10 Best Bars in Beijing to Shanghai, China

Jiangsu's high-flyers toast their bottom line over classy cocktails on the 78th floor of the Zifeng Tower, China's third-tallest building. Nestled atop the InterContinental Nanjing, the bar boasts the city's best wine selection, with a good number available by the glass. Smog permitting, there are stunning city views across Xuanwu Lake to the leafy mound of Zhongshan Park.

This funky, eclectic bar has live music most evenings, attracting a mix of young locals and expats. It's conveniently located among a row of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean restaurants that are very lively at night.

Sandwiched between glitzy nightclubs, Blue Marlin is the place to kick off a night out. Big, brash, and commercial, it caters to all tastes with imported beers, decent cocktails, and finger food. Evenings bring televised sports and live music from a house band.

Visit this canal-side town house to peruse a wide selection of English-language books and magazines while sipping imported wines and beers. At night, there's often live music.

Depending on which of the two owners pours your pint of Guinness or dram of Glenfiddich, expect a proper Irish or Scottish welcome at this beautifully designed pub. Get chatting, and you may well move on to one (or another) of the 70-odd whiskeys, best enjoyed by the fireplace in the upstairs lounge. An extensive menu includes Irish stew and the "ultimate" Dublin fried breakfast. There's live Celtic music most nights.

This enormous brewpub has servers garbed in Bavarian dirndls, a jarringly French name, and a self-described "American style." Occupying the entire fourth floor of a high-rise building, it's the local outpost of a popular Taiwanese chain. Three types of craft beer are brewed on the premises, and the menu includes sticky barbecue pork ribs, fried chicken, and truffle fries in portions meant for sharing. The Munich-inspired bierkeller interior can seat a staggering 900 people at its long tables.

This dark and cozy bar has the look and feel of a neighborhood jazz joint—sadly, it lacks a jazz band most of the time, opting for a bored-looking singer who warbles along to a backing track. It does, however, have a friendly atmosphere and the city's most eclectic selection of bottled beers.

At the Tsingtao Brewery Bar you can drink from the source. In front of the Tsingtao Brewery Museum, it's cavernous, brightly lit, and packed in high season with convivial gangs of beer-swilling Chinese tourists.