Seven ranked rooms in China across Shenzhen, Changsha, and Guangzhou, with addresses, booking rules, and what to order.
Seven ranked rooms in China hold a position on the current Asia list, led by Shenzhen with 2. Every one is below with the detail that decides where you actually go: the city and district, the booking rule, what a visit costs, and the serves worth ordering.
7 bars
Guangzhou · Speakeasy
The speakeasy hidden behind a Dongshankou cha chaan teng that turned Cantonese pantry flavours into No.2 on our 2026 Asia ranking, the first mainland Chinese room this high on the list.
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Shenzhen · Hotel bar
The 79th-floor rooftop at Mandarin Oriental Shenzhen where Tiger Chang turns the 24 Solar Terms and traditional Chinese pigments into Shenzhen's highest-ranked bar for 2026.
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Shenzhen · Speakeasy
A steampunk multi-storey room inside Ping An Finance Center where Paul Hsu and Chris Wu route Victorian London through Chinese tea and smoke, backed by one of Asia's most serious whisky walls.
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Shanghai · Cocktail bar
Dre Yang's all-day Jinxian Road room that pairs American diner comfort with a split day-and-night cocktail programme, and debuts on our 2026 Asia ranking at No.20 as Shanghai's only top-50 entry.
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Changsha · Cocktail bar
The Chaozong Street cocktail room that turns cyan, magenta, yellow, and black into a colour-driven drinks programme, ranked No.28 on our 2026 Asia ranking and the reference point for Changsha's inland bar scene.
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Chengdu · Cocktail bar
The first Ralph Lauren bar in Asia-Pacific, on the third floor of Taikoo Li Chengdu, where Hope & Sesame built an American West whiskey programme and earned Chengdu its first Asia's 50 Best Bars spot at No.29.
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Beijing · Cocktail bar
The hutong cocktail room inside Mandarin Oriental Qianmen that turned baijiu, tea, and alleyway history into Beijing's first ranked Asia entry, sitting at No.41 on our 2026 Asia ranking.
View profileShenzhen (2 rooms), Changsha (1 room), Guangzhou (1 room), Shanghai (1 room), Chengdu (1 room), and Beijing (1 room). Shenzhen carries the most entries, which makes it the usual starting point, though Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou is the country's highest-placed room.
Hope & Sesame (Guangzhou) at No.2, MO Bar (Shenzhen) at No.6, and Obsidian Bar (Shenzhen) at No.11, on the current Asia list. Ranks are national only in the sense that they are earned against the whole Asia field, so a smaller city can outrank a bigger one.
Of the 7 rooms in China, 1 requires a reservation and 3 take walk-ins. Every profile carries the phone, website, and reservation rule we last confirmed with the room. For a sense of spend, Hope & Sesame lists about ¥150 per person.
Each of these 7 rooms holds a position on our Asia ranking for the current season. Editors visit unannounced, more than once where a room has changed hands or rewritten its menu, and score on drinks, hospitality, consistency, and sense of place. We take no fee for inclusion, so nothing on this page can be bought. When a room in China loses its position, the profile stays up and the rank comes off.
Cities, booking windows, and how the ranking works.
Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou, at No.2 on our Asia ranking for the current season. The profile lists its address, hours, reservation rule, and the serves it is known for.
Seven rooms across 6 cities, with 2 in Shenzhen, all holding a position on the current Asia list. A room joins when it earns a place on merit, so the count moves with the scene rather than filling a national quota.
Of the 7 rooms in China, 1 requires a reservation and 3 take walk-ins. Each profile carries the rule we last confirmed with the room, so check it before you travel rather than on the night.
Shenzhen has the most, with 2 ranked rooms, ahead of Changsha (1) and Guangzhou (1). Depth is not the whole story: the country's highest-placed room is Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou at No.2.
Tell our editorial desk about a room we should visit next season. Send the city, the bar, and what makes it worth the trip.
