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Sabina Brady's avatar

In an adjacent Dongzhimen neighborhood is the best coffee shop in Beijing, the Cafe du Bonheurs / 幸福咖啡馆 located right around the corner from the Dongzhimen transport hub, on the ground floor of the East Gate Plaza / 东环广场. Lovely quiet ambience, excellent service, good coffee, tea and food … and on some nights, intimate piano-bass jazz concerts.

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Sabina Brady's avatar

It opens in the mornings at 8

It also has a door on the street leading directly into the cafe, so no need to go into the main building

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siyuan's avatar

that's perfect! will check out next time!

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siyuan's avatar

thanks for sharing Sabina! what time does it usually open until? I didn't get to visit many cafes inside shopping malls because I would have to bypass a gate and many other shops before the arrival, but this one sounds particularly good!

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Yaling Jiang's avatar

My first favorite community cafe was Manner. Then there are a couple that didn't stick (Including Pace Coffee here: https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1008637). The owners constantly had to battle with rising rent, rising competition (and price war) while feeling exhausted manning the shop themselves.

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PC's avatar

Mine was Waiting for Godot 等待戈多 on 交道口东大街 in Beijing in the halcyon days of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Journalists, architects, and creative types, many of whom lived in the neighborhood, used to hang out there. While their coffee wasn’t great, the music was the best, and one of their baristas became one of my best friends.

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siyuan's avatar

I have heard great things about it! very sweet that you also made a barista friend!

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siyuan's avatar

Thanks for sharing! such a shame that many small cafes had to close

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