Big Small Coffee

Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South


Hip counter-top hangout for perfectly patterned coffee and fab cookies. After dark, a magic wand gets waved and the cafe transforms, Cinderella-style, into a modish cocktail bar specialising in boutique gins.

The cafe borders a stylishly renovated hutong district utterly devoid of human habitation at the time of research, but for which the government clearly has grand designs. State-run gentrification? Only in Beijing.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Temple of Heaven Park & Dongcheng South attractions

1. Former Legation Quarter

0.38 MILES

Following the Second Opium War in 1860, one of Britain's treaty demands was for permanent diplomatic digs in Beijing, hence the Legation Quarter, a three…

2. Former French Post Office

0.38 MILES

In Beijing's Former Legation Quarter, this grey brick building served as the French Post Office in the early 20th century. It was recently a Sichuan…

3. Former Yokohama Specie Bank

0.39 MILES

Built after the Boxer Rebellion in 1910, this is one of most impressive western-style buildings in the Former Legation Quarter. It's now home to the China…

4. Beijing Police Museum

0.4 MILES

Propaganda notwithstanding, this is an engaging foray into the storied history of Beijing’s police force. Learn how China's first Security Bureau (PSB)…

5. Former French Legation

0.4 MILES

The imposing red gateway here, bearing a passing resemblance to the Arc de Triomphe, belonged to the French Legation. The two Chinese lions flanking the…

6. St Michael's Church

0.43 MILES

Within the former Legation Quarter is this wonderfully gothic church, established in 1901 to serve the neighbouring Former French Legation and meet the…

7. Former Dutch Legation

0.44 MILES

A green-roofed building rises behind a wall at No 40, which was once the Dutch Legation. To the north, a faded street sign reads 'USSR Embassy Compound…

8. Beijing Planning Exhibition Hall

0.44 MILES

Presenting a top-down perspective on the world's most micromanaged megacity, dry exhibits detail the government's grand schemes for Beijing, with scant…