Dongcheng · Beijing
A Sichuan troupe performs an hour of contortion, hoop diving and balancing acts a short walk from the Temple of Heaven.
The Temple of Heaven is close enough to fill the hour before curtain.
Worth an evening?
For most visitors with a free evening, yes. The Red Theatre in Dongcheng stages Heroes of Shu County, an hour of acrobatics by the Sichuan Suining Acrobatic Troupe: balancing, contortion, hoop diving and fast ensemble routines with no language to follow. Seats are numbered, the hour is tightly paced, and reviews are overwhelmingly positive.
The QR code GetYourGuide sends after booking is not your ticket. Your actual tickets come as a message on WhatsApp, WeChat or iMessage early on show day, so give a phone number that runs one of those apps. If nothing has come through by late morning, message the ticket seller through your GetYourGuide booking.
Families, first nights in Beijing, travellers who are jet-lagged or short on time, and anyone who wants an evening that needs no Chinese. Its billing promises a family-friendly hour, and sixty minutes fit easily around a day of sightseeing.
It is not a dinner show, not opera, not a kung fu play and not a Western-style circus with animals. It is a seated hour of acrobatic acts. The acts and their order can change, so treat any list of disciplines as a guide to the art, never as a promise for your night.
The hour in four facts
Disciplines of the troupe stage
Chinese troupes build an evening from a shared repertoire of skills, many of them centuries old. These six are the classics, sourced to Wikipedia and China Daily.
Plates whirl on the ends of slender rods, often several in each hand. Wikipedia says the craft has existed since at least the 3rd century and likely began in China, and that many Chinese troupes pair it with contortion.
Acrobats sprint and dive through hoops set one above another, sometimes in a tower several hoops high. China Daily lists hoop diving among the acts that drew thunderous applause for a Shandong troupe on tour.
Bodies fold into shapes that look impossible. Chinese historical records place early contortion in the Western Zhou dynasty and say it matured under the Sui, Wikipedia notes, and in China it is performed as a feat of acrobatics.
Performers climb, slide and hold poses on vertical poles that Wikipedia puts at between 3 and 9 metres tall. The best-known trick is the flag, where the artist holds the body straight out from the pole by the hands alone.
Riders keep their balance on tall unicycles while tossing bowls up to land in a stack on their heads. Wikipedia lists unicycling with bowl balancing among the standard acts of Chinese variety art.
Two performers share one lion costume, head and tail. In the northern style the lion's movements are acrobatic, says Wikipedia, with lifts and balances on a tiered platform or a giant ball.
Troupes rotate their acts and reorder them, so read these six as the vocabulary of the art, not a list of what your night will hold.
Two Beijing evenings
Inside one booking
Eight things a booking gives you, and the details people most often miss.
Plates, hoops and the temple next door
Plate spinners in costume, a contortion trio, a balancing act with bowls, plates turning under spotlights and the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests a few streets away.
Book the hour, then build the day
The acrobatics ticket comes first. Beside it: a longer imperial-style banquet with opera, a timed ticket for the Temple of Heaven or the Summer Palace, and a guided walk through the Forbidden City.
One hour of acrobatics by a troupe from Sichuan, in a theatre near the Temple of Heaven, with numbered seats and tickets messaged to you on show day.
Two and a half hours built around Qing-era aristocratic life: an imperial-style dinner, costume, and live excerpts of Chinese opera, classical dance and traditional theatre.
A timed entry ticket to either the Temple of Heaven or the Summer Palace, bought ahead so a sold-out day does not stop you.
A walking tour of the palace courtyards, halls, pavilions and gardens with entry included, booked as a group or as a private tour.
More to book in Beijing
Ready for show day
Every date on sale and its start times appear in the booking calendar. Times vary, so this site prints none; your confirmation has the details for your date.
Your real tickets arrive by WhatsApp, WeChat or iMessage that morning. Keep the phone you booked with charged and reachable, and save the message where you can open it without signal.
Check the app tied to the number on your booking first. Still nothing by late morning? Message the ticket seller through your GetYourGuide booking rather than heading to the theatre empty-handed.
Seats are numbered. Open the seating chart among the booking page photos and check which rows your option covers before you pay.
The nearest metro stop is Temple of Heaven East Gate station on Line 5, named after the park's east gate, says Wikipedia. For a taxi, ask your hotel to write the theatre's address in Chinese.
Cancelling costs nothing until 24 hours ahead on GetYourGuide bookings, and paying can wait: reserve now, pay later is on offer.
Go deeper
FAQ
Your GetYourGuide QR code is only a confirmation. The tickets themselves are messaged to you on WhatsApp, WeChat or iMessage early on show day, so book with a phone number that runs one of those apps and carry that phone.
Check the messaging app tied to the number on your booking. If nothing has come through by late morning, contact the ticket seller through your GetYourGuide booking, well before the show, rather than going to the theatre without tickets.
For most visitors, yes: an hour of skilled, fast-moving acrobatics that needs no Chinese, close to the Temple of Heaven, with overwhelmingly positive reviews. It is a short seated show, not a dinner or a full night out.
One hour. That leaves the afternoon for the Temple of Heaven nearby and the rest of the evening for dinner.
It is sold as a family-friendly hour, and acrobatics with no dialogue holds most children's attention. Check the hall plan so the family sits together.
Seats are numbered. The booking page's photo gallery includes a plan of the hall; study it before you pay and check which area your ticket option covers.
On Xingfu Street in Dongcheng, near the Temple of Heaven and Hongqiao Market. Temple of Heaven East Gate station on metro Line 5 is the nearest stop. For a taxi, have the address written in Chinese.
Yes. On GetYourGuide bookings, cancelling is free until 24 hours before the show. Reserve now, pay later is also offered, so you can hold seats while your plans settle.
Not guaranteed. Troupes change acts and running order, so treat plate spinning, hoop diving, contortion and the rest as the kinds of skill you may see, not a fixed programme.
Rarely, but it happens: one recent reviewer was moved to a different hall the day before and still rated the show five stars. Always go to the address on the tickets you receive that morning.
No. Acrobatics has no dialogue. You need only the address for your taxi and the tickets on your phone.
No. This site is an independent guide, separate from the theatre, the troupe and the ticket seller, unaffiliated with any of them and no part of their websites. You book through GetYourGuide.
Prices appear in whatever currency you select, and you pay nothing until you confirm.