Lotus Cafe & Bar

Beijing


At this popular rooftop cafe with seating indoors and out, your coffee, cake or sandwich is served with a side order of eye candy: the White Dagoba Temple, all 59 curvaceous metres of it, lording it over temple halls and surrounding hutong. With craft beer and wine available too, it's a super spot for sundowner drinks. Find it above the Pagoda Light hostel.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Beijing attractions

1. White Dagoba Temple

0.07 MILES

Originally built in 1271 under the reign of Kublai Khan, the serene Miaoying Temple slumbers beneath its astonishing high dagoba, the tallest in China. A…

2. Lu Xun Museum

0.25 MILES

This modern, two-storey museum presents in great detail the life of Lu Xun (1881–1936), considered the greatest Chinese writer of the 20th century…

3. Temple of Ancient Monarchs

0.25 MILES

Closed for an indeterminate period at the time of research, this Taoist ancestral temple, built in 1530, is where emperors would honour their royal…

4. Guangji Temple

0.51 MILES

As the HQ of the Buddhist Association of China, this is one of the few temples in Beijing where robed monks and worshippers tend to outnumber tourists. A…

5. Wansong Laoren Pagoda

0.57 MILES

Dating back to the Mongol Yuan dynasty but partially rebuilt in the 1980s, this nine-tiered brick pagoda sits in a lovely walled garden of pomegranate…

6. Cathedral of Our Saviour

0.85 MILES

Formerly known as Beitang, this gothic church (c 1897) is Beijing's most exemplary, with a pair of 31m-high bell towers looking resplendent (read: gaudy)…

7. Mei Lanfang's Former Residence

1.19 MILES

A place of pilgrimage for Peking opera aficionados, this sleepy sìhéyuàn (courtyard mansion) belonged to Mei Lanfang (1894–1961), acclaimed as the 'queen…

8. Little Western Heaven

1.25 MILES

This is the largest square pavilion-style palace in China. It was built in secret as a gift for Emperor Qianlong's mother on her 80th birthday. Inside the…