Watch Movies Under the Stars at This New Fangjia Hutong Terrace Bar

If you’re a barfly and a film buff, then we have just the new spot for you. Recently opening on the rooftop of 46 Fangjia Hutong (in the same building above Hot Cat Club, in the building just south of Guozijian Jie) is the ridiculously nondescript Beijing 46. Like a poorly marketed film, that moniker fails to capitalize on the bar’s through and through movie motif.

Each night, a big screen projector shows a film on a wall on the venue’s south side. When we visited, they were screening the cringe-inducingly patriotic Mel Gibson war film Hacksaw Ridge. While not being a fan of that film by any means (could you tell?), the array of bean bags laid out on Beijing 46’s carpeted terrace made for a fun and cozy viewing space, even if its appearance bordered on tacky, or as one friend put it "designed like a cruise ship terrace." Think back to when you were a preteen and how you might outfit a rec room for your slumber parties, and you’ll get the idea.

Inside the bar there is a more intimate lounge space with sofas and semitransparent drapes, along with TV’s showing other films and features (in this case, a behind the scenes featurette for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road).

Next to that is a lengthy beer fridge filled with a lot of imported beers (the usual suspects, giving it a feet as though someone had removed a quarter of Heaven Supermarket’s fridges and plopped them here).

The tables next to the fridge are hollowed out and filled with director’s clapperboards, unspooled reels of old film, vintage cameras, and other flourishes that really are an excellent touch, and the best part of this bar’s décor by far.

Patrons are invited to help themselves to bottles at the fridge and pay at the bar on the far wall, or to order a cocktail from the sadly limited menu (we weren’t exactly expecting a bunch of top-notch, film-themed cocktails like those that Cinker Pictures, but a bit more effort wouldn't have gone amiss). 

But putting such quibbles aside, Beijing 46 is a unpretentiously fun place to lounge about if you’re in the vicinity of Fangjia, and its unique concept should make this bar a hit with thirsty movie geeks, and especially with expats longing to watch a flick outside to quell the nostalgia for their hometown’s drive in theater. All we hope is that they utilize the space (movie marathon anyone?) so that we can get the most of the outdoor air over the next few months.

Beijing 46
Daily 5pm-2am. Rooftop of 46 Fangjia Hutong (above Hot Cat Club), Dongcheng District (137 0106 7724)
京城46号:方家胡同46号B座星汇天姬顶层露台

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Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

Photos courtesy of Beijing 46, Kyle Mullin