Another year older means another year wiser. But being wise won’t stop your kid from wanting a unique and fun birthday party. The sprawling nature of Beijing can sometimes overwhelm many parents of young children when looking for the perfect place to hold a family-friendly birthday party. To save you stressing out from reading the myriad of reviews on Dianping, Meituan, or Weibo, here is a convenient list of our choices of the best places to have a birthday party in style here in Beijing.

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Q-World Science Center, 量子世界科学馆

Q-world Science Center in Hello Mart is a fun place for kids (3-13 year old) that like to explore things, try simple experiments, and learn about physics, chemistry, biology, geography, astronomy, computers, and genetic engineering. Each course lasts about 45 minutes. They offer birthday parties with fun experiments for different ages, and course kids can have a birthday cake with friends in a separate room. You are allowed to bring your own food on site.

Mon-Sun 10 am-10 pm. RMB 150-180 per course for children 3-6 year old; RMB 180-210 per course for children aged 6+. F1, Hello Mart Urban Market A18-19, No. 48 Liangmaqiao Road, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区亮马桥路48号Hello Mart城市市集A18-19 (177 1028 7616)

Bounce Park, 反弹工厂蹦床公园

Bounce Park has 20,000 square meters of trampolines, foam pits, a Lego land, climbing walls, slides of varying steepness, and many more entertainment facilities for families. There is a public food court on the second floor which offers drinks, dessert, and snacks. Families can also book a room on the first floor to celebrate a birthday privately with cakes, balloons, and songs.

Ages 6+. Mon-Sun 9 am-9 pm. RMB 100 per person. No. 8, Huagong Road, Fatou Industrial Park.化工路8号垡头产业园泓彤体育院内 (6720 5958)

Red 1 Go-Karting, 瑞得万国际卡丁车场

When it comes to go-karting, people generally think of it as a sport for older kids. However, some go-karting places offer various kids go-karting parties (the suggested minimum age for driving a kart is 6), which could offer an exciting racing experience for your child’s next birthday. At the food court of Red 1 Go-Karting, parents can order western food like pizza, sandwiches or spaghetti, as well as Thai food and Chinese noodles. Families are also allowed to bring birthday cakes.

Ages 8+. Mon-Fri 1pm-1am, Sat-Sun 11am-1am. RMB 200 per person. No. 88, Laiguangying East Road Chaoyang District.北京市朝阳区来广营东路88号 (6430 6687/6688)

Rock Hour Climbing, 岩时攀岩

Rock Hour Climbing consists of several climbing walls with more than 200 climbing routes of different difficulty and height, which have been set by an international team of indoor climbing specialists. They provide training courses, gear rental, automatic safety devices, and shower facilities. The staff can speak some English, and there is an open area on the second floor where kids can host their birthday parties.

Ages 8+. Mon 11am-10pm, Tue-Fri 10am-10pm, Sat-Sun 10am-9pm. RMB 110 per person. Building 74, 27 Xi Dawang Lu, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区西大望路27号院74栋 (5720 0101, 137 1888 1250)

Arrow Strike, 全城弓猎

Arrow Strike Archery Club is near Joy City shopping mall Chaoyang, where you can find a lot of family-friendly restaurants and activities. Children’s archery lessons are offered for different levels to help confidence building and improve focus. They also offer some open areas with a projector and a sound system for birthday parties as well as authentic archery competitions.

Ages 8+. Mon-Fri 11am-11pm, Sat-Sun10 pm-11pm. RMB 154 per person. B1, Building 6, Yard 3, Guomei First City, Qingnian Road. 青年路国美第一城3号院6号楼B1. (8579 8567)

KTVs

As we blogged before, KTVs can be a very fun place to go with your family as some KTVs offer rooms decorated with pop culture figures and provide kid’s birthday dinner. Check this quick guide to learn how to KTV with your family in Beijing.

Parks

Honglingjin Park, 红领巾公园

Honglingjin Park designated a national AAA scenic spot, is a family friendly park with a children’s playground, practical road safety education base, and many sculptures. The lawn by the lake is dotted with flowers and trees. Families can bring their kids to have fun at its children’s area, enjoy Beijing’s upcoming blossom season, feed cute ducks, or even take a boat sightseeing on the lake.

