Beijing for digital nomads

Best cafes

This is a list for people who plan their day around where they sit down. Twelve cafes, and their hours already tell you something: Comptoirs de France pours its first coffee at 07:00, Cafe Zarah is still open at 01:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and one house on 双榆树北路 never closes at all. Some of these places are really kitchens: Cafe Flatwhite serves western breakfasts, Poetry Cafe has pasta and sandwiches, and Corner Coffee moves from coffee to cocktails over the course of a day. We picked them by use rather than by looks, so each paragraph tells you whether a cafe is a breakfast table, a lane-side afternoon, a late seat, or a dependable early cup. Skip the lobby lounges with their hotel prices and recycled playlists. Every address here can be shown to a taxi driver, and every hour is listed so you can plan your day.