "Angel," a sculpture by the Chinese artist Guangci Qu. The list covers champagnes, wines and spirits alongside a menu of signature cocktails, with small bites to go with them. The hotel pitches it for evenings of music and drinks, with views across the city and the river.