Hats off to Yugong Yishan for having the most consistently interesting line up of live music in the city. They are also the only smaller venue in Beijing that has known acts from overseas regularly gracing the stage. On top of that they often play host to cool non-music events like Cherry Lane Movies.

Having said that, I also have some issues with this place. The main one is the sound system sucks. I've been to gigs here where the band has had to continually stop playing because the PA was literally smoking. On other occasions the sound is just terrible, with instruments you can't hear and constant buzz coming through the speakers. Given the tickets often aren't cheap, and the drinks are pretty expensive, the least they can do is provide a good sound system.

So five out of five for their programming, but minus two for the bad sound and pricey drinks.