Pool and Snooker

Formerly Cangku, this small live music watering hole serves cheap drinks and has nightly DJs.

Imagine a sports bar with a poker habit. In place of Joe DiMaggio and Diego Maradona, men in Stetsons stare out from the wall. Slogans all around indoctrinate patrons in the virtues of poker. It’s like 1984, with Big Brother as a card sharp. Hold ‘em Stars is sanitized, but feels refreshingly alive, even if it will only appeal to serious poker players. Games begin upstairs when nine players are registered – the RMB 200 buy-in includes free-flow Tsingtao.

The Brick is a local neighborhood bar attracting many regulars. With a big selection of international beers and original cocktails.

Haidian is a strange old place for those of us who live in town. It seems to be full of students and people who are willing to travel some distance to act like students or touch them. It’s not all like this, though. There are also five-star hotels, such as the aloft, and they have bars, such as w xyz. This doesn’t feel like a hotel bar. It’s like the hip kids hijacked the lobby, but instead of holding you for ransom they offer you Friday’s Crunk Night (RMB 60, all-you-can-drink). The space is clean, airy and student-friendly. There’s a pool table, TVs and a lounge.

There are no prizes for guessing the target market of Le Le Bar, which is located opposite the entrance to the Beijing International Studies University. The place is usually buzzing with the great minds of tomorrow discussing the merits of film noir over German expressionism. A pool table, Wi-Fi and table football add to the distractions for those swigging down on Tsingtao (RMB 10) and cocktails (RMB 15). The arsenal of drinks on the menu shows which side the bar's bread is buttered. The devastating selection of shooters (RMB 15-25) peaks in the eight-shot "Around the World."

A Shunyi local with billiards, darts, pub grub, and soccer, rugby, and cricket on the three flat screen TVs. Stella, Hoegaarden, and Guinness on tap from RMB 35. King’s is a legitimate mom-and-pop bar that belongs in the outskirts, where space is not a luxury but a right.

Though it doesn't look like much on the outside, a step inside reveals a cozy local with a pool table, foosball, a barman who used to work at Ritz-Carlton, and dive prices in a comfortable atmosphere.

Guinness on tap, Irish stew, Michael Collins portraits, occasional live music (sometimes Irish, but mainly local cover bands), pool tables and dartboards.

Pool and foosball in converted Gulou hutong home.