6am-9pm. Free. No. 5 Houbalizhuang, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区朝阳门外后八里庄

Yuyuantan Park, 玉渊潭公园

Yuyuantan Park is one of the major urban parks in Beijing. The “Chinese Zodiac” area is in the center of the children’s game square, which is probably the best place for kids to enjoy their birthday. There are also big slides and lovely animal sculptures the surround this area. Another special attraction here is the Mandarin ducks that call the Cherry Blossom Lake home.

6am-7pm. RMB 2. No. 10, middle Xisanhuan Road, Haidian District. 北京市海淀区西三环中路10号

Chaoyang Park, 朝阳公园

Chaoyang Park is located on the site of the former Prince’s Palace and offers a myriad of leisure activities to celebrate a birthday. Kids can kick or throw a ball on the big grass field near the entrance, and the concrete podiums beyond are tree-free kite flying zones. Other kid-friendly areas have cute boats, carnival rides, and playground equipment. There is an RMB 5 admission fee to enter.

6am-10pm (late entry at 9pm). RMB 5. No. 1 Nongzhan Nanlu, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区农展馆南路1号.

Dine

Liliput, 粒粒堡亲子餐厅

As one of the famous kid-friendly restaurants in Beijing, which offers western food and good children’s facilities, many parents host birthday parties here. The children’s combo, spaghetti, and chicken burritos are usually recommended here.

RMB 126 per person. F2, North Area, Shine City, Shunyi District. 北京市顺义区中粮祥云小镇北区Costacoffee楼上201 (138 1016 5171)

Bistro Blu, 布鲁亲子餐厅

The chef here is from Germany, and every dish is homemade in the open kitchen. With a comfortable environment and entertainment facilities, it’s a popular place to hold birthday parties for kids. Cream of mushroom soup, German potato salad, and Panna Cotta are just a few of the dishes that are popular here.

RMB 145 per person. No.2 Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang District. 朝阳区将台路2号 (8450 1589)

School’s Out 酷乐派儿童主题餐厅

With pumpkin carriages, stars, and a fairy tale background wall, this place is straight out of a fantasy. The restaurant has a large area for kids to play, making it also suitable for birthday parties. Parents can order a variety of nutritious birthday dinners for their kids. The spaghetti and chicken burritos come highly recommended!

RMB 214 per person. F2, Ritan Hotel, No.1 Ritan Road. 日坛路1号日坛宾馆2层 (8579 4330)

Photos: Courtesy of featured restaurants and theme parks, Pixabay.com

Beijing has no shortage of rock climbing gyms where one can climb, boulder, or just plain dangle around, but it was the opening of Rock Hour gym last month that showed us just how a professional rock climbing gym should look and feel.

While it helps that Rock Hour is clean and brand spanking new, it will hopefully remain this way because there is a no shoe policy inside so outside muck won’t dirty up the climbing wall with whatever icky stuff your shoes may have encountered on the way there.

There’s lots of wall space here featuring climbing routes (this is the path of the various climbing holds) with varying degrees of difficulty. These were created by a Japanese man with years of experience , who they brought in to design this portion of the gym. At the intermediate section of the gym’s climbing wall, there is also an automatic belaying contraption that allows everyone there to climb without the need of a professional at the bottom holding the rope. It sounds scary, but it looked pretty safe as people of all ages conquered the wall an were gracefully let down by this contraption.

Other than that, they communicated to us that they are planning on doing some group and individual climbing classes for kids. We will make sure to update you on any developments regarding this in the future. But, so far they have done a great job at building a classy gym that equally caters to the needs of both serious climbers and beginners.

Admission is RMB 100 for the day, RMB 80 for children between the ages of 6-14, and free for kids under 6. There is an extra fee for equipment rentals for things like climbing harnesses, shoes, or anything extra you may need. One of the downsides to Rock Hour is that it can be a little hard to find as it is hidden by a bit of construction currently going on. We recommend giving them a call or asking folks in the area for directions if you get lost. The staff are all friendly and speak English, which should help if you need some directions finding the place.

Rock Hour:
Daily 10am-10pm. RMB 80-100 (plus additional equipment rental fees). Building 74, No.27 yard, Xidawanglu, Chaoyang. 西大望路27号院74栋岩时攀岩馆 (185 1916 6168)

Photos: Kipp Whittaker