Shanyouli Jingshan Café

Shanyouli is a cultural and creative café at 44 Jingshan West Street, on the west side of Jingshan Park and a short walk from the Forbidden City. It is listed by Beijing's official tourism resource site, which describes it as a space for drinks, snacks, rest and sightseeing beside one of the city's main imperial parks.

The café serves coffee, tea, desserts and sparkling water. Its signature is a drink called To the Imperial Palace, a cup of coffee or tea decorated with flowers, a name that nods to the nearby palace. The interior is decorated in red, with red flowers running along the top of the walls, and holds around ten tables. Outside, an area of nearly 100 square metres has umbrellas and about 20 seats, with bamboo and peonies around the terrace, and the café can hold more than 30 people at once.

The tourism site notes that many visitors buy a drink here and then climb the hill in Jingshan Park to take photographs. Jingshan's artificial hill, built in the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty from earth dug out for the palace moats, rises 45.7 metres and is topped by five pavilions. From the summit you look straight down on the roofs of the Forbidden City along the city's central axis. The park's west gate is on Jingshan West Street, the same street as the café.

That makes Shanyouli a natural stop after a morning at the Palace Museum, which you leave through the Gate of Divine Prowess on the north side, opposite Jingshan. It is also on the way to Beihai Park, which lies just to the west of Jingshan. In autumn, the ginkgo trees in front of Huguo Zhongyi Temple inside Jingshan Park turn gold from late October to mid-November, according to the park authority.

The tourism site suggests allowing one to two hours and gives an average spend of around 43 yuan per person. It lists opening hours of 9am to 6pm, but these are not published by the café itself, so check before making a special trip.

The café suits couples, photographers and anyone who wants a short break between the Forbidden City, Jingshan and Beihai. In good weather the terrace, with its bamboo and peonies, is the place to sit